AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT MENTORING
Senior development mentoring for teams who need it.
The challenge we solve
Development teams are often expected to deliver complex, high-value schemes with less senior cover than the work demands. Officers progress quickly into roles with real delivery responsibility, but without anyone senior alongside them who has actually led a scheme of that scale through to completion. Mistakes that an experienced mentor would catch early instead surface much later, in a planning committee, a funding negotiation, or a Board or Cabinet paper.
Bringing in permanent senior capacity is not always the right answer, or even an available one. What most teams actually need is someone who has led teams and schemes at scale, available alongside their own, building their capability rather than replacing it.
Who we are
Ground Up Consulting's Affordable Housing Development Mentoring service is led by Fiona Astin, a housing and regeneration consultant with over 35 years' experience across the housing association, local authority, and residential development sectors.
Our experience is current and hard-won, not theoretical. Fiona spent a decade in senior development roles at two regional housing associations in the South West, latterly as Regional Development Director, leading teams responsible for a third of the organisation's 1,000-home annual development programme. Earlier in her career, she managed a 775-home regeneration scheme in Stockwell, London, taking direct responsibility for a major, complex programme as a relatively young officer herself. She knows what it feels like to be handed a scheme that size, and what kind of senior support actually helps.
This is mentoring grounded in having led the teams and the schemes, not in having observed them from a distance.
What we offer
We work with clients in three complementary ways. Engagements are scoped to the team and the scheme, not to a fixed product.
Embedded mentoring. Ongoing, structured support for a development officer, team lead, or small team working through a live scheme, with regular sessions tied to real decision points rather than generic training. The "build capability while the work is happening" engagement.
Capability workshops. Focused sessions for a wider development team, covering specific skills such as funding strategy, partnership structuring, or stakeholder negotiation. The "bring the whole team up together" engagement.
Sounding board advisory. Ad hoc, senior-level input ahead of a key decision, a Board or Cabinet paper, a difficult negotiation, or a scheme at a critical juncture. The "I need a second, experienced opinion before this goes further" engagement.
our specialisms
Large-scale regeneration and complex scheme leadership, including managing schemes through from feasibility to delivery.
Extra Care, cohousing, and community-led housing development, where specialist delivery models require particular mentoring depth.
Multi-agency partnership and funding structures, helping officers build the relationships a scheme depends on.
Governance navigation, supporting officers preparing papers for Cabinet, Full Council, or Board-level approval.
track record
A selection of the experience that sits behind the practice.
Regional Development Director at a regional housing association, leading teams delivering a third of the organisation's 1,000-home annual development programme.
Managed a 775-home regeneration scheme in Stockwell, London, for a London housing association, early in her career.
Provided development lifecycle support across multiple Extra Care and community-led housing schemes, working directly with officers and teams from feasibility through to delivery.
Built and sat on the boards of community-led housing organisations for several years, supporting their governance and delivery capability from the inside.
how we engage
Embedded mentoring. Typically 3 to 12 months, 1 to 2 days per week.
Capability workshops. Fixed-fee, 1 to 5 days.
Sounding board advisory. Ad hoc, fixed-fee per engagement.
Engagements priced on enquiry.
work with us
For a conversation about how we might help, get in touch.