Knight Frank appoints Louis Harding as Head of Residential business in UAE
Knight Frank, a global property consultancy, has appointed Louis Harding as Partner and Head of Residential for its UAE business.
In the role, Harding is responsible for expanding Knight Frank’s residential business in the emirates, with a focus on scaling sales and leasing capabilities across the secondary and off-plan markets, broadening the team and developing new opportunities for clients. He also has been handed the remit to expand the firm’s offerings around exclusive developments.
Harding brings 24 years of experience across the London and Dubai property markets to the role.
Most recently, he served as Chief Executive Officer of Betterhomes, one of the UAE’s most established real estate businesses. During his tenure, the company expanded into new business lines including development sales, corporate and relocation services and so-called build-to-lease developments. He also oversaw a full rebrand of the business, introduced a new training platform and secured an affiliation with an international counterpart.
Earlier, Harding spent nearly 15 years at Foxtons, rising through the business to become Area Director with responsibility for its largest division, before joining Strutt & Parker as Head of its London residential team, where he worked extensively across London’s prime and super-prime residential markets.
Commenting on his move, Harding said: “Knight Frank has an exceptional combination of heritage, global reach and brand recognition, but also the agility and culture that comes from being a partnership. For me, that creates a significant opportunity in the UAE. I’ve joined because I see a real opportunity to bring the full strength of Knight Frank’s brand, network and expertise to more clients across the UAE.”
“The UAE residential market is also evolving. It has historically been a very high-octane and transactional market, but I believe the next phase will increasingly reward professionalism, deep market knowledge, strong relationships and consistently high standards of service. Clients are thinking globally and taking a longer-term view of their real estate, and our industry needs to do the same.”
“My focus is therefore not simply on growing the business, but on building a team and culture that can deliver against those expectations. Knight Frank already has the brand, international network and breadth of expertise. Our opportunity is to bring those strengths together with exceptional people on the ground and build a residential business that clients and colleagues trust for the long term.”
Meanwhile, at Betterhomes, Harding’s role has been taken over by Richard Waind, who has returned to the company.
