A fast-growing UK and European real estate investment manager has promoted Rebecca Taylor as managing director of its Build to Rent investment team to lead a £500 million drive in this growing sector.

The Long Harbour Multi-Family (‘LHMF’) investment programme will target Build to Rent developments of 150-plus units across the UK, with half a billion pounds of capital set to be ploughed into Build to Rent development in the UK within the next two years.

Taylor will lead the vehicle’s acquisition programme as it targets high-quality schemes in London, the South East and selected regional cities. The LHMF made its first investment in May 2019 with the £70m forward funding of a 166-unit scheme at Tottenham Hale with developer Berkley Square Developments.

Taylor will continue to report to James Aumonier, fund manager and executive director for Long Harbour’s Build to Rent investment programme. Aumonier is also chief operating officer and co-founder of Long Harbour.

Taylor joined Long Harbour in 2015 as an Associate Director, having spent eight years prior to this within Laing O’Rourke’s property and investment team. She brings more than 15 years of experience of development and investment projects across the UK, Australia and UAE.

Long Harbour, which was established in 2009, now employs over 100 staff with 80 based in its London headquarters.

An early entrant into the UK’s Build to Rent market, the firm has invested more than £400 million in the private rented sector over the past six years in a number of keystone assets across the UK, saying it has ‘consistently delivered on its investment targets and profiled returns’.

William Astor, chief executive at Long Harbour, said: “Rebecca’s promotion underlines our focus on the investment programme for the Long Harbour Multi Family Venture, and our ambition to invest up to half a billion pounds in high-quality Build to Rent assets. Rebecca will do an excellent job in further upscaling our Build to Rent activity and driving this approach forward.”

Rebecca Taylor herself said: “As we increase our investment activity our priority will be to identify not only the best schemes and developments but the best delivery partners. Through our Way of Life platform we will ensure our projects deliver not only the very best experience for our customers but also outperformance for investors.”

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