Tom is an Associate in the JLL EMEA Living Research & Strategy team. Tom has been in the team for over four years, and works across the Living real estate spectrum, spanning student housing, coliving, multifamily, later living and healthcare. He leads on JLL’s thought leadership for the sector – including a pioneering European coliving report in 2019 – and works on strategic consultancy projects for some of the region’s largest real estate investors. Tom focuses on a data-driven approach to understanding the market, picking out key long-term trends and short-term disruptors to investment performance, working closely with brokers and investors alike. Prior to his role at JLL, Tom worked in the research team at Centre for London, a think-tank dedicated to solving London’s most pressing issues through writing research pieces, holding events, and influencing stakeholders.

Ed is an Associate Director at Assael Architecture in London, and has worked at the practice for over 10 years. Ed has a range of experience within the residential sector at both planning and implementation stages. More recently, over the past four years, he has been leading Assael’s experience and research in large-scale co-living, with two schemes in Wandsworth for Halcyon Developments and DTZi. These developments, born out of ‘The Collective’, will be some of the first purpose-built co-living schemes in South London, with Sunday Mills in Earlsfield opening this Autumn and Florence Dock in Battersea launching next year. With a focus on contextual design and the residents experience, Ed has a keen interest in the evolution of the sector and the role it plays in our cities.

Sophie Chick runs the research and advisory services for ULI in Europe. She is responsible for developing and delivering original, objective research on a wide range of issues related to land use, climate change and sustainability, real estate development and investment, and the built environment. Prior to joining ULI, Sophie was the head of department for Savills World Research team and the lead researcher on ESG in the Urban Environment. Working across all property sectors, she delivered market leading research on global real estate markets and the international forces that shape them. Before her global role, she moved to Sydney, Australia in 2016 for two years, where she set up a residential research department for Savills. This role was followed by a period at Mirvac, an Australian owner and developer, which saw her working closely with the capital transaction team to best understand risks and opportunities for potential purchases and sales. Sophie began her career at Savills in 2010 in the UK residential research team.

Wietse Verheul, Manager Commercial Support at Amvest has a hospitality background in real estate and has been involved with community- and service concepts throughout his career. For Amvest, he manages the co-living and co-housing brands.

Pieter Klomp is head of urban design at the Department of Urban Planning and Sustainability of the municipality of Amsterdam. As such he contributes to planning and shaping the development of Amsterdam, towards a highly qualitative and sustainable urban environment. Pieter is a graduated landschape architect from Wageningen University and holds a MBA degree from TiasNimbas/Bradford University. He has been working as planner and designer in the private and public sector, has been leading design teams in both urban planning and public space design, and has been supervisor of the regeneration of the Amsterdam Northern IJ-banks for over a decade. He has been leading the municipal 2015-2025 growth strategy in planning and securing sufficient development capacity to enable a continuing growth and densification of the city of Amsterdam.

Lasse Haarstark leads the international expansion of Habyt. The global coliving brand reached its market leader status with 10.000 units under management in 11 countries, following its strong tech-enabled and community-focus strategy and the successful execution of several M&As. Habyt expanded into France, Belgium, Austria, Japan, Singapore and Hongkong this year and is growing its portfolio in 21 existing markets. Lasse manages a 14 people expansion team and is responsible for the strategy and execution of local and new markets by securing lease or management contracts from developers and institutional landlords. In addition, Lasse acts as Managing Director for the Dutch and German entities. He has an engineering background and prior to Habyt, he worked for Goldman Sachs in its Real Estate Investment division.