UK Living Roundup October 2026

Investment flowing into UK Living rose in Q3. We tracked £4.5bn of investment between July and September, up 37% year-on-year. This takes the Q1–Q3 total to more than £10bn, 15% ahead of the same period last year.

Half of all investment went into existing stock, underscoring the challenges that persist around development viability across the sector as build and capital costs rise. Nowhere is that clearer than in build-to-rent.

In this Roundup
 

• Healthcare
• Build-to-rent
• Student housing
• Affordable housing
• New research

Healthcare investment reached £2.1bn in Q3 — more than three times the level a year ago and 50% above the five-year average. That's not unusual for a sector where a single entity deal can reshape a quarter, and this time it was Blue Owl Capital's £1.3bn hospital acquisition, the largest healthcare deal of 2026.

Zoom out and the picture is steadier. Year-to-date investment of £2.7bn is up a more modest 5% on 2025, with Q3 accounting for roughly three-quarters of it. Annual volumes look far higher, with the 12 months to September not far short of £13bn. That's down to a handful of large North American care home deals in late 2025, which made Q4 last year a record.

BTR investment totalled £1.7bn in Q3, up 94% year-on-year and 61% above the five-year average. Year-to-date volumes of £4.2bn are 33% higher than at the same point last year.

Operational assets are doing the heavy lifting. We've seen fewer forward purchase, forward funding and land deals this year, and multifamily now accounts for more than 60% of BTR investment. Two major portfolio deals and Lendlease's £500m Elephant Park deal helped drive that this year, but less than 20% of multifamily investment went into developing new assets.

Single family's share of BTR has slipped to just over a third, from more than 40% in 2025 and 50% in 2024. But that reflects multifamily's rise, not single family cooling. Investment has topped £1.5bn so far this year, up 16% on 2025. Lloyds Living's acquisition of 980 new homes from Barratt Redrow was among Q3's significant deals.

Student investment fell to less than £500m in Q3, down 73% year-on-year and 52% below the five-year average. On the face of it, that's a sharp reversal. But a couple of larger deals we'd expected to complete in the quarter are now likely to land in Q4, and year-to-date investment of £2.8bn is only 4% below 2025. Among the quarter's larger deals, Partners Group and Aboria Capital acquired more than 1,500 beds for over £165m.

Investment by for-profit providers more than doubled in Q3, up 109% year-on-year and 28% above the five-year average. Year-to-date investment is up 60% on 2025, mirrored by rising activity among not-for-profit providers.

Policy is adding momentum. Homes England has announced the first 33 strategic partners under the Social and Affordable Homes Programme, who'll share the first £9.6bn of funding outside London. Three are local authorities, sharing just shy of £400m. Almost all the rest are registered providers, with Vistry Group one of 11 to receive the maximum £350m allocation.

Away from investment volumes, we’ve teamed up with Close Brothers Property Finance and The Housing Forum on new research into how the Living sector supports economic growth in the UK’s major cities. ‘The Living Sector: An Engine for Growth and Talent Retention in the UK’s Cities’ looks at how student accommodation, build to rent and other professionally managed rental housing underpin successful UK city economies.

Read the full report here.