Standing room only at the ARL Annual Conference 2026 as hundreds of rental living sector professionals gather to discover, learn, and connect
The ARL is celebrating success following its flagship event, the Annual Conference on 10th November 2026.
Hundreds of delegates from across the UK convened in the City of London to discover and learn from sector-leading speakers including Professor Yolande Barnes, Dr Nero Ughwujabo, Apache Capital’s Ashley Perry and Invesco’s John German, as well as all current and former ARL CEOs and Chairs – Roger Southam, Dave Butler, Lesley Roberts, Helen Kings and Brendan Geraghty – and enjoy high-value networking opportunities.
Investors, developers, operators and suppliers came together for the ARL Annual Conference – the UK’s definitive event for Build to Rent and professional rental living, held in the Association’s 10th year – to hear discussions covering the Renters’ Rights Act, Professionalism, EDI and the Future of Rental Living, Place, People and the Role for Renting in UK Society, Building Viable Later Life Communities, an Investors’ Forward Look and what Manchesterism Means for the Rest of the UK Now.
Meanwhile, the concurrent NextGen Pathways stream brought together the sector’s emerging leaders for a unique focus on professional development, talent, careers, and networking. Sessions included an interactive investment incubator, talking heads “fishbowl” discussion on the results of the NextGen Pathways survey, lessons from a lifetime in BTR with founding partner of BTR in the UK and ARL Board Member, Martin Bellinger, and an ask the experts panel session on what a career in BTR can look like.
Brendan Geraghty, CEO, the Association for Rental Living comments: “The ARL Annual Conference was hugely successful, bringing together the rental living sector ecosystem in one place to address a wide range of issues facing the sector today and tomorrow. It was superb to see such high engagement both with the conference programme and in the exhibition space proving once again that ARL events are where better BTR business is done. My thanks to all delegates, speakers and exhibitors who attended along with our key sponsors Eversheds Sutherland, Touchstone, Loft, WTW, Vertus, RentGuarantor and Yardi.”
2026 ARL Award Winners Revealed
Following the ARL Annual Conference, delegates came together for the 2026 ARL Awards, sponsored by RentGuarantor, and tenth anniversary celebration event. Six awards were bestowed on sector stars this year with the winners as below:
Industry Shaper: Neelam Saihjpal, Operations Director VervLife
Rising Star: Esme Webb, Director, hereSAY
Culture Champion: Abba Vambe, General Manager, UNCLE Elephant & Castle
Secret Superhero: Holly Gelder, Senior Property Manager, Simple Life Management
Lifetime Achievement: Debra Yudolph, Founder and CEO, SAY Property Consultants
Decade of Dedication: Jo Green, Commercial Director, Home Made
Neelam Saihjpal winning the Industry Shaper Award, with (L) RentGuarantor’s Ben McBain and (R) ARL Chief Executive Brendan Geraghty
Neelam Saihjpal winning the Industry Shaper Award, with (L) RentGuarantor’s Ben McBain and (R) ARL Chief Executive Brendan Geraghty
Brendan Geraghty, CEO, the Association for Rental Living, comments: “Congratulations to all 2026’s ARL Award nominees and winners. We received a record number of nominations this year, a testament to the quality of those working within our sector, and it was wonderful to celebrate the winners’ success as part of the ARL’s 10th anniversary celebrations.”