Rettie & Co has strengthened its build to rent (BTR) team with the hire of Pedrom Aghabala as asset manager to lead the group’s expansion having been appointed on PfP Capital’s £150m MMR Fund.
Aghabala has more than 25 years’ experience in both the UK and US BTR markets having joined from Watsons Property Group where he was head of portfolio, block management and investment and previously managed BeRealty’s city block management portfolio in Chicago, Illinois.
The Scottish-focused residential property group’s development services division was appointed by regeneration group Places for People (PfP) to support in the delivery of one thousand affordable homes across Scotland through a £150m fund. The fund is backed by the Scottish Government which is targeting the delivery of more than 50,000 affordable homes by 2021.
Aghabala said: “Working in the BTR sector in Chicago opened my eyes to the substantial positive effect that BTR property can have on local communities and the market as a whole, in particular how imperative it is to address the lack of stock for good affordable housing. Rettie & Co is at the vanguard when it comes to BTR in Scotland and I’m excited at our opportunities as a team going forward.”
Recent research by Rettie & Co revealed that Mid-Market Rent annual housing completions have grown from only 16 units to 1,133 over the past decade and, over the last twelve months, annual MMR completions have increased by over a quarter.
Matthew Benson, Rettie’s director and head of development services, added: “Scotland is at something of a tipping point on BTR and MMR, we’re building our team accordingly and we’re extremely pleased to add someone of Pedrom’s calibre to our offering.”
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