Rory Wilkinson, digital editor of Show House, recently caught up with Nathan Wise, leasing director at Quintain Living, to find out more about his role, the company and what needs to be done to help the BtR sector and the wider industry.
Quintain Living were awarded Gold for Best Apartment Scheme and Bronze for Best Build-to-Rent Developer at the WhatHouse? Awards 2025.
Please tell us about yourself and your role
I’m Nathan Wise and I joined Quintain Living in 2023 as leasing director. The lure of London was very strong, so after working in property management in California since 2007, I tapped into my international property network and opened a conversation with a former colleague who was already at Quintain. My experience was a good fit. In my last role at Essex Property Trust – one of the largest real estate companies in the US – I managed more than 4,000 rental apartments in 21 communities, with a team that exceeded 100.
From your perspective, what is the biggest challenge facing your sector of the industry?
In the Build-to-Rent sector, the biggest challenges we’re facing are construction costs and investment costs. On the construction side of things, it’s the capital, but also the human capital, which presents a different challenge, ensuring that you have a strong, qualified team in place to deliver the project. That requires finding the right people in the right numbers and being able to provide the right financial incentives to attract the best people.
Is there anything you would like to be done as a solution to those challenges?
I’ve only been here post-Brexit, but from what I understand, previous to Brexit, it was easier to find labour. There’s a well-reported shortage of construction skills that is impacting the BtR sector and the wider housebuilding industry, so anything that can be done be to encourage more people into the industry would be a great help.
One of the questions that is constantly asked in construction is whether enough is being done to address the labour gap?
From talking to the construction team at Quintain when they were finishing up construction on both our Solar and Lunar schemes, I was very impressed with some of the programmes they had to help young people into the industry. I met some team members who were very early in their careers, and they were telling me about their apprenticeships and programmes they had been on, and how excited they are to continue growing and learning in their respective fields. To me, this highlighted the fantastic opportunities that are available through different contractors and developers, and across different labour types, but I’m sure there is even more that can be done on a national level to highlight the opportunities available in construction for young people, which can only be a positive for the industry.
How do you think the recent government policies will impact housing delivery?
I think a lot of the policy updates were done with the best intentions, like addressing and improving the health and safety of residents, which is very important.
I think with any new policy, there also needs to be an avenue to that will allow the process to progress smoothly and have its intended impact, as well as ensuring that the changes are in place and that the industry is educated on the changes so that everybody impacted by the new policy knows how to adapt and work with it.
Do you think there’s too much red tape in your specific sector?
I see myself as lucky as I focus on the leasing of schemes rather than deal with all the red tape that goes into getting them built, but I know our development team worked really hard to ensure that Solar received Gateway approval and worked closely with Brent Council, and even spoke to the House of Lords about the process to help them identify issues that could be streamlined to make it more efficient for both parties.
What changes would you like to see in the housebuilding industry?
For me, bringing down the cost is key and the only way we’re realistically going to achieve that is by having enough housing for everyone. A big part of that is ensuring we have a healthy mix of housing stock too. There is a very high level of demand that the current housing stock isn’t addressing, so we need to see a continued growth of a broad mix of products to provide for the wide range of needs across the country.
What does the future hold for the business?
The end of 2025 saw us soft launch our Solar apartment scheme, which was a real milestone as it was the first BtR building to receive Gateway 3 approval. 2026 will see us market Solar more aggressively to both the discount and open markets.
Following this, Quintain plans to pause on immediate construction activity until we see an improvement in market conditions. We’ll keep an eye on the US to see what happens with the mid-term elections, which may impact the appetite for investment in Europe.
We also need to regroup to fully understand what the Renters’ Rights Act means for the BtR sector, although Quintain is robust enough to adapt.
In the long term, we still have a pipeline of development here in Wembley Park, and we’ll work closely with the council to determine what that looks like. New building regulations may mean some changes to the initial plans, but over the next decade, we expect to progress with our pipeline in the area.
Read more about Nathan Wise, Quintain Living and the company’s wins at last year’s WhatHouse? Awards in the latest issue of Show House magazine.
