- Build-to-rent communities have taken off as more Americans find themselves unable to afford a down payment on a home.
- An estimated 97,000 residential homes built to rent were completed in 2023, up 45% from the year prior.
- Build-to-rent remains relatively niche, making up an estimated 7.9% of all single-family housing starts in 2023.
Richard Belote’s new home checks nearly every box on his wish list.
He shares a spacious four-bedroom, 3½-bath house in Montgomery, Texas, with his fiancee and their two huskies, Leto and Ryder. Their appliances are new, the neighborhood is friendly, and he loves watching the wildlife at the local lake.
The only thing missing? He rents the home instead of owning it.
Belote, 46, is part of a growing subset of Americans living in “build-to-rent” communities – neighborhoods designed for renters.
Though leasing may not fulfill the typical “American Dream” of homeownership, experts say these communities could help address an acute housing shortage that has contributed to an estimated two-thirds of Americans struggling to find affordable housing in their area, according to a YouGov survey in July of 1,000 U.S. citizens.
The home Belote moved into last November is “a fantastic stopgap,” he told USA TODAY. “This is a space between where I want to be and where I have to be.”
READ MORE:
www.usatoday.com/story/money/2024/06/02/build-to-rent-communities-growing/73892431007/