Leeds records £281m of investment into build-to-rent market across 2025
Leeds recorded £281m of investment into its build-to-rent (BTR) market in 2025, according to a report, cementing the city’s position as the UK's third largest regional BTR market outside London.
The Leeds BTR market has transformed over the past decade. A total of £1.3bn has been invested over the last five years, compared to less than £400m in the preceding five years.
The city now has 11,300 homes either operational or in development, with a further 900 homes expected to complete in 2026 including Ila and Ridgeback's Triangle Yard and L&G's Whitehall Riverside. The latest figures were revealed in the JLL's Big Six Residential Development Report.
Tom McWilliams, head of Leeds and the North East at JLL, said: "Leeds has quietly built the third largest BTR market outside London.
“The record levels of capital flowing into the city validate everything we've been saying about its potential. The combination of affordability and a young, mobile workforce creates exactly the rental demand profile that institutional investors look for.
“We look forward to working with developers and funders in the region to help the city continue to show its potential.” Barings Real Estate's £152m investment at Kirkstall Road headlined a record-breaking year that saw total investment volumes reach the second highest on record – 10 per cent above the five-year average.
The deal helped the UK's six largest regional cities capture a record 46 per cent of all multi-family BTR investment in 2025, as £1.1bn flowed into schemes across Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds and Manchester – representing a 21 per cent increase on 2024.
Single family BTR properties also had a strong year, with Strata and Placefirst's £32m joint venture at Radial Park contributing to more than £100m invested across Yorkshire and the Humber in 2025 – double the region's total since 2019.
Speaking on the impact across the UK’s major citires, Karl Tomusk, an associate at UK Living & Residential Research at JLL, added: “Regional BTR has reached an inflection point. While high debt costs and regulatory changes have burdened the market in recent years, those headwinds progressively eased throughout 2025 with interest rate cuts and greater clarity on building safety regulations.
"The Big Six captured a record share of investment because fundamentals remain strong.
“Their pipeline grew 16 per cent while the UK's fell 7 per cent, and all six cities are forecast to outperform UK-wide house price growth.
"But what's striking is the divergence: Birmingham building at scale, Manchester facing supply constraints, Scotland unlocking frozen investment.
“These are fundamentally different investment propositions within regional BTR, and that sophistication should attract more capital."
In February, the Deloitte Regional Crane Survey found that Leeds had seen an overall slowdown in new construction starts across the broader market in 2025, but a boom in residential and student accommodation.