Property manager creates subsidiary to focus on built-to-rent

Residential property manager Native Group has split its business in two to create subsidiaries, one of which will focus on its build-to-rent properties. 

The firm’s 2,000 units it already manages and a further 2,000 in the contracted pipeline will now be operated by the newly-created Native Residential. A new senior management team has been created to run the built-to-rent management company. 

The parent group, which operates assets worth £2.5bn, also manages hotels and this side of the business will now be run by the second subsidiary, Native Places. 

Guy Nixon, chief executive and founder of the Native Group, will oversee Native Residential and said the reorganisation will allow the business to go “from strength to strength as built-to-rent continues to solidify its reputation for providing long-term stable returns for investors”. 

The group’s clients currently include institutional, private equity, local authority and high-net-worth investors. 

Native Residential will go forward with a series of new clients, including the property investment firm Ridgeback Group/AIMCo, investment management company Invesco, real estate operating organisation City Developments Limited and Woking Borough Council. It said it had doubled its employee numbers in 2022 and claimed to be the “fastest growing independent operator in the build-to-rent sector”. 

The leadership team has been created from internal promotions and new appointments. Rajiv Mehta has been promoted to operations director (UK), Helen Aldridge to director of marketing & communications, Simon Wilkinson to commercial director and Alec Newton to origination director. 

It has also taken on Ushir Patel, as head of residential finance, hired from Knight Frank, Jake Matthews, as head of facilities, hired from Grainger, and Richard Clogg, head of operations South, hired from Get Living. 

Newton added: “Build-to-rent as an asset class has evolved into a sophisticated product. With increasing levels of supply starting to appear in numerous markets, Native Residential is setting itself apart by combining the strengths of our talented workforce and consistent operating procedures; creating communities with soul that generate predictable and sustainable income flows.”