Montagu Evans appoints BTR specialist Kate Brennan

Planning and development consultancy Montagu Evans has appointed Kate Brennan as a Partner and Build to Rent (BTR) lead in its Alternative Living sector team. She will join the firm in June 2021 following eight years at CBRE, where she is currently a Director in its Valuation & Advisory Services team specialising in the BTR sector.

With 18 years’ experience in residential real estate, Kate is an expert in BTR having been involved in the market since it began. Her clients include three of the largest specialist funds in the market: Grainger BTR Portfolio, L&G and M&G as well as Lendlease, Aberdeen and Hearthstone Funds.

At Montagu Evans she will be lead Partner for BTR, with a strategic focus on identifying locations, securing sites and planning, as well as capital markets activity including valuations, funding and sales.

Craig McPhail, Partner at Montagu Evans and head of its Alternative Living sector team, said: “Specialist advice is essential for unlocking BTR sites and funding mechanisms, and Kate will be a great asset to the team in this area. Her technical expertise is backed up by a much wider grounding in residential markets, ensuring that we successfully link in with the firm’s wider sector activity as well as offering strategic consultancy for institutional investors and specialist funders/operators seeking to increase exposure.

“We’re focussed on growth across all areas of the alternative living lifecycle – from PBSA/Co-Living through to Senior Living – and are looking forward to bringing in more people to work with our specialist team over the coming months.”

Kate Brennan, incoming Partner at Montagu Evans, added: “The BTR sector has huge potential and in recent times has demonstrated great resilience – not only in its own right but as a bigger part of wider residential-led and town centre regeneration projects – helping to address the challenges of urban housing supply and providing new opportunities for institutional and private investors. Montagu Evans’ approach and its focus on cross-sector collaboration was particularly attractive and I’m looking forward to working with the team and building its expertise within this space– it’s a very exciting time to be joining the partnership.”

Kate has been a Fellow of the RICS since 2015. She is a Supervisor and Counsellor for Graduates undertaking APC Assessment and Qualified APC Assessor for the RICS. She is also a mentor for the CBRE Women’s Network and sits on CBRE’s Family Friendly Board and Diversity Group.