The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) has backed proposals for Build-to-Rent schemes to be introduced to Ireland.
The proposal was put forward at their annual conference in Croke Park last week by independent advisor Alexandra Notay as a potential solution to Ireland’s housing supply shortage and to held steady spiralling rental costs in the process.
Ms Notay, who has written more than 30 books and reports on real estate, said the model and proved successful in the likes of London, Glasgow and Manchester.
"It is a viable alternative to home ownership in Ireland in helping to solve a lack of housing supply which can only get worse if solutions aren't found,” said Notay.
"The fact that these schemes are largely institutionally-funded means that issues such as financial constraints do not arise. The financial backing is already in place which gives huge scope to deliver a high number of these units into a housing sector starved of supply in a relatively short period of time," said Notay, who was involved in the recent publication of the second edition of the renowned ULI UK Best Practice Guide on Build-to-Rent.
She added: "The mobility of employment and labour means people want and need to rent and live in properly designed, built and managed units in urban areas and Build-to-Rent offers this opportunity should Ireland wish to embrace the trend."
The proposal received the back of SCSI president Claire Solon, who said: “Build-to-Rent schemes offer huge opportunities and an exciting proposition to inject new impetus into the property market, generate jobs and deliver high-quality developments in appropriate locations where people want to live, work and build communities.”
