The Association for Rental Living (ARL) – the membership body for all institutionally backed, professionally managed purpose-built BTR blocks – has launched an initiative to ‘up its game’.

This includes sharing knowledge among operators across the rental living sector, developing best practice and identifying areas of focus for the ARL.

Louise Bangee of Urbanbubble and Freya Richard of Vertus (main image) will co-chair the Committee, supported by expert members from across the rental living sector. They will build on the outstanding work of the previous Operations Committee, led by Russell Markou of Cortland and Kevin Watson of PLATFORM_.

Initial areas of focus falling within the committee’s remit include salary benchmarking, security and bike theft, Building Safety Act issues, the practical implications of the Renters’ Rights Bill and minimum professional qualification requirements.

Driving change

Louise commented: “As Co-chair, I am really looking forward to working alongside Freya and the committee, to use our combined experience across three sectors to truly make a difference. By exchanging best practices, constructively challenging each other and nurturing industry growth, we have a great opportunity to shape the BTR future.”

“Having been a part of the previous committee for the last couple of years, I am delighted to step into the role of co-chair alongside Louise,” added Freya. “Our committee members have such a wealth of knowledge and experience and I am confident we can deliver some really tangible support and guidance for the industry.”

In addition to the co-chairs, there are more than 10 other ARL committee members including Olly Canver from Essential Living, Sakina Murtaza of Related Argent, Tom Lord from Greystar, Russell Markou from Cortland and Quintain Living’s Grace Oyesoro.