May 10th 2023
Interim BTR Forum 2023
1.30pm - 7.30pm
Venue
Canary Wharf Group
Level 39, One Canada Square
London
E14 5AB
£145.00 + VAT
Trialist / Guest rate
£195.00 + VAT
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BTR has grown strongley over the past decade, to a point where just short of 80,000 homes have been delivered; with a further c 50,000 homes under construction and c 115,000 in planning. Investment in 2022 was in excess of £6bn.
All this said, the sector is facing challenges: the increased cost of debt, the movement of investment yields and construction cost inflation; which are impacting the viability of developments. And, the affect on renters - families, particularly those struggling on low income, is also understandably, influencing political thinking, and future housing policy.
So how do we find the right balance? In the face of market challenges, we are organising, a half-day ‘Interim BTR Forum’ on May 10th, focused on ‘rented homes’; to discuss where BTR fits into the housing mix; the rage of emerging products, what it broadly delivers to both renters and the wider community; and to explore its affordability and benefits. We will also discuss housing policy and the balance between the importance of protecting the long-term needs and security of renters, against the need to ensure that BTR remains attractive to investors.
In a mix of keynotes, presentations, case studies and panel sessions, involved leaders from both BTR and Public Housing sectors, will explore how the interests of both parties can be aligned to deliver more rented homes and better choices for those who need them.
This will be an authoritative conference aimed at individuals who are actively involved in the BTR Sector and Housing in general.
EVENT SPEAKERS
Sandra Jones
Managing Director
Dataloft
Sandra is Managing Director of Dataloft, a data-driven housing market economics business, using data analytics and geo-spatial techniques to visualise and report on UK housing market trends. She recently led the business through its acquisition by PriceHubble, an international proptech company supplying residential data analytics across 10 countries and will lead the combined UK business.
Dataloft holds a unique dataset of achieved rents and renter demographics which they use to produce evidence to underwrite rents and rental demand. Dataloft works with clients from across the build to rent sector as well as housebuilders, advisors and policymakers. Dataloft collaborates with BPF, BusinessLDN and UKAA to produce the Who Lives in Build to Rent series of reports.
Sandra qualified as a Chartered Surveyor and prior to Dataloft, she worked with property economics consultancy Ramidus and was a founder partner at City investment agency BH2. She has also been an associate at think tanks, Centre for London and Future of London. She currently sits on the UKAA research and policy committee.
Ian Fletcher
Director of Policy
British Property Federation
Ian is Director of Policy at the BPF, and focuses on the Federation’s development and housing work. He was a member of the Government’s Montague Review and is a long-term champion of the Build-to-Rent sector. He helped Government review the case for protecting client money, and has been involved in the Unipol/ANUK codes, which regulate student accommodation standards, since their inception, including stints chairing the Audit Panel and Committee of Management. He was a member of the Smith Institute’s Affordable Housing Commission. Ian is an Honorary Fellow of the IRPM and Fellow of the RSA.
Ian was formerly Head of Policy and Chief Economist at the British Chambers of Commerce. He has also worked in banking and teaching, and holds professional qualifications in finance and market research. He is a married and has one eighteen-year-old son.
Rhona Brown
Head of Private Sector Housing and Home improvement
London Borough of Lewisham
I joined Lewisham Council as Head of Private Sector Housing and Home Improvement in March 2022. Prior to that I led the Greater London Authority’s work on the Private Rented Sector (PRS) in the Housing and Land directorate for nine years, where I delivered initiatives such as the Mayor’s Rogue Landlord and Agent Checker and the Mayor’s London Borough PRS Partnership, as well as leading on Build to Rent policy from the housing perspective. I have worked in housing policy in a variety of roles since 2011, including two years as a policy officer at the National Housing Federation. Before specialising in housing policy, I was a research assistant in the House of Commons for four years, covering a range of issues including local government finance, article 4 directions, energy efficiency, renewable power generation and retrofit.
Lesley Roberts
Director of BTR Operations
Godwin Developments
Lesley plays a pivotal role in developing and delivering Godwin’s plans to build a £1 billion national BTR portfolio. Her main remit is the creation of the BTR operational strategy across both the single and multifamily developments for the business. Working in close collaboration with internal teams and external providers, she is responsible for the operational performance and profitability of our single and multifamily assets while also delivering a leading customer experience across the entire proposition.
With a career spanning over 20 years, Lesley has extensive high-level experience with both the BTR and PRS sectors, and has for some time been at the heart of shaping the UK’s Build to Rent offer as President of The UK Apartment Association (UKAA). Prior to joining Godwin, she served as a Partner at Allsop LLP and CEO of Allsop Letting and Management, where she advised developers and institutional investors on the acquisition, design, build and operation of large-scale BTR portfolios. A member of the British Property Federation’s (BPF) residential board, Lesley also toured the US studying the multifamily model there and was instrumental in the concept and development of the UKAA’s BTR Best Practice Guide launched in 2022. She was previously Chair of Soho Housing Association and held roles at Pinnacle Places, Young Group, and City Living London.
Alastair Mullens
Managing Director - Vertus
Canary Wharf Group
Alastair joined Canary Wharf Group in 2018, to establish the Canary Wharf Group’s (CWG) Build-to-Rent platform, Vertus. He is currently overseeing the delivery of three seed assets totalling 1,137 units, all based on the Canary Wharf Estate. The first new residential tenants moved in in February 2020. He is now working closely with CWG’s development team to design and envision the future phases of private rental product for the Estate.
Over the last twelve years Alastair has gained a broad experience of the UK residential property market; initially in Residential Management before moving into Residential Development and then centring on the emerging Build-to-Rent market. He spent 9 years with Hamptons International & Countrywide Group based in London and Hong Kong. In 2015 he returned from Asia to focus on Build-to-Rent lease-up delivery for various clients across London. His final role at Countrywide was as National Director of Corporate PRS & Build to Rent, during this time he oversaw the delivery of the group’s operational management platform. This included the delivery of two Build-to-Rent assets in the north-west totalling 488 units for the Vista fund, The Cargo Building in Liverpool and Pomona Wharf in Manchester.
Bella Peacock
Senior Managing Director, Investment Management and Operations
Greystar
Bella Peacock is Senior Managing Director and member of the European Leadership team. She is responsible for asset execution across student and multifamily leading the company’s Asset Management and Operations teams across Europe. Bella works with her teams in France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain and UK to ensure the effective implementation of the Greystar global operating model, applying it to the local context of each market to drive asset performance across all stages of the investment lifecycle.
Bella joined Greystar in 2014 as one of the first members of the new European business where she was engaged with the growth of the platform across the region. Prior to Greystar, she worked in the residential real estate sector covering serviced apartments, PRS and BTR at Native where she was responsible for portfolio growth, investor relations and asset management. Bella started her career at The UNITE Group.
Bella is an active member of the Urban Land Institute, Real Estate Balance and The Class Foundation. She earned her Master of Arts in Geography from the University of Oxford before completing her Master of Science in Real Estate Investment and Finance from Henley Business School at the University of Reading.
James Pargeter
Senior Advisor
GAA
James has 25 years of experience within the residential sector, with a focus on purpose-designed Build to Rent (BTR) since 2012. He is a recognised advocate for the sector and was included in EG’s ‘BTR’s 50 Most Influential’ list for 2022. James’s extensive delivery experience across the tenure spectrum brings understanding of the varied priorities for investors, owners, residents, local communities and policymakers in delivering successful long-term rental led developments.
Before joining GAA as a consultant Senior Advisor, James was a Senior Director at Greystar, where he led engagement with UK national and local government and helped to shape emerging BTR policies, as well as liaison with key stakeholders on each development. Before that, he was a Partner at Deloitte Real Estate leading their Residential Projects team.
James sits on the BPF’s BTR Committee and also co-chairs their London Engagement Group, as well as the UKAA’s Policy Committee and the Construction Leadership Council’s (CLC) Manufacture & Performance working group. He is also a recent member of the Government’s BTR Joint Committee (DLUHC), New London Architecture’s (NLA) Expert Housing Panel and the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) UK Residential Council. He is a regular speaker and commentator on BTR, wider housing issues and modular construction, and contributed to the ULI’s ‘Build to Rent: Best Practice Guide’
Rick de Blaby
CEO
Get Living
Rick is CEO of Get Living plc, the UK’s leading build to rent investor, developer and operator. Get Living operates 4,000 rental homes in London and Manchester, with a further 2,300 homes launching in the next 18 months and 4,000 in the pipeline in towns and cities across the UK, including Birmingham, London and Leeds. Get Living is a long-term investor that focuses on providing high quality rental homes in large-scale neighbourhoods with a focus on sustainability, placemaking and social value.
With a demonstrated track record of regenerating urban areas, Rick has 40 years of real estate and investment experience across both residential and commercial property. Past roles have included CEO of MEPC and United House and Non-Exec Chairman of Miller Developments.
Simon Scott
Lead Director - Living Capital Markets
JLL
Simon has over 20 years’ experience in the field of residential investment and development, and was actively involved in the development of the student investment market in an advisory capacity, and led in a number of innovative funding structures working with both Housing Associations and Universities in making institutionally acceptable investment assets in the residential sector. Simon is now overseeing the residential investment team and will be focused on matching investor appetite for residential investment, whether off plan bespoke developments or existing portfolios of income producing or reversionary assets.
Cllr Darren Rodwell
Leader
London Borough of Barking & Dagenham
Darren has been Leader of Barking and Dagenham since 2014. He has served as Deputy Chair of London Councils, having been Executive Member for City Development and now as the Executive Member for Housing and Planning. In his current role he has promoted inward investment in the capital via Opportunity London and prioritised the delivery of affordable housing, addressing fire safety, tackling homelessness and reducing the use of temporary accommodation.
Darren is also a member of the Homes for Londoners Board, Arts Council England, the Arts Council for London and the Create London Board and, since May 2023 Chair of the LGA Local Infrastructure and Net Zero Board. He was awarded LGIU Leader of the Year Award in 2019. In 2021, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Education by Coventry University in recognition of his efforts to expand educational opportunities in Barking and Dagenham.
James Saunders
Chief Executive Officer
Quintain
James Saunders was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Quintain in October 2019.
James was previously Chief Operating Officer of Quintain and has been a main board director since 2017. As Chief Operating Officer, James led the place-making and estate management at Wembley Park, commercial partnerships, group marketing, IT and health and safety.
During his time at Quintain, James has led the repositioning of Wembley Park from an event destination to an exciting new neighbourhood for London. He has created the strategic direction for marketing, communications and place making that has led to dramatic reconsideration of the area, increase in footfall, improvements in press coverage and word-of -mouth, plus new partnerships including with Boxpark, Troubadour Theatres and Second Floor Studios.
As Chief Operating Officer, James also oversaw the Wembley Park estate operations team with responsibility for management of The SSE Arena, Wembley, London Designer Outlet, car parking, health and safety, service charge and retail development.
He has managed key stakeholder and commercial partner relationships with GLA, London Borough of Brent, Wembley Stadium, the FA, AEG and Realm, plus other local stakeholders. He was responsible for the renegotiation of agreements with adjacent landowners that unlocked the Wembley Park site from a development and operational perspective.
Prior to joining Quintain, James was the Chief Marketing Officer at The Cloud Networks, a consultant to Vodafone Europe and Brand Director at Coca-Cola Great Britain. He holds a Sloan Masters from London Business School, a Law Degree from Cambridge University and is a barrister-at-law.
David Jennings
Chairman
Movers & Shakers
David started his career in Construction and Property. In 1990 he jointly founded and was a Joint Managing Director of the Salisbury Consulting Group; he sold his interest in 1995. In 1996 he formed Business Vantage, a business and research consultancy which specialises in property and construction and advises major UK plc’s.
David is the Founder Director and Chairman of Movers & Shakers formed in 1996 the UK’s most successful and popular networking forum.
He is also a Founder Director and shareholder of Stonemartin plc, an AIM listed serviced office business; founded in 1999.
Leigh Natasha Salter
Managing Director
Movers & Shakers
Leigh Natasha Salter is Managing Director of Movers & Shakers, having formerly been the Business and Events Director. Leigh has been responsible for developing the brand over the last 14 years and was responsible for the launch of the Movers & Shakers UK Regional events programme. Previously she worked in marketing, communications and research, and also ran the Windsor & Maidenhead Borough’s Business to Community Partnership, facilitating CSR for businesses. She qualified at Oxford University with a BA Honours in Human Sciences, and a scholarship, and is also a member of the BPF, WPA and UK-GBC.
Tracey Hartley
Chief Operating Officer, Europe
Cortland
Tracey brings a wealth of experience in the residential sector having held senior positions at JLL, The Howard De Walden Estate and Grainger plc. Tracey is a Chartered Surveyor, residential property expert, and fund manager who has excellent entrepreneurial, strategic and tactical skills honed across both the private and public sectors. She is Chief Operating Officer at Cortland Europe where Tracey is responsible for ensuring a strong operating platform across Cortland’s UK portfolio.
Tracey holds an MBA, MRICS and FIRPM.
Alex Notay
Placemaking and Investment Director
PfP Capital
Alexandra Notay is Placemaking and Investment Director at PfP Capital, the fund and asset management arm of Places for People Group, overseeing a UK-wide residential strategy. She is an internationally recognised expert on build to rent, placemaking and sustainable urban development, with 16 years’ strategic advisory experience to private sector, government and third sector organisations across four continents. In January 2019 Alex was selected as one of the 48 women shaping the future of UK real estate at the prestigious BISNOW Women Leaders event.
Alex is a published author and editor of over 30 books and reports on real estate including the renowned ULI UK Best Practice Guide on Build to Rent (2014, 2016). Alex is a vice-chair of the ULI UK Residential Council, chair of the BPF sub-committee on residential ESG, serves on the BPF Build to Rent Committee and is an Associate Member of CREFC Europe. She is also a non-executive director of Essensys plc, Sound Diplomacy, SouthWest Board Member for LandAid and trustee of the SunScreenIT Foundation.
With a reputation for being ‘abnormally energetic’, Alex is passionate about enabling tangible social impact through innovation and collaboration as well as mentoring the next generation of diverse talent.
Sowgol Zarinchang
Managing Director
Way of Life
Sowgol joined Long Harbour January 2018 as the Managing Director of Way of Life. She leads the WoL management platform and ensures the company provides efficient building management and professional customer services through multi-skilled team of people.
Prior to joining Way of Life, Sowgol has 20 years of experience in real estate and has been responsible for implementing management strategies in line with the asset, agreeing marketing and PR activities and implementing digital platforms for companies such as JLL (Director of Serviced Apartments), Folio London (Director of Private Rent) and Notting Hill Housing Trust (Director of Student Lets).
Sowgol is a member of multiple UK Apartment Association (UKAA) committees and Chair of the UKAA Portal Committee, as well as ‘Women in Property’, ‘Ladies in Real Estate’ and a member of IRPM. In 2019, Sowgol was selected as one of the ‘49 women who will shape the future of Real Estate in the UK by Bisnow, as well as in November 2021, Sowgol was announced as one of the 50 Property Management 2021 winners in the Build to Rent category.
Sowgol is passionate about the industry and believes on excellent customer service.
Jennifer Murray
Director Product, Equity & Partnerships
Homes England
Jennifer leads on equity investment and attracting institutional capital into residential and regeneration at Homes England, the Government’s housing and regeneration agency for England She began her investment management career at Schroders where she was fund manager for directly invested real estate funds and multi manager property portfolios on behalf of pension fund and charity clients for over 15 years.
Prior to joining Homes England, Jennifer was a fund manager for Tesco Pension Investments. While managing the scheme’s international real estate portfolio she developed a professional interest in the residential sector as an institutional investment class.
Jennifer is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Investment Property Forum. She represents Homes England on Association of Real Estate Funds (AREF), Investment Property Forum (IPF) and Urban Land Institute residential committees.
Harry Downes
Managing Director – UK Multifamily Investment
Greystar
After 6 years in the Army, Harry started his property career in the commercial sector in Canada. On returning to the UK he switched to residential with Savills, before spending 13 years as Sales and Marketing Director with Manhattan Loft Corporation. High points were the development and delivery of iconic schemes such as St Pancras Chambers, Bankside Lofts and West India Quay.
In 2010 the banking crisis was causing turmoil in the residential sector so Harry set about finding a housing solution for young professionals. The result was an idea that became Fizzy Living, one of the earliest entrants into the BTR market.
Fizzy grew to 1,000 units with financial backing from ADIA, and in 2021 the operating business was bought by Greystar. Harry is now MD Investments in its UK multi family business.
Dr Elizabeth Rapoport
Assistant Director - Strategy
Homes England
Elizabeth is an urban planner, researcher and strategist with 20 years of experience working on issues related to the built environment. As Assistant Director of Strategy at Homes England, Elizabeth works at the interface between policy and delivery, translating Government housing and regeneration priorities into delivery strategies and the Agency’s operations. Elizabeth has led numerous international research projects on urban and regional planning, governance, sustainability and climate change and is the author of a number of publications on these topics. She holds a Masters in Regional and Urban Planning Studies from LSE and a Doctorate in Urban Sustainability and Resilience from UCL.
