Hanna Afolabi on People-First Development, Housing and Regeneration

What does people-first development actually look like?

Hanna Afolabi MRICS, Managing Director & Founder of Mood and Space and CEO & Founder of Black Women in Real Estate, joins host Tanisha Raffiuddin on Talking Place to explore what it means to make development work for the people who use and live in the places being created.

The conversation moves from Hanna's route into development and large-scale regeneration to a simple definition of place: people gathering. She explains why understanding end users can shape better homes and longer-lasting places, drawing on community-led development and her work with London Community Land Trust (CLT). She also looks at how build-to-hold models and purpose-built student accommodation are changing the relationship between developers, investors and the people living in their buildings.

Then the harder questions arrive. Hanna unpacks why ‘Viability’ has become such a catch-all term at a time when construction costs and borrowing rates are rising while sales values and rents are under pressure. Later, she shares the journey behind founding Black Women in Real Estate, from a first community engagement meeting in East London where the room did not reflect the diversity of the area, to a network that began with 15 black women and grew organically and now launched in New York. Her vision is clear: development should bring together public and private sectors, create genuinely mixed communities, and put the people who already call a place home at the heart of its future.

Topics Covered

People-first development and why understanding end users can improve homes and places
How build-to-hold, Build-to-Rent (BTR) and Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) are changing the incentives around long-term stewardship
Why 'Viability' has become a catch-all term in a difficult housing market
Construction costs, borrowing rates, building safety and the challenge of delivering more homes
Community engagement, representation and who gets a seat in the room
The founding and growth of Black Women in Real Estate

About Our Guest

Hanna Afolabi MRICS is Managing Director & Founder at Mood and Space, a development consultancy focused on development strategy, development management and social value. She is also CEO & Founder of Black Women in Real Estate, a network created to increase connection, visibility and representation for Black women in the sector.

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