Insights
Why UK Landlords Should Be Looking Beyond Traditional Buy-to-Let
If you are a UK landlord considering your next property investment, perhaps the first question shouldn’t be:
“What property should I buy?”
Perhaps it should be:
“What type of accommodation is actually needed?”
A recent BBC report from Glasgow provides a striking example of why that question matters.
The BBC followed a man who had been homeless for around a year and had spent months living in a hotel room while waiting for permanent accommodation.
But his situation was not an isolated case.
The report described considerable pressure on Glasgow’s homelessness services, including thousands of households already living in temporary accommodation and growing numbers of unresolved homelessness cases.
Figures published by the Scottish Government immediately afterwards showed the scale of the wider problem.
At 31 March 2026, 19,004 households were living in temporary accommodation in Scotland — the highest figure in the statistical series and 10% higher than the previous year.
There were also 10,715 children living in temporary accommodation, another record high.
For landlords, there is an important question hidden inside those statistics.
If accommodation is in short supply, where do private landlords fit?
Most landlords have been conditioned to think about property through a relatively narrow model.
Buy a property.
Refurbish it.
Find a private tenant.
Collect the rent.
Repeat.
There is nothing inherently wrong with conventional buy-to-let.
But it is not the only way residential property can be used.
Across the UK, local authorities, housing organisations, charities and accommodation providers require property for people who cannot simply access the conventional private rented sector.
That can create completely different accommodation models.
Two of the most widely discussed are temporary accommodation and supported accommodation.
For landlords who have never investigated these sectors, the scale of the housing pressure should at least raise a question:
Could your property have a different use from conventional buy-to-let?
What is temporary accommodation?
Temporary accommodation is housing used while a household’s longer-term housing situation is being resolved.
Depending on the area and procurement model, accommodation can include houses, flats, self-contained units, hostels, hotels and other forms of short- or medium-term housing.
The Scottish statistics illustrate why sourcing suitable accommodation has become such an important issue.
Households whose temporary-accommodation cases closed during 2025–26 had spent an average of 237 days in temporary accommodation.
For households whose homelessness cases remained open, the average period was even longer.
The same statistics recorded 21,800 instances during 2025–26 where temporary accommodation was not offered, compared with 16,460 the previous year.
That does not mean that a council will automatically want your property.
It does not mean every town has the same demand.
And it certainly does not mean that buying any HMO, house or flat and calling it “temporary accommodation” creates a viable business.
Quite the opposite.
The lesson is that landlords need to understand demand before property.
Demand before property
This is where many property strategies start in the wrong place.
Someone sees a property advertised.
They calculate the potential rent.
They decide that it might work as an HMO, supported accommodation or temporary accommodation.
Only afterwards do they try to find somebody who needs it.
That reverses the process.
If you are considering supplying temporary accommodation, you should understand the accommodation requirement first.
Which organisations actually procure accommodation in your area?
What household types are they trying to accommodate?
Are they looking for houses, flats, HMOs or self-contained units?
What property standards apply?
What locations are acceptable?
Who is responsible for management, repairs, utilities, inspections and voids?
How is the accommodation actually contracted and paid for?
Until those questions have been answered, the potential headline rent tells you surprisingly little.
And supported accommodation is another model again
Temporary accommodation and supported accommodation are often mentioned together.
They are not the same business model.
Supported accommodation generally involves housing people who also require some form of support, care or supervision. That creates another layer of operational responsibility.
Interestingly, the latest Scottish homelessness statistics found that 50% of households assessed as homeless or threatened with homelessness had at least one identified support need.
The BBC report also described frontline workers dealing with increasingly complex cases and people who could struggle to sustain completely independent accommodation.
That helps explain why simply increasing the number of conventional rental properties does not necessarily solve every housing problem.
Some people need accommodation.
Some need accommodation and support.
Some require short-term housing.
Others require longer-term supported environments before progressing towards greater independence.
Those are different needs requiring different operating models.
This isn’t simply about “higher rent”
Social media has created an unfortunate narrative around these sectors.
“The council pays higher rent.”
“Turn your HMO into exempt accommodation.”
“Guaranteed rent from the council.”
Statements like these remove most of the important information.
A higher gross rent does not automatically mean a better investment.
Supported and temporary accommodation can involve additional management, maintenance, compliance, staffing, property standards, reporting, procurement requirements and contractual responsibilities.
Supported accommodation can involve substantially greater operational responsibilities again.
And exempt accommodation is not simply another name for putting vulnerable tenants into a property and charging a higher rent.
The operating model matters.
The organisation matters.
The accommodation matters.
The support matters.
And the regulatory framework matters.
Three completely different routes for a landlord
One of the most important decisions is therefore not which property to buy.
It is deciding what role you actually want to play.
A landlord might choose to become an accommodation operator and build the systems required to run the service.
Another landlord may supply property into an existing accommodation model while retaining certain property-management responsibilities.
Another may prefer to lease property to an established provider and remain primarily a property owner.
Those models can involve very different levels of risk, control, responsibility and potential return.
There is no single route that is appropriate for every landlord.
Before buying another BTL, ask five questions
Before automatically purchasing another conventional rental property, consider:
- Is there demonstrable demand for temporary or supported accommodation in my local area?
- Does my existing property — or the property I am considering buying — actually match that demand?
- Do I want to remain a landlord, or am I prepared to become an accommodation operator?
- Do I understand the management, regulatory and contractual responsibilities involved?
- Have I established the operating model before committing money to the property?
These questions can save considerably more money than simply finding a property with an attractive headline yield.
Glasgow is a warning against looking at property in isolation
The BBC’s Glasgow report should not be interpreted as proof that every UK town requires the same accommodation.
Housing duties, legislation, procurement methods and market conditions differ across Scotland, Wales and England.
Local demand can differ dramatically even between neighbouring authorities.
But the wider lesson is difficult to ignore.
In Scotland alone, more than 19,000 households were living in temporary accommodation at the end of March 2026.
More households were entering temporary accommodation than leaving it during the year, with the Scottish Government recording a net difference of 4,996 households between first entries and final exits.
Meanwhile, thousands of UK landlords continue to evaluate properties almost entirely through the conventional buy-to-let model.
That creates an obvious question:
Before buying your next BTL, shouldn’t you at least understand what other accommodation models exist?
Not because temporary or supported accommodation will necessarily be right for you.
But because making that decision without understanding the alternatives isn’t really making an informed decision at all.
Thinking about temporary accommodation?
Supported Accommodation Systems has produced a free UK Temporary Accommodation Provider Starter Guide for landlords who want to understand how the sector works before committing a property.
It explains how temporary accommodation can be supplied to local authorities and housing organisations, the issues landlords need to investigate and some of the mistakes that can prevent a property from being suitable for the model.
Start with the accommodation demand.
Understand the operating model.
Then decide whether the property fits.
SOURCE NOTE FOR WEBSITE EDITOR:
BBC News, Chris Clements, “‘We’re inundated’ – Glasgow’s struggle to house the homeless”, published 21 September 2026.
Scottish Government, “Homelessness Statistics, 2025–26”, published 22 September 2026.
Scottish Government, “Homelessness in Scotland: 2025–26 – Temporary accommodation”, published 22 September 2026.