My name is Roland Shanks. I worked in student housing for over 25 years, primarily in London. Two years ago I took early retirement to do a PhD in Land Value Tax at the University of Glasgow. Since then I have also set up a consultancy company to carry out work for Universities and private providers of PBSA (Purpose Built Student Accommodation).
I completed a Masters in Urban Regeneration in 2009 and a Postgraduate Diploma in Property Development and Planning in 2017. I have also carried out a number of small scale property projects in Hungary and the Netherlands (part of the reason why I was able to retire early).
This website covers a range of blog posts designed to illustrate my skillsets and suggest potential work projects.
Amongst the subjects covered are: Mapping, Surveys, Training, PBSA design and Economics.
Random Fact about me
I once had a band named after me. As a student housing advisor, I successfully negotiated the full return of a damage deposit for a group of students studying at Camberwell College of Art. With the money from the deposit, they decided to buy instruments and set up a band. At their first gig, they hadn’t thought of a name and so decided to use mine as a stopgap. The gig was, however, very successful, so they decided that they should stick with the name.
The band lasted for several years with some reasonable success. You can hear them here.
Projects outside work
I recently passed my Day Skipper course and have bought a boat that I intend to learn to sail single-handed.
In my twenties I taught English abroad ( Spain and Turkey). I am currently relearning how to teach English with the aim of teaching refugees in Glasgow.
I am also relearning my Spanish so that I have the option of travelling and working in Spanish speaking countries.
Roland Shanks Consulting 