There’s a chronic shortage of homes for both buyers and renters today. It’s a problem that will likely take years to resolve given that home construction rates continue to lag breakneck demand. This is why professional residential landlord Grainger (LSE: GRG) could be one of the best UK shares to buy today. The property stock is the biggest operator in its field: it had 9,727 homes on its books as of September.
Grainger’s profits are at risk from changing regulations related to the rentals market. However, I think the breakneck momentum of rent rises in Britain still makes it a stock that’s too good for me to miss. According to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) its members expect rents to grow 5% a year over the next half a decade.
What’s more, I like Grainger’s plans to capitalise on this fertile environment to maximum effect. Its property pipeline (which stood at 8,373 homes in September) should more than double its net rental income.
A UK share in great shape
Huge uncertainty hangs over the global economy as inflation soars, Covid-19 drags on and the tragic war in Ukraine continues. I think buying some UK healthcare shares is a good idea in this landscape. Spending on medical care is one of the last things we tend to cut back on when times get tough.
Private hospital operator Spire Healthcare (LSE: SPI) is one stock I’m considering buying today. This is because NHS waiting lists are rocketing and an increasing number of people paying for treatment as a result. Revenues at Spire leapt 20.3% year-on-year in 2021 (and jumped 12.8% on a two-year basis) as private patient numbers rose by record levels.
The problems in the NHS look set to worsen before they get better too, meaning that trading at Spire should remain robust. Analysis of NHS data by The Guardian newspaper shows that the number of British people waiting for cancer treatment now sits at all-time highs. I’d buy the business even though changing health policy could damage demand for its private care.
A FTSE 100 favourite
Regulations are getting tougher for gambling companies as the government addresses the problem of addiction. The results of a major review into UK gambling laws are due in the coming weeks. And this has the potential throw up some serious problems for operators like Entain (LSE: GVC).
However, I think the dangers of me owning this particular stock could be baked into its current share price. Today Entain trades on a forward price-to-earnings growth (PEG) ratio of 0.2. This is comfortably inside the threshold of 1 and below that suggests a stock could be undervalued.
I believe Entain — the owner of popular gaming brands like bwin, Ladbrokes and partypoker — could be a great UK share to buy as online gambling continues to take off. Indeed, annual online net gaming revenues at Entain soared a further 12% in 2021. This was the ninth successive year of double-digit growth at the FTSE 100 firm.