Australia: Roadblocks cleared for Build-to-rent in Australia

The pipeline of build-to-rent (BTR) developments across Australia continues to swell, with our project tracking currently capturing a pipeline of circa 45,000 announced units. Around 5,900 units have broken ground in FY2023, with a further 15,000 geared to commence across FY2024 and FY2025.

Development remains focused in Melbourne, with the city possessing 41% of the tracked pipeline, clustered heavily on the CBD fringe. Sydney and Brisbane follow, with respective market shares of 24% and 19%, although it should be noted the tracked pipeline in Brisbane has grown quickly over the last year. The pace of project announcements has accelerated across the nation in the early stages of 2023, with the sector on track to more than double the number of units announced over 2022 by the end of this year.

Key points:

• Recent policy changes have levelled the playing field for foreign and domestic entities, allowing for a greater proliferation of institutional platforms operating in Australia.
  
• There is significant upside for the sector towards the end of the decade, with a series of tailwinds positioning BTR to be Australia’s most active institutional property class when it comes to new asset investment by the end of this decade.
  
• The weight of recent project announcements indicates the sector is willing to overlook broader macro headwinds. The strong growth trajectory of BTR is anticipated to endure, with the stock of active units reaching 100,000 by the end of 2030.