Rapleys Living launches New Homes department and appoints Mat Shenton to lead it

Published by Property Week (05.09.23), CoStar (06.09.23)

LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 – Strategic property consultancy Rapleys has launched a New Homes team under the Rapleys Living part of the business, itself launched earlier this year as part of the business’s innovation and growth strategy.

Rapleys New Homes will be led by Mat Shenton who has over 15 years’ experience in new homes sales across London and the South-East. Mat joins from JLL where he was a Director in the Residential Development team for four and a half years, dealing with a range of large scale and public sector developers. Prior to JLL, Mat spent over seven years at Savills focussing on new homes on-site sales and development consultancy.

Rapleys Living sits within the Residential Division, one of four key service offers in the organisation – and encompasses all residential agency functions including residential development agency (land acquisitions and disposals), senior living (care and retirement), student and co-living and Build to Rent (both Multifamily and Single Family Housing). The new homes team will work closely with Rapleys private and public sector clients across the UK to drive residential sales and provide strategic sales and consultancy advice to maximise new homes values.

Rapleys has had a huge growth drive over the last 12 months across all regions and disciplines. This is the second high profile and senior hire within Rapleys Living since its launch in May 2023 following Tom Spencer joining as Partner to lead the Residential Development Agency team with a focus on acquisition and disposal of residential land. Rapleys’ market leading Affordable Housing and Development Consulting team sits alongside Rapleys Living within the Residential Division. 

Angus Irvine, Partner and Head of Rapleys Living, says: “Since the launch of Rapleys Living in May, we have worked hard to continue to build the team, the offer and the success. Mat’s appointment as head of Rapleys New Homes is core to our plans for all of this. He brings a wealth of experience and will be a key part of our continued growth in the Residential Sector alongside Tom Spencer who joined us recently.

The last 12 months have been hugely transformative for our business with a new brand, several acquisitions, the reorganisation of the business around fewer core Divisions and a huge investment in people. We are continuing to look at opportunities to launch other residential agency-related services and hire talented people to further grow our expertise and knowledge in this area.”

Mat Shenton said: “I’m hugely motivated at the opportunity to join a transformative business with a strong growth plan, underpinned by further investment and a collaborative culture, and moreover, to be part of the story. Rapleys has a unique position in the market by being involved in the development lifecycle from the very beginning as land potential starts to be discussed, and that opens so many opportunities for the team to add real value. The New Homes piece of the puzzle will fit in perfectly and I can’t wait to get started.”