There are plenty of acronyms and the slide below (with thanks to Andrew Baum, University of Oxford) is perhaps all the more reason to keep up to speed. "Beds" are forming an increasingly large component of a balanced real estate investment strategy (pension funds in particular) and high street names are also "moving in"...  

But where to begin with these acronyms? A recent Bisnow webinar on "Investing in Single Family Rental" is a good start, helping to explain relevant terms and current industry thinking. It is a useful reminder that not only do we have the "Build to Rent (BtR)",  i.e. new build developments of "Multi Family Rental (MFR)" and (increasingly in the UK) "Single Family Rental (SFR)" — Packaged Living's Single Family Platform is a great example — but also the extent to which existing stock makes up the majority of the professional landlord based SFR market. On this note, it is worth listening to hear about how the "existing" SFR market in the US is well established (originating in the GFC). 

The new build SFR market is clearly hotting up, but will interest in existing stock also pick up? Lots of hurdles, with environmental regulation (minimum energy efficiency standards) and the need for capital expenditure being one...