Build-To-Rent Development Sites Leeds

Leeds is a thriving city that boasts a huge student population.  Lots of student accommodation has been built here over the past ten years but high quality residential development stalled somewhat, which has now led to a shortage.  Co living developments in Leeds and Build to Rent are the answer to Leeds high specification quality housing shortage, it suits this up and coming city and addresses their housing issues.  The city stormed forward with residential development in the early 2000’s, building a huge amount of apartment schemes but stalled around 2010.  Between 2010 and 2019 only 800 new build apartments were completed within the city centre, compared to 10,729 just across the Pennines in Manchester City Centre.  So Leeds has fallen behind slightly compared to other UK cities in the Build to Rent phenomenon and is playing catch up.  Whilst the city carried on developing new office space, attracting the likes of Channel 4, BBC, HMRC and other blue chip employers, they did not have the high quality accommodation that the people who worked in these high specification offices actually required.   

Leeds Arena Quarter is home to over 5,500 student PBSA beds, which has drawn thousands of students to this area of the city.  It is these people who want to stay within the area post-graduation, develop their careers whilst enjoying city centre living and maybe start a family here.  Two very important shopping centres were opened within the city centre, namely Trinity Leeds and Victoria Gate, offering fantastic leisure amenities and amazing retail facilities, whilst at the same time attracting new residents to come to this area of the city and begin to call it home.  Build to Rent seemed the only answer for the city and offered a way of balancing the supply against the demand.  As of late 2022 there were 1,233 Build to Rent apartments within three different developments the city centre and they were 94% let, setting a new leasing record.   

Build to Rent Developments

Not only has Build to Rent brought strong occupancy levels to the Leeds rental market but it has also brought a new rental image to the city centre too.  The Build to Rent apartments command much higher rents than their older counterparts, £22 to £27 per sq ft compared to just £15 to £18 per sq ft respectively.   Also whilst the city centre itself is made up of around 228 acres of land, experts suggest that this could double within the next ten years with over 230 acres being proposed for develoment.  There are currently twenty four Build to Rent schemes in the pipeline or being considered, highlighting the need and desire of young professionals and families to remain in the city centre and the appeal that Build to Rent offers this demographic.   

Leeds is also developing a new transit system over the next five years, connecting Leeds like never before, opening up the city centre to other areas of the city that was not as well connected before.  Build to Rent can offer the residents of Leeds the opportunity to live a city centre life in high specification quality apartments.  Manchester and Salford have successfully done this for their residents for years and so now it is Leeds’s turn. 

Build to Rent (BTR) Opportunities in Leeds

Build to Rent is fast becoming an ever growing sector and Kosy Co Living will be within the heart of it. We launched our portfolio in early 2022, unveiling a £1billion development pipeline. Our portfolio is growing rapidly and we are now welcoming new funding partners for our BTR developments across the UK. Our projects are currently in Bath, Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Cambridge, Guildford, Leeds, London, Oxford, Reading and Surrey. 

Currently researching and creating proposals for the following areas;

Bournemouth, Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester.

As our pipeline grows we are looking to forward fund our larger schemes within the build to rent sector. We have commercial property investments build to rent opportunities for forward funding, equity partners, joint ventures, unconditional funding partners and planning uplift partners. We have opportunities for joint ventures with equity partners as we obtain planning permission with a view to sell or re-finance at PC. We are also sometimes presented with great opportunities for developers where the land owner needs an immediate sale and we are looking to partner with investors who would fund this type of project.