Close Brothers Property Finance has announced the appointment of Chiara Caldwell to the newly created role of managing director of structured finance.
She is tasked with spearheading business growth across Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) and Build to Rent (BTR).
Close Brothers Property Finance, which is celebrating 50 years of development finance lending, has recently seen its loan book grow to just under £2 billion.
The bank is diversifying its proposition into the fast-growing PBSA and BTR sectors, which are currently valued at £85.8 billion and £35 billion respectively.
Caldwell (pictured) brings over 20 years of banking experience, most recently from global real estate advisor CBRE, where she was head of residential debt advisory, with responsibility for helping clients to source, structure and execute their debt requirements. Working closely with CBRE’s residential capital markets and research teams, she leveraged her sector knowledge to present attractive propositions to institutional customers looking to develop large scale private rental schemes.
Prior to joining CBRE in 2018, Caldwell spent 11 years at NatWest, most recently as head of private rented sector, where she oversaw the deployment of £1 billion in senior lending throughout the UK.
She also sits on the board of the British Property Federation’s Build to Rent committee and has advised Homes England and the Greater London Authority on initiatives to increase supply of Build to Rent homes.
Phil Hooper, chief executive officer of Close Brothers Property Finance, said: “I’m delighted that Chiara will be joining our business and helping us grow our exposure within these strongly performing asset classes. We have been lending to the development marketplace for 50 years and have a first-class, relationship-led proposition, so it feels like a natural evolution to diversify our lending offering.
“I am also pleased that she will bring some fresh perspectives around the leadership of the business, and I am happy to welcome her to the team”.
Caldwell added: “Both BTR and PBSA continue to flourish as asset classes in the UK, attracting large-scale institutional investment. While supply has been restricted over the last year, demand has continued to increase, pushing up rental growth and creating considerable sector growth potential in the coming year and beyond. Expanding into these markets will further strengthen the value proposition for borrowers.
“The relationship-led, personalised approach to lending employed by the excellent team at Close is a huge factor behind their continued success and I’m looking forward to helping the business continue its strong growth trajectory.”
