Colm is an independent housing, development and regeneration expert with longstanding experience in delivering collaborative urban change programmes and successfully embedding progressive design and urbanism principles.
He is Founder and Managing Director of Soft Cities, a boutique consultancy practice offering housing market analysis, site sourcing, development management and client engagement services. He is Group Director of Capital Projects for one of the largest further education groups in the UK and also Chairs the Board of London CLT, an affordable housing organisation delivering high-quality, community-led homes on a variety of sites across the capital.
Prior to this, Colm was Founding Managing Director and CEO of a multi-award winning public development company and architecture practice which specialised in the design-led development of urban brownfield sites. After establishing Brick By Brick from scratch in 2016, he grew it to become a national leader in municipal housing development with an annual turnover of c£100m and a portfolio of c800 multi-tenure homes completed across multiple London sites.
Colm has held a variety of other senior positions in local and regional government for over 20 years, working collaboratively with private and public sector partners to deliver major housing and regeneration programmes. This included time at LB Newham as Director of Regeneration and Planning, at LB Croydon as Director of Development and at the Homes and Communities Agency/Greater London Authority leading on strategic development projects throughout London.
He holds masters degrees in Economics, Politics and Urban Design and is a regular contributor to housing, architecture and construction related publications promoting equitable housing models, good design and responsible urbanism.