The JLL Big Six Residential Development Report tracks the new homes sales, lettings and build-to-rent markets in Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, and Manchester.
The rental market across the Big Six continues to experience stock scarcity. Although the disparity between supply and demand eased at the year end. This meant growth fell back from the double-digit highs recorded earlier 2023, with rents across new developments in the Big Six rising 8.8% in the year to December 2023.
Despite higher mortgage rates, demand for homes across the Big Six remained robust in the second half of 2023. But higher debt and living costs meant budgets were squeezed, resulting in annual growth in prices slowing to 2.8% in the year to December. Edinburgh and Glasgow recorded the highest annual growth of the Big Six, at more than double that of the other four English cities.
In most cities the prime new build market has outperformed, reflecting a flight to quality and continued appetite for highly amenitised, high spec new homes in central locations.
In the build-to-rent sector Birmingham and Manchester still dominate, with the highest number of operational units. But Scotland’s major cities are expected to see the most significant proportional increase in stock. Edinburgh has the largest pipeline relative to operational stock at 4.9x, followed closely by Glasgow at 4.8x.
