Audley Retirement Villages has hired Jon Austen as its new chief financial officer.

Austen (pictured) joins Audley from real estate developers Urban&Civic where he was group finance director. He has also been chief financial officer at Arlington Securities, Pricoa Property Investment Management and Terrace Hill.

Audley now has a war chest of £600 million to invest over the next five years, for which Austen will be responsible. The money comes from a mixture of equity, development income and investment debt.

The company was acquired in December 2015 for £158 million by the Moorfield Audley Real Estate Fund (MAREF), whose backers included American and Scandinavian institutions, from the previous Moorfield fund it sat in, Moorfield Real Estate Fund II.

Audley chief executive Nick Sanderson said: “Jon’s appointment comes at a pivotal time for the company, at a point of rapid growth and huge opportunity given our recent fundraising activity. In the post referendum landscape we have a real chance to utilise our strong financial position and capitalise on any slowdown in the land market.”