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Just 2% of UK real estate funds are managed by women.

1 year ago (ish) I met Juan at UKREiiF.

Our chat quickly moved from Affordable Housing deals to something personal:

Why does it still feel so hard for talented women to progress into the most senior roles in real estate investing?

We realised the issue wasn’t ambition or capability, but a set of less visible barriers around sponsorship, visibility, leadership and community.

So, long story short, we created Lead As You Are to try to resolve this.

A year later, what has surprised me most is that the solution hasn’t just been “more training”.

It’s been the combination of structured learning + an honest peer support + a safe space to be more deliberate about your career.

From our founding cohort, 4 women have secured new senior roles, 2 £100m+ deals have progressed, and 2 women have navigated job changes with great confidence and outcomes.

We have rethought how they deal with conflict, found new sponsors and advocates, and become much clearer about what they actually want. And more importantly a belief that women in real estate should be able to lead as they are.
Juan and I have learned just as much as anyone in the programme.

In the latest episode of The Return, we talk about where LAYA came from, what we’ve learned so far, and why some of the biggest barriers to progression are things we simply don’t know we don’t know.

It’s for women navigating the next stage of their careers - and leaders and advisors trying to build genuinely more diverse senior teams.

Would love to hear what you think we’re still missing.

Anna's LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclareharper/
Juan's LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/juan-du-4b30b141/
LAYA's LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/lead-as-you-are/

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There are currently 728,000 people working across real estate in the UK.

And yet, just 2% of real estate funds are managed by women.

This, despite the fact that most firms are actively trying.

And, the data shows that diverse leadership creates better commercial outcomes.

So why the gap?

I’ve spent the past year having quiet, off the record conversations with women throughout the industry, and I kept hearing the same 3 things:

Lack of role models - you can’t be what you can’t see, so imbalance creates more imbalance

Isolation - when you’re the only woman in your firm and you feel disconnected, you feel less good and frankly, in a people business, you will be way less effective

Unique challenges that it’s possible to overcome with the right support/training - from balance and boundaries to redesigning your career in a slow market - women in this sector need specific advice

The thing that broke my heart about these conversations was the fact that so many of these highly talented, high achieving women were looking at their escape plans from an industry that really needs them.

So we decided to run an experiment.

We wondered if we could bring a small group of these women together and get them to define the specific problems and frustrations they were facing…

Maybe, together, we could solve them.

And thus, Lead As You Are, a leadership programme created by and for women at Director level in real estate investment, was born.

After 12 months, the first cohort has now wrapped, featuring women from firms including Legal & General, Patron Capital, Tristan Capital Partners and Pinnacle Investments.

The response told us this needed to go further. We were massively oversubscribed for the second and third cohorts. And lots of people expressed interest who aren’t in London.

So we decided to launch a Lead As You Are podcast series - conversations with the members, helpers, and incredible guest speakers - like Dame Allison Nimmo and Jenny Buck.

In the first (mini) episode of the series, we dig into three things that stuck with us from the first cohort and where we’re going from here.

Tag anyone who might enjoy this, or who should be involved with the programme.

Host LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclareharper/

LAYA LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lead-as-you-are/

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£39 billion is going into UK affordable housing.

Sounds like a lot.

But in practice, the estimated need is 145,000 affordable homes per year.
This programme could deliver 30,000.

That gap is the opportunity for investors.

The default structure of investments has changed.

It’s no longer just:
→ debt + government grant

It’s now:
→ debt + equity + grant

Private capital isn’t optional.
It’s essential.

In our latest podcast episode, we cover:

• Who is positioned to deliver at scale
• The return profile for Affordable Housing
• How entry barriers create a competitive advantage

Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-german-2437573b/

Host LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclareharper/

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The share price of the biggest student accommodation provider fell 43% in 12 months - suggesting that confidence in the sector is starting to crack.

But in the same period, £4.3 billion was invested into UK Purpose-Built Student Accommodation.

So which number is telling the truth?

Anna Clare Harper, Director at residential investment manager Pinnacle Investments (part of Hyde, one of the UK's largest Housing Associations with 125,000 homes), and John German, Head of Living Sector Investment at $2tr global investment platform Invesco, break down:

• Why the old playbook for making money in student accommodation no longer works
• Where demand is actually going - the headline numbers hide a lot - and which university towns to avoid
• How core, core-plus and value-add investors should be positioning right now

PBSA has not broken. It has grown up. And the investors who understand the difference will be the ones who outperform the next cycle.

Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-german-2437573b/
Host LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclareharper/

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Build-to-Rent was meant to fix Britain’s housing crisis.

Then everything changed:

• Interest rates rose.
• Build costs jumped.
• New regulations hit.

And suddenly, the pipeline slowed.

That’s when Single-Family Housing stepped in.

In just 3 years, investment grew from £544M to £3.17B.

So what’s really happening here?

A long-term shift…
or investors chasing the next shiny trend?

If you’re investing in UK residential, you’re probably flooded with data.

What’s harder to find is clear thinking on what it actually means.

That’s what this episode is about.

Anna Clare Harper, Director at residential investment manager Pinnacle Investments (part of Hyde, one the UK’s largest Housing Associations with 125,000 homes) stand John German, Head of Living Sector Investment at $2tr global investment platform, Invesco, break down:

– What BTR and SFH really look like today
– Where the money is going (and why)
– How regulation is quietly reshaping the market

And most importantly:

Where to play, what to avoid, and what’s working right now.

If this is useful, share it with someone thinking about UK living sector investment.

And if there’s a topic you want us to cover next, send it through via the show notes.

Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-german-2437573b/

Host LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclareharper/

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The Return - Format Update

A quick note from Anna on what is changing and why.

After putting a question out to listeners on LinkedIn, a few clear themes came back - so we’re making changes.

From next month, The Return becomes a monthly, research-led series. Each episode will distill the key insights around a sector, strategy or market shift - anchored in reports and data from leading advisers - and unpacked in terms of what it actually means for investors.

Anna is also bringing on an experienced co-host: a real estate investor with 35 years in the sector.

The goal is more clarity, with lower lift.

Next episode: out next month.

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Most property developments run late, over budget, or both.
Not because developers are lazy.

Because they’re running projects without systems.
Anjuim Moied approached development differently.

Before property, he ran businesses.
So when he started developing sites, he treated them the same way:
With systems.

→ A clearly mapped critical path
→ Project management databases
→ Software tracking every pound spent in real time

Then he bought a derelict bingo hall in Woolston (Southampton).

It had:
→ Lapsed planning
→ Heritage constraints
→ Complex foundations

Many walked away (including the previous owner).

Anjuim turned it into 10 flats + a dance studio.

→ £310k purchase
→ £1.3m build
→ £2.3m asset

43% return.

On time. On budget.

In this episode he breaks down the systems he used to deliver this project - and three other ~£2m developments.

We’re also joined by Ben Mackett from Lloyds Banking Group, who finances developments every year and shares:

→ The warning signs lenders look for
→ Where developers’ forecasts usually go wrong
→ What separates developers who deliver from those who don’t

If you’re building housing, this episode will change how you run your projects.

This episode is in association with (and thanks to) Lloyds:
https://www.lloydsbank.com/business/industry-expertise/real-estate.html?utm_source=The+Return&utm_medium=podcast+partnership&utm_campaign=sponsored+episode

Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-mackett-19709184/

Host LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclareharper/

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If you're a developer trying to get homes built right now, you're stuck between two impossible choices:

Pay what the landowner needs and lose money on the build. Or offer what the numbers say you can afford - and watch the deal die.

Traditional deals are stalling everywhere. Finance and build costs are too high, sales are too slow, and the gap between what a developer can afford to pay for land - and what the landowner will accept - has become a chasm.

But developers still want to build profitably, lenders and investors still want to back them, landowners still want to unlock value, and everyone agrees we desperately need more homes. Maybe the problem isn't a lack of motivation - it's that the traditional deal structure is outdated.

What if the answer isn't trying to find a motivated seller who can offer cheaper land, or waiting for rates to drop - but structuring the deal itself completely differently, and working with the right kind of investors?

In this episode, we're breaking down exactly how to do that, using a real case study of a deal that looked impossible on paper - a car park in Barnet owned by the Local Authority - but it got funded and is getting built anyway - with Sophie White, Regeneration Sector Head at Aviva Capital Partners, and James Scott, Co-founder and COO at Stories.

This episode is in association with (and thanks to) Lloyds:
https://www.lloydsbank.com/business/industry-expertise/real-estate.html?utm_source=The+Return&utm_medium=podcast+partnership&utm_campaign=sponsored+episode

Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmscott2/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophie-white-89378a30/

Host LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclareharper/