Rapleys continues growth strategy as affordable housing consultancy joins the business

• S106 Affordable Housing Ltd joins market leading development consultancy team
• MD Simon Corp becomes partner focusing on viability and AH Consulting work
• Third acquisition for Rapleys in six months

Rapleys has today announced that it has welcomed S106 Affordable Housing Ltd (S106 AH) into its business in its third corporate expansion in just six months. Rapleys has been on a strategic growth drive having added property consultancy firm Aston Rose in December and planning practice CSJ in October.

Rapleys also rebranded and repositioned the business in November with residential one of four core divisions. S106 AH will become part of the development consulting team, further strengthening the partnership’s market leading affordable housing offer.

S106 AH was set up in 2012 by Simon Corp as a consulting business focussing on recurring viability assessment work for private developers, landowners, planners & architects and Housing Associations. The other half of the business centres around introducing sites with Affordable Housing opportunities to Registered Providers, bringing stakeholders together to deliver sites while advising them on affordable housing in a consultancy capacity. The company’s core clients including large Southern based developers Fortitudo Group and Malins Group and Housing Associations Vivid Homes and Silva Homes will become clients of Rapleys.

As part of the acquisition, Managing Director of S106 AH Simon Corp becomes a partner, working with Nick Fell as head of Residential, and the wider team leading on viability assessment and affordable housing consultancy using his 30 years’ experience in these fields both in an advisory and in-house capacity. He also brings a new specialist capability to the team with his experience and track record in forming ‘For Profit’ Registered Providers of affordable housing organisations, where private companies can obtain RP status to fulfil typical s106 requirements to acquire and manage affordable housing.

Simon Corp said: “Rapleys is undoubtedly a leader in affordable housing and one of the only players that can provide holistic AH services at each stage of the development lifecycle, which was hugely attractive to our existing business. Clients will benefit from the same high-quality level of service they received from S106 AH, while being able to access a wider array of advice, expertise, reach and network that Rapleys has to offer them.”

Nick Fell, head of residential at Rapleys, said: “We have been working on our growth plan with residential one of four core divisions the business is focussed around. Simon and his business have a huge track record, loyal clients and unique client-side insight into the challenges that Housing Associations face, which will strengthen our expertise in this area and add huge value to our existing clients, and the team itself.”

Simon will be based at the London office but, as with all of Rapleys’ people, will have a hybrid working role.

In addition to its four divisions, Rapleys offers services across 12 core industries. In addition to Residential and Affordable Housing, these are Automotive & Roadside, Care & Retirement, Charities Not for Profit, Education, Health & Animal Welfare, Industrial & Logistics, Life Sciences, Local Authority, Offices, Retail & Leisure, and Transport & Infrastructure – and seven regional offices in Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Huntingdon and Manchester and London.

Financial details of the deal are undisclosed.