European residential real estate company Heimstaden has appointed Christian Birrell as managing director/head of UK Investments to help realise its growth ambitions in the UK and to expand its local investment team.
Bringing over 10 years of real estate experience, Birrell joins from DTZ Investors, where he led its residential business for the last six years.
Heimstaden chief investment officer Christian Fladeland said: 'We are thrilled to have Christian as part of our team. As an evergreen residential real estate investor and manager with growth ambitions across the UK market, we are very excited to establish a strong local investment team with best-in-class profiles.
'With Christian’s skill set and broad experience, we are confident he will play a key role in growing our local presence and executing our growth strategy in the UK.'
Heimstaden is Europe’s second largest residential real estate company, serving more than 300,000 customers in 10 countries. In 2021, Heimstaden invested SEK 144 bn (€14 bn) in the European residential market, including its first investments in the UK through the forward purchase of 752 homes under development in Birmingham and around 60 more homes in the Greater London area.
Said Birrell: 'I am eager to get started. We have the advantage of scale and data from the 150,000 homes we own across Europe, which give us the operational experience and efficiency to quickly establish a substantial portfolio in the UK as well as a strong local investment team.
'We are already working on many exciting opportunities and actively looking for more investment deals and development partners to help us deliver high quality, affordable rental homes across the UK.'
