The Association for Rental Living response to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill

“The Association for Rental Living broadly welcomes the introduction of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill and its proposed reforms. We have long called for the reform and investment in the planning system required to reduce barriers and speed up the delivery of both housing and the infrastructure so critical to support it.

 “We especially welcome the proposal for mandatory training for planning committees and certain mayoral planning functions and call upon the Government to include specific training on Build to Rent, in all its forms, as part of this.

 “With the ability to deliver 2 million additional, quality rental homes, Build to Rent is an essential part of a diversified housing mix, one which the Government itself has explicitly recognised in the revised NPPF, and thus the understanding of the Build to Rent proposition and development dynamics is vital for local planning committees and officials. Pulling the Build to Rent lever is a proven way of increasing the volume and speed of housing delivery, as well as attracting investment into the UK. The Government must now build on these planning reforms to remove barriers to large scale investment in housing and the increase its support of the Rental Living sector.

 “The Build to Rent Code of Practice, an Association for Rental Living initiative currently out for industry consultation, mandates, as one of its seven principles, the embedding of professional standards with signatories required to ensure all property management staff participate in Association for Rental Living-recognised qualifications and professional development programs suitable to their roles. We feel this principle should now be applied to the mandatory training proposed in the Planning & Infrastructure Bill and the Association for Rental Living, on behalf of the Build to Rent sector, stands available to the Government to deliver this.”

Brendan Geraghty
CEO, Association for Rental Living