Rick de Blaby

CEO
Get Living

Rick is CEO of Get Living PLC, the UK’s leading investor, developer and operating platform of Built to Rent residential homes with 4,000 in operation and a further 6,000 in pipeline. He has been with Get Living for 5 years, whose flagship assets neighbourhoods include East Village at the Olympic Park, Elephant and Castle Town Centre, MIddlewood Locks in Salford and Lewisham Gateway plus others in Leeds, Glasgow and Maidenhead. Rick has 40 years of real estate experience, with a particular passion for big scale urban regeneration and neighbourhood creation. Rick is also a Non-Executive Board Member of Curo Housing Association. Past roles have included CEO of MEPC and United House and Non-Exec Chairman of Miller Developments.

Katherine Russell

Director of Build to Rent
John Lewis Partnership

Katherine Russell is an accomplished leader in the Build-to-Rent sector, with almost 2 decades of real estate experience. As a founding member of JLP’s BTR strategy, she has been instrumental in developing and operating 10,000 homes and securing a pivotal joint venture with abrdn. Her career spans diverse roles in retail, mixed-use development, and asset management, including her tenure as Grp Head of Real Estate for John Lewis Partnership. Committed to social value and wellbeing, Katherine also serves on the boards of ULI UK, NWEC, and Dolphin Living, actively contributing to the community.

Rebecca Taylor

Managing Director Multi-Family
Long Harbour

Rebecca is the Managing Director of Long Harbour’s BtR / Multifamily business. Since joining Long Harbour in 2015, Rebecca has deployed over £750mn of equity and leads on the LHMF JV which is a £1.5bn partnership with PSP and Cadillac Fairview.

Rebecca has over 15 years’ experience in development and investment having worked in projects in Australia, UK, Ireland and UAE. Prior to joining Long Harbour, Rebecca spent eight years at Laing O’Rourke working in their property and investment team. Here she worked on their offsite housing solution and a number of PFI/PPP deals.

She is the Vice-Chair of the BPF BTR Committee, is on the steering group for the UKAA Best Practice Guide and a member of the ULI UK Residential Council.

Colette McCormack

Partner
Winckworth Sherwood

Colette leads the national Winckworth Sherwood Planning team and has over 25 years’ experience specialising in complex housing led mixed use developments.  She is ranked band 1 and a leading individual in planning in the legal directories ( bites by clients and peers).She provides strategic planning advice and is known for her ability to lead on and deliver complex projects.  She is solutions driven and collaborative in her approach to unlocking obstacles to development.  She understands the development cycle but also the regulatory and public law paradigm that public bodies and housing associations work within.  Her work advising developers, local planning authorities, Government departments and housing associations gives her a unique insight and in depth knowledge of housing delivery including BtR .  Colette advises on some of the largest and complex developments across the country including the iconic Battersea Power Station for Wandsworth Council, Liverpool Waters and Wirral Waters for Peel Holdings and Barking Riverside Limited acting for the joint venture between L&Q and the GLA (all of which deliver BtR) and BtR operators such as Moda Living .

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.

Tom Copley

Deputy Mayor for Housing & Residential Development
Greater London Authority

Tom Copley became Deputy Mayor for Housing and Residential Development in March 2020 and oversees the Mayor’s two affordable homes programmes, including ‘Building Council Homes for Londoners’ – the first-ever City Hall initiative dedicated to council homebuilding.

Tom also oversees the Mayor’s work to improve the private rented sector, support the delivery of community-led housing, commission services to support rough sleepers, and on building safety.

He sits on the board of Barking Riverside Ltd, a joint venture between the GLA and L&Q housing association which is delivering 10,800 homes along with new transport and other infrastructure in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham.

Before becoming a Deputy Mayor, Tom was a London Assembly London-wide List Member for eight years, serving as Chair of the Assembly’s housing committee and as Labour Group housing spokesperson. He also served on Lewisham Council, representing Sydenham.

Prior to his election to the Assembly, Tom worked for Hope not hate - an anti-fascist, anti-racist charity that works with communities to fight racism and hatred.

He is a trustee of New Diorama Theatre in Camden.

James Pargeter

Senior Advisor
GAA

James is a recognised advocate for the purpose-built operational Rented Living sector (incl. Build to Rent (BTR) and Single-Family Rent (SFR)) within the wider residential sector, with over 25 years’ varied delivery experience as a Project Manager and Advisor. He aims to help address the UK’s housing crisis through policy and practice, recognising that a full tenure spectrum is key to resolving this challenge. Through successive roles at Deloitte, Greystar and GAA, alongside sector roles including at BPF, the ARL and UKSFA, he has a track record of making positive differences to project outcomes.

James is a tireless campaigner for a much-needed cultural change around renting, including better appreciation of the benefits of purpose-built rental housing, Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), and intermediate affordable homes. He was included in EG's 'BTR's 50 Most Influential’ list.

Simon Scott

Lead Director - Living Capital Markets
JLL Europe

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.

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.

Ben Denton

Chief Executive
L&G Affordable Homes

Ben is Chief Executive of Legal & General Affordable Homes and joined at the inception of the business in August 2018.

Ben has over 30 years of experience across housing design and development, regeneration and real estate. Ben joined Legal & General Affordable Homes from Sovereign Housing Association, the 6th largest housing association in the UK where he was Executive Director of Property and Development, responsible for sales and a development programme of 1,300 homes a year. Previous positions include Group Director of Strategy and Business Development at house builder Keepmoat, Executive Director of Growth, Planning and Housing at Westminster City Council, Director of Investment at First Base and was a Director and Executive Consultant for ABROS financial advisory and KPMG.

Additionally, Ben was previously Chair at Westminster Community Homes and held various Board and Committee positions at Thames Valley Housing Association.

Sarah Dance

Chair
South East LEP

Sarah Dance is a strategic consultant for the culture and creative industries, with over 25 years’ experience in the creative sector. She has led a wide range of cultural organisations and set up her own consultancy in 2002. Her work covers business and capital development, creative production, organisational change development, and leadership mentoring. In addition to her consultancy work and her Deputy Chairship of South East Local Enterprise Partnership, she is Co-Chair of the South East Creative Economy Network and Chair of Creative Estuary and has led the visioning of Thames Estuary Production Corridor. She is on the Civic University Network Advisory Group and UAL Advisory Group for their UKRI funded Modelling and supporting recovery of the UK’s experience economy. She is also a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Catherine Raynsford

Director of Stakeholder and Investment Management
Hyde Group

Catherine Raynsford is Director of Stakeholder and Investment Management.

Catherine has worked in real estate for over 15 years specialising in public private partnerships, working with public sector landowners to bring forward major developments and regeneration projects.

Catherine works closely with our public sector partners and grow our initiatives with local government, this is a new role for Hyde and will focus on our strategy to engage with private capital.

Catherine leads a team to identify, develop and enhance long-term partnerships with a broad mix of private sector partners including housebuilders, developers, and institutional investors.

David Reid

Managing Director, Suburban Build to Rent
Legal & General Capital

David is Managing Director of the L&G Suburban Build to Rent (SBTR)business, responsible for helping to create and deliver the strategy, originate and structure partnerships and for building and managing the team. He has extensive residential real estate investment, development and management experience and originally joined Legal & General Capital (LGC) as Senior Investment Manager within the Principal Investing/Housing team, managing LGC’s nationwide investments into the urban Build to Rent sector with LGIM. Prior to the role, he was a Director at Rowan Asset Management and a Board Director of Taylor Wimpey Cavendish Holdings, a joint venture regional housebuilding division. He holds an MPhil from the University of Cambridge, MSc from Cass Business School, MA from the University of Edinburgh and is a Member of the RICS.

James Duncan

Corporate and Funds Partner
Winckworth Sherwood

James is a corporate and funds partner at Winckworth Sherwood. He advises institutional and high net worth promoters and investors on structure and finance for property investment and development. He is an expert in the structure of FCA regulated fund-managers, broker-dealers and their investment entities. James has vast experience of setting up JVs, IPOs and capital raisings as well as LP and LLP financing vehicles. With the tax team he provides a full service for domestic and foreign investors in all UK property tenures. James also works closely with the Social Housing Finance team at Winckworth Sherwood to develop alternative finance models for registered providers implementing their diversification programme. Clients include registered providers such as Genesis and Circle Anglia and investors M&G Investments, Aviva Investors and Europa Capital.

Alastair Mullens

Managing Director
Vertus

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.

Lesley Roberts

Chair
ARL

Lesley plays a pivotal role in the acquisition, development and delivery of Monogram Living’s £1 billion national BTR portfolio. Her main remit is the creation of the BTR investment and 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 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 expertise with both the BTR and PRS sectors and has, for some time, been at the heart of shaping the UK’s Build to Rent sector as Chair of the Association for Rental Living (ARL). Prior to joining Godwin’s Monogram Living vehicle, 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 has toured internationally studying multifamily communities and was instrumental in the concept and creation of the ARL’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.

Sowgol Zarinchang

Managing Director
Way of Life

Sowgol is the Managing Director of Way of Life, a top 3 National Built-to-Rent (BTR) platform providing bespoke residential lettings and management to a portfolio of over 1,600 homes across the UK. Sowgol ensures that Way of Life provides efficient building management and professional customer services through a multi-skilled team of people.

Before joining Way of Life, Sowgol was the Director of Serviced Apartments at JLL where she oversaw operational activities and advised both residential and serviced apartment operators. She was previously the Director of Private Rent (Folio London) and Student Lets at the Notting Hill Housing Trust where she was leading three multi-disciplinary teams with over 2,000 properties and an operational budget of £25 million.

Sowgol is also a member of Long Harbour’s ESG Committee and Chairman of the Diversity & Inclusion Committee for the board.

Mark Allnutt

Executive Director, Europe
Greystar Europe Holdings Ltd

Mark Allnutt leads our vertically integrated platform in Europe overseeing investment, development, and operations in seven markets. He works closely with our in-country leaders in in Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Netherlands, and the UK to deliver a superior product for consumers and drive returns for investors. Since 2013, we have grown exponentially delivering purpose-designed and thoughtfully amenitised buildings at scale for multifamily, young professional and student housing. 

Prior to joining Greystar in 2014, Mark was the Group Executive Commercial Director of Thames Valley Housing (TVH) where he was responsible for originating and managing the company’s joint venture vehicles. He was also a founding Director of Fizzy Living, the sovereign wealth fund-backed multifamily subsidiary of TVH, subsequently acquired by Greystar in 2021. 

Tom Goodall

Chief Executive Director
Related Argent

Tom joined the former Argent business in 2012 and became a Partner in 2020.

Between 2019-2022, Tom was Head of Residential for the Related Argent business and CEO of the Heart of Hale development, overseeing a pipeline of more than 8,000 new homes across London. Prior to this role, Tom was responsible for residential at King’s Cross, including the delivery of the Gasholders apartments.

In 2023, Tom was appointed Chief Executive Director of Related Argent, leading the team of 175 property and urban regeneration professionals, working to improve urban life for everyone, every day. Today the business he leads has a UK property portfolio of c.£13bn, totalling in excess of 21 million sq ft.

Before joining the business, Tom worked in project management consultancy and as a practising architect on numerous large-scale mixed-use schemes, including the Shard and the London 2012 Athlete’s Village.

Tom is a chartered member of the Royal Institute of British Architects and sits on its Housing Group.

Mike Keaveney

Director of Land and Development
Grainger plc

Michael Keaveney is Director of Land and Development at Grainger plc, the UK’s largest listed residential landlord. He has overall responsibility for the delivery and growth of Grainger’s BTR development pipeline.

Michael has over 30 years of hands-on real estate and development experience. His expertise includes management of complex residential-led mixed use developments across the whole development lifecycle from identification and acquisition through to town planning, funding, construction, marketing, operation and exit.

Prior to joining Grainger, Mike Keaveney was Development Director at Concord London Developments Ltd, where he led on the acquisition of the Moxon Street car park site in Marylebone, W1 from Westminster City Council and was instrumental in the joint venture with Brookfield to develop out the 50-storey residential tower and affordable housing blocks at Principle Place in London EC1.

Mike’s early career was at Osprey PMI (part of Franklin + Andrews; now Mott MacDonald) where he was an Equity Partner and Board Director responsible for the London Office of Osprey PMI and its Commercial Development projects in the UK prior to moving to Ridgeford Developments Ltd and W1 Developments.

Stephanie Pollitt

Programme Director, Housing
BusinessLDN

Stephanie Pollitt joined BusinessLDN (formally London First) as Programme Director leading on Housing. BusinessLDN is a campaigning organisation with a mission to make London the best city in the world in which to do business working with and for the whole of the UK. BusinessLDN is active in helping shape public policy across a number of areas including housing, planning and development and members include housing associations, developers, build to rent providers, planners and architects. 

Stephanie’s role recognises the importance of increasing the quantum and diversity of homes built in London which is absolutely vital to securing and retaining the talent the capital needs to thrive. She considers ways to increase the supply of affordable housing, as well as championing other parts of the sector such as build to rent and build for sale. 

Prior to joining BusinessLDN, Stephanie was Assistant Director at the British Property Federation leading on the Federation’s housing and commercial policy portfolios. She took a strategic view on residential and commercial real estate matters and worked on a number of projects including the creation of a new high street investment model and the establishment of property owners Business Improvements Districts within London.

Tim Chapman-Cavanagh

Director
Assael Architecture

Tim is an experienced architect and project director at award-winning Assael Architecture, a large London-based practice that specialises in the intelligent design and successful delivery of residentially-led mixed-use developments.

 Tim has been responsible for the design of many high-profile projects across all living concepts at Assael, including the redevelopment of the iconic Riverside Studios in Hammersmith and 101 on Cleveland in Westminster. 

Recently, he has spearheaded Assael’s development in the Co-living sector, contributing to the publication of the Urban Land Institute and JLL’s The European Co-living Best Practice Guide in 2022, and directing the design on several Co-living projects across London and Surrey. Tim was involved in our award-winning projects including the RIBA Award Winning Sunday Mills in Wandsworth and Folk at Florence Dock which won the Building & Architecture category at the Co-living awards last month.

Stephanie Smith

Head of Living Sector Operations
APO Group

Stephanie Smith, the Head of Living Sector at Hubbl, brings over 20 years of experience in living sector operations, training, and asset management to the panel, having built a career internationally across 11 countries including multifamily/BTR, single family rental, student and senior living assets.  

Prior to joining Hubbl, Stephanie has been with respected operational owner operator and third party management companies, such as Carmel Partners, Alliance Residential and Laramar Group, on behalf of large instituional investors in both North America, England and Ireland. Most recently, she was the Director of Residential Operations at Invesco, focusing on the strategic expansion of European markets and managing a portfolio worth £2.5bn.

Also a founding member of the ARL, Stephanie has been part of the IRPM/ARL joint education task force and the ARL Research & Policy Committee, where she launched the EDI program to promote a more equitable and inclusive property industry. In 2023, this initiative evolved into the launch of the EDI committee, where Stephanie has been appointed Chair, dedicated to serving the sector through a cross-committee approach.

Tom Donnachie

Managing Director of UK Investment
Amro Partners

Tom is Managing Director of UK Investment at Amro Partners. Since joining Amro, Tom has spearheaded their UK living investment expansion from £200m in 2020 to £1.5bn in 2024. 

Responsible for managing the end-to-end delivery of UK investments through the entire investment cycle, he leads the acquisition, funding, planning, and operational phases of the UK business. 

Tom has extensive experience in residential / alternative real estate having worked on projects in UK, Ireland, Spain and Portugal. Prior to joining Amro, Tom was European Transactions Director at Valeo Europe leading acquisitions within PBSA space (aggregate GDV of c.£550m) and led a €450m Iberian fund raise.

Damien Sharkey

Managing Director
HUB

Damien Sharkey is HUB’s Managing Director. Damien is keenly involved in all aspects of the HUB business, leading the development process of its current £2.7bn pipeline from acquisition and funding through design, consultation, planning, procurement, and delivery to completion. An architect by background, Damien completed his post-graduate diploma in architecture at the University of Westminster before beginning his career at Robin Partington Architects, now known as Apt. Having moved into development, Damien remains passionate about design and ensures maximum value through thoughtful design, technical accuracy, and efficient delivery for all of HUB’s portfolio. His agile thinking and proclivity for problem solving allow him to develop the HUB direction, structure deals and lead a fantastic team.

Honor Barratt

CEO
Birchgrove

Honor is the CEO of Birchgrove, a specialist age-exclusive developer working to establish a portfolio of assisted living neighbourhoods with well thought-out facilities for rent. Central to Birchgrove's proposition is the belief that renting instead of owning a home is the most liberating form of tenure, allowing neighbours to retain their independence without the burden of homeownership. Of the nine developments currently in the portfolio, Birchgrove has a bunch of happy neighbours in Sidcup in Kent and two neighbourhoods open in Woking and Ewell, both in Surrey. Following closely behind are Banstead, Godalming, Leatherhead - all in Surrey - and most recently Chiswick, Hampton Court and Mill Hill in London. Honor is currently looking for opportunities to co-locate her oldies at the heart of a wider development on a forward fund or forward commit basis.

Marcus Dixon

Director of UK Residential
JLL

Marcus Dixon is Head of UK Living & Residential Research at JLL, bringing over 20 years of experience in the sector. He specialises in market analysis, strategic planning, and advising on residential and living investment opportunities. Marcus' insightful research and data-driven approach have made him a trusted advisor for clients navigating the complexities of the UK market. With a profound understanding of market trends and dynamics, he frequently speaks at industry conferences and contributes to key publications. 

Richard Berridge

Founder
BLACKBIRD RE Advisory

Founder of SFR & BTR consultancy Blackbird Real Estate Advisory and ex CEO of the UK Single-Family Association, Richard has more than forty years’ experience in the residential agency, development, and investment industries. He has been involved in the Build-to-Rent sector since 2012 and advised a range of companies in that time. Richard authored ‘Understanding Build to Rent: A Guide to the Changing Face of the Private Rented Sector’ for Fiera Real Estate in 2019 and industry leading paper ‘Single-Family Housing: The Home of Residential Investment’ in 2021.

Richard specialises in the Single-Family Rental sector and believes it has unique potential in bringing the benefits of professional ownership and management to every corner of the UK.

Ben Tate

Head of Property Development
Places for London

Ben Tate is Head of Property Development at Places for London, TfL’s Property Company.  Ben is responsible for a portfolio of sites that will deliver more than 10,000 homes across the capital.  As part of his role, he leads Places for London’s Build to Rent platform, working in joint venture with Grainger Plc to deliver more than 1500 quality rental homes and a long term income stream for TfL.  Ben has previously managed the Crossrail Over Station Development programme which has facilitated the delivery of more than 1.8m sq feet of commercial and residential floorspace in Central London.  Ben has also led on the delivery of the TfL Small Sites programme with the GLA. 

Niki Kyriacou

Sector Lead - BTR
NHBC

Niki is Sector Lead at NHBC focusing on client management of activity, with a focus on the BTR market. 

Niki was previously at leading property trade publication Property Week, specialising in partnerships, campaign strategy and cross-platform solutions and has over 20 years’ experience. She has a strong focus on the residential property sector, having driven the development of prestigious, large-scale events like RESI and the RESI Awards. 

Other career highlights during that time included launching and delivering high-profile initiatives like RESI Trailblazers - championing rising stars; and Joint Victories - celebrating the best of public-private partnerships.

Zerritha Brown

Head of Culture
London Borough of Camden

Zerritha Brown FRSA is a cultural leader with 20 years’ experience working in the public sector, community arts and large scale events. She is currently the Head Of Culture at Camden Council where she leads the Arts and Events teams, with a portfolio which covers event management, public realm activations as well as strategically growing and supporting arts and culture in the borough. Within a year she has established a cultural programme and is working with communities and the cultural sector to develop the cultural strategy for the Borough. Previously she led culture at Brent Council for over 10 years; a career highlight was on the Mayor Of London's, London Borough of Culture Brent 2020 programme where she executive produced the pioneering No Bass Like Home programme (during the Covid 19 pandemic) which documented Brents reggae history through a 7 hour online festival, connecting Brent, Miami and Jamaica, through music and community stories, attracting an online audience of over 125k views before transferring to prime time TV. She is a Clore Leadership Programme Alumni and a Fellow of the Royal Society Of The Arts. In February 2022 she was awarded Best Arts Champion Local Authority in the National Campaign for the Arts, Hearts for Arts Awards for her dedication and commitment to cultural and community engagement which effects long term change.

Claudio Giambrone

Head of Marketing and Cultural Programming
Quintain

Claudio leads marketing and cultural programming at Wembley Park, playing a key role in its evolution from an event-day only destination to a thriving 365-day neighbourhood.

Previously, he was Head of Marketing at South Bank BID and collaborated agency-side with prominent London art venues and events, including the London 2012 Olympics.

Claudio holds an MA in Destination Management from the University of Westminster's School of Architecture and the Built Environment and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Maria Hatch

Senior Director, Client Relationships - Europe
Greystay Europe Holdings Ltd

Maria Hatch is a Senior Director at Greystar, leading our dedicated Client Relationships team. Having worked in the residential sector for over 10 years and with Greystar for 8,  Maria has a proven track record of establishing key relationships to secure revenue and occupancy whilst creating and embedding effective asset specific outreach strategies tailored towards the demographic base and key market audiences. 

Maria is responsible for overseeing our B2B platform across Europe whilst establishing several industry partnerships.  Maria drives revenue streams via corporate leases,  university partnerships and international global leasing agents, ensuring that Greystar clients have the best experience and benefit from Greystar being market leaders with a futuristic and innovative mindset. Maria has a personal and dedicated approach whilst understanding the needs and demands of each client drive success. 

Maria is a member of ARL DEI Committee  (Association of Rental Living) and the British Property Federation and shows a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion throughout the industry.  Maria also leads our continued European relationships with the class foundation. 

Darren Rodwell

Founder Director
Inclusive Growth Consultancy

Darren Rodwell led Barking and Dagenham Council from 2014 to 2024, driving growth and regeneration. Under his leadership, the borough became a leader in inclusive housing, community wealth building, and sustainable urban planning.

He held key roles with London Councils and the Local Government Association, influencing housing and planning policies. Darren founded “Opportunity London” bringing together the public and private sector and pioneered the most successful Inclusive Growth Model to date using BtR, ensuring economic growth benefited residents.

He established Be First, the borough’s regeneration company, and BD Reside, managing affordable homes. Now in the private sector, Darren continues to build sustainable communities, collaborating with public and private entities. His expertise in aligning public policy with private development makes him a sought-after advisor in urban development, committed to tackling housing affordability and promoting social inclusion.

Mary-Anne Bowring

Group Managing Director
Ringley Group

Mary-Anne is founder of The Ringley Group which incoporates Una Living  Una.co the group's operational living sectors platform that has advised on circa 12,000 BTR homes and has leased over 5,000 homes, PlanetRent planetrent.co.uk its vertically integrated tech platform that is proven to deliver OpEx savings, and VirginLand by Ringley (site find) virginland.com,   The Group are UK wide Asset Managers, BTR Operators Facilities Managers and Block Property Managers, with Valuation, Fire, Engineering and Legal Services within the group together Ringley provides a range of Professional Services and have circa £10Bn AUM.  Mary-Anne is a Chartered Engineer and Chartered Surveyor, and Strategic Adviser to the Housing Growth Partnership and advises full development lifecycle: underwriting, unit mix, efficiency, layout, mobilisation, lease-up, stabilisation and exit.  She is a regular industry commentator and panellist on all things residential real estate including the building safety agenda.

Kathryn Pennington

Investment Director
Vistry Group

Kathryn has been a Director of Vistry Group for 8 years and is now the Partner Investment Director. She leads on a portfolio of projects to support the delivery of the Group’s growth ambition with a strong focus on strategic partnerships delivering multiple tenure housing solutions, place development and sustainable communities. 

Kathryn is a Chartered Surveyor with over 25 years’ experience in the housing and regeneration sectors. Her experience includes working in housebuilding, private practice and as a director in a large housing association. Her wide-ranging experience and role provides a unique perspective on mixed tenure delivery, regeneration and joint venture working. Kathryn is also the lead Director for the Groups For-Profit Housing Association and is a Non-Exec Director of Elim Housing Association. 

She is a passionate believer in the need to increase delivery of housing across all tenures through working in partnership across the supply chain.

Sophie Gunn

Associate Director
Packaged Living

Sophie is an Associate Director at Packaged Living, working in the development side of the business. She leads several core projects in Packaged Living’s multi-family portfolio through the full development process.

Sophie is also a qualified architect, before joining Packaged Living she worked at Assael Architecture and was involved in a variety of residential led regeneration projects including several Build to Rent developments in London and other city centre locations. 

Laura Flanagan

Marketing Director
Knight Dragon

With 15 years of experience across the property sector, including commercial, residential and placemaking, Laura brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her current role at Knight Dragon. Her career has taken her to New York, Amsterdam and across multiple locations in London including The Shard, and most recently Greenwich Peninsula – Knight Dragon’s flagship London development. Laura sits on the Board of Directors for Knight Dragon, overseeing all marketing and business development activity for the place including Design District, London’s first permanent home for the creative industries. 

William Kyle

New Avenue Living Fund Director
Thriving Investments

William joined the team in October 2018 to manage the New Avenue Living Fund. He is a Planning and Development Surveyor with more than 20 years’ experience in residential development and investment. William was previously Development Director for one of the UK’s leading investors in Single Family Homes for the rental market and has previously worked in the banking sector and with both volume and luxury housebuilders. He is chair of the AREF Residential Funds Working Group and sits on the Scottish Property Federation Residential Investment and Management Committee and on the board of Places for People Scotland, BIGG Regeneration and PFP-Igloo.

Joss Taylor

Place Management Specialist
Populate

Joss is a dynamic and innovative placemaker celebrated for shaping, managing, and driving value across numerous developments.

With recent experience at Bow Arts Trust, Joss successfully integrated art and culture into new developments helping to drive footfall, enliven places and increase value.

James Buckingham

Development Director
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield Group

James Buckingham is a Development Director at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield currently overseeing all Development activity at URW’s £2b+ Westfield Stratford estate.

James leads the ‘Coppermaker Square’ development which is URW’s first UK investment in the living sector and comprises 1225 BtR units across 9 buildings. The scheme is a Joint Venture with partners PSP and Quadreal.

Prior to URW, James worked at fully integrated investor and developer ‘Ridgeback Group’ overseeing multiple BtR developments across the UK, and before this worked in the construction industry at Multiplex as a Project Director.

Grace Oyesoro

Head of Operations
Quintain Living

Grace Oyebunmi Oyesoro is the Head of Operations at Quintain Living, overseeing the operation of 3,390 homes across eight build-to-rent (BtR) developments at Wembley Park (which will be the largest BtR development in the UK upon completion). With over 15 years of experience in sales, operations, finance, and management; she leads a team dedicated to customer service, retention, and financial performance. Prior to joining Quintain Living, Grace held various leadership positions within the residential and commercial property management sectors.

She is especially committed to improving equality, diversity and inclusion within BtR serving as a member of the ARL's EDI committee. Additionally, she is an Enterprise Adviser for The Careers & Enterprise Company, supporting careers programs at local schools and colleges. Grace believes in empowering the next generation and creating opportunities for all. Her professional journey over the past decade reflects her dedication to operational excellence and social impact.

Paul Morrish

Chief Executive
LandAid

Paul joined LandAid in 2015 having worked in a wide range of charities and not for profit organisations over a 25-year period. LandAid are the properly industry charity, bringing together remarkable businesses and individuals from across the property industry and wider built environment to support projects that provide life-changing accommodation for young people facing homelessness. He works with the Board of Trustees to ensure LandAid has a clear strategy and is equipped to deliver that strategy. He leads a small leadership team, who in turn lead their larger – but still small – and outstanding team. He brings a passionate determination to everything LandAid can do to end youth homelessness across the UK, and a commitment to making LandAid a great partner to work with. He is always impressed by the best that the property industry can achieve and sees huge potential in its companies and staff working together to achieve social change.

Akanksha Soni

Reporter
EG

Soni is the residential reporter at EG. Akanksha covers news and analysis on all residential sectors in the UK including BTR, PBSA, co-living and policy. She has been with EG for two and a half years and has delivered content to EG’s readership across all platforms – print, online and audio. 

Akanksha has developed an expert insight into the living sector breaking big news stories and uncovering the latest plans and policies to help build growth in the sector. She has sat down with some of the biggest names across the residential industry to deliver the best of EG’s EG interviews. 

She is passionate about the residential sectors role in the wider real estate industry and is fast becoming the go-to host on deep dive roundtable discussions into some of the biggest and most important challenges facing the living sector today. 

Andrew Davey

Head of Liability-Aware Strategies and Affordable Housing
CBRE Investment Management

Andrew Davey is Head of Liability-Aware Strategies and Affordable Housing. He is the Fund Manager of the CBRE UK Affordable Housing Fund, overseeing the Fund’s investment strategy and capital deployment. As part of the UK Residential Investment vertical, Andrew leads the implementation of strategy, sourcing and execution of UK residential transactions with a focus upon the UK Affordable Housing Fund. Based in London, Andrew joined the Firm in 2018 and is also a member of the CBRE Investment Management (CBRE IM) UK Portfolio Oversight Committee. 

Andrew has over 15 years of industry experience. Previously he served as an Investment Manager for a UK-based private property company, He also had prior roles at Aviva Investors, primarily focused on acquisitions and fund management for a range of long income funds.  During his time at Aviva Investors, Andrew was responsible for over £1.2 billion of long income transactions spanning all sectors and structures including ground rents, income strips and conventional long lease transactions.

Andrew is a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and is FCA approved, having obtained the Investment Management Certificate in 2007. Andrew graduated from the City University, Cass Business School in 2007 with a BSc (Hons) degree in Real Estate Investment and Finance.