● Dissertation title
Build to rent accomodation in the commuter belt of London, targeted to key workers. Is this the future of house building in London as opposed to traditional build to sell?
● Objectives – Aim for up to three objectives. If you’re too extensive at this point, it will seem like your plan doesn’t have a focus, so you’ll need to narrow it down.
What is better, build to sell or build to rent? How and why, aim to provide evidence through the analysis of three key stakeholders.
Generation Rent (key workers) – Incorporate all the current factors and trends that affect people’s ability to buy accommodation or to rent. (people don’t want to stay in the same place for too long, no more need for security but rather growth and opportunity, wages, house prices, cost of travel etc.) bring maslow into this and development of hierarchy of needs. Speak about social, economic and regulation trends. Speak about why it was different for their parents etc. and how it will be different for their children. Location is worth an extra amount every month that travel offsets.
Investors- why are investors going with build to rent (analyses yields, planning) is the yield high enough. Where do they see the market going, rate of return, efficiency etc. 3 interviews with investors. Primary research. Pros and Cons of build to rent. Where are the correct sites?
Government- why are governments encouraging/discouraging it. What can they do to protect renters, what happens to the tenants when the buildings are sold etc. How can this affect/discourage landlords from investing fairly or beneficially for the population. Planning authority for build to rent, social housing etc.
What made me research this-
Housing shortage in the UK, especially in London. New laws and regulation introduced affecting purchasing and sale of properties. Also affecting construction and investment decisions. Aim to bridge the gap of knowledge within the market, by extensive primary and secondary research combining previous reports with the new recently collected data. Objective of understanding where this market is heading before aiming to capitalise in this sector in the future.
Build low cost London plan size rented accomodation in Commuter Belt London for Generation Rent who do not want the burden of home ownership or cannot afford to buy a home.
Buying land at max 20% Gross Development Value that delivers a yield on cost of min 8% and is valued at c. 4% once the sites are acquired, planning permission is obtained, construction completed and operations stabilized.
Why are investors looking at build to rent now?
● Literature – Ask your mentor if you’re expected to list some specific references in this section. If that’s not the case, you’ll at least need to mention the areas of study, schools of thought, and other sources of information you’re going to use during the research stage.
https://www.bidwells.co.uk/faqs/blog-what-is-build-to-rent/
https://pdf.euro.savills.co.uk/uk/residential—other/report—investing-in-private-rent.pdf
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/build-to-rent
● Research – This is the main section, where you’ll elaborate the ideas of your research question. You will clearly outline the area of research.
What are Build to Rent Funds?
What are key workers (their salaries, their social and community contribution)
The benefits that build to rent brings to local areas illustrated by case studies (communities of like minded people, close to CBD, larger development blocks, more people using services)
Key planning and housing considerations for building to rent that boroughs will need to consider. London planning regulations.
The Future of Build to Rent: Beyond London
● Methodology – The dissertation project can be non-empirical (if the resources come from previously published projects) or empirical (if you collect data through questionnaires or other methods). In this section, you need to explain the methods of collecting data.
Non empirical- government data, savills research, bidwell research
Empirical- questionnaire with young people, future generation rents. Interviews and opinions by leading experts (criterion)
● Potential outcomes – Where do you think you’ll end up after all the research and analyzing? Explain the outcome you expect to come down to.
Highlighting clear evidence that construction for build to rent is increasing, highlighting who is causing the increase, and why it is being caused. Implications on London’s housing market and the future global housing market. Could the rest of the world follow suit?
● Timeframe – Create a schedule that explains how you will manage all stages of dissertation writing within a specific timeframe.
● List of references – Ask your mentor if you’re supposed to include this part, and he’ll provide you with the instructions.
Table of contents
1. Title page
2. Acknowledgements (who you’re thanking)
3. Abstract (summary of the whole dissertation)
4. Table of Contents
5. List of Figures and Tables
6. List of Abbreviations
7. Glossary
8. Introduction
9. Literature review / Theoretical framework (speaking about literature picked up)
10. Methodology (how research was collected)
11. Results (results of research)
12. Discussion (what results mean) (limitations of the project)
13. Conclusion
14. Reference list
15. Appendices