Dr Olayiwola Oladiran
School of Geography and Planning
Senior Lecturer in Real Estate
+44 114 222 6903
Full contact details
School of Geography and Planning
C4e
Geography and Planning Building
Winter Street
Sheffield
S3 7ND
- Profile
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Olayiwola is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Real Estate, Lead Shef.AI Urban Interest Group and co-lead Innovation and Education Interest Groups at the University of Sheffield, UK. He holds a PhD in Real Estate and Urban Economics, an MSc in International Real Estate Investment and Finance, and a BTech in Estate Management. He is an RICS Chartered Surveyor (MRICS) and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). Previously, he worked as a Lecturer in Real Estate and Property Management at Leeds Beckett University and a Teaching Fellow at the Henley Business School, University of Reading. Prior to joining academia, he built his career in international real estate professional practice in the private and public sectors.
Olayiwola's research focuses on digital innovation in the built environment and workplace management. His work has been published in international journals, and he serves as a reviewer for several world-leading, internationally excellent journals. He has also presented at international conferences in North America, Africa, Asia and Europe. Olayiwola is enthusiastic about enhancing social, environmental and economic efficiency in real estate operations and services and is committed to shaping the future of real estate through innovative teaching, impactful research, and strategic collaboration.
Olayiwola welcomes enquiries from research students and post-doctoral candidates, particularly those interested in research in the following broad areas: PropTech (real estate digital technology and innovation), workspace and workplace management, operational real estate, and real estate economics.
- Qualifications
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- PhD Real Estate Economics, University of Reading.
- MSc International Real Estate Investment and Finance, Nottingham Trent University, UK
- B-Tech Estate Management, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria
- Research interests
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My current and planned research centres on innovation and digital technology in real estate (PropTech) and strategies to enhance environmental, social, economic, and physical/spatial efficiency in the built environment. My work spans a range of digital tools, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain technology, tokenisation, Internet of Things (IoT), and virtual reality (VR), and their integration across the real estate value chain. My interest also includes emerging real estate areas such as blended workplace models (BWMs), automated valuation, building information modelling (BIM), construction technology (ConTech), crowdfunding, intelligent planning systems, Metaverse, peer-to-peer lending (P2P), shared economy, smart buildings, smart cities, space-time commoditisation and virtual capital (VC). Additionally, my research covers housing and operational real estate markets.
Current and recent research projects
- Project Title: Blended Working Models (BWM): analysing contemporary workspace use and developing models for blended workspace planning and management; Funding body: The British Academy Innovation Fellowship- Researcher-led. Role: Principal Investigator (PI); Completed 2025.
- Project Title: Regulatory Framework for Generative AI Adoption in Higher Education; Funding body: Innovate UK Regulatory Science and Innovation Networks- Discovery phase. Role: Co-Investigator (Co-I); Completed 2024.
- Project Title: Generative AI use in Built Environment Education; Funding body: Research England- Leeds Beckett University EDI RDF grant. Role: Co-Investigator (Co-I); Completed 2024.
- Project Title: Developing an Integration Framework for PropTech Education; Funding body: University College of Estate Management (UCEM) Samuel Harold Research Prize 2020. Role: Principal Investigator (PI)- Completed 2021.
- Project Title: Intelligent Care for Urban Living (iCUL); Funding Body: Innovate UK. Role: Research Analyst- Completed 2019.
- Project Title: Generation and Immigration Housing Preferences in the UK and US; Funding Body: University of Reading ESRC Pump-priming grant. Role: Co-Investigator (CI); Completed 2021.
- Publications
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Books
Journal articles
- Age at arrival and immigrants’ housing outcomes: evidence from the UK. Housing Studies. View this article in WRRO
- Are the COVID-19 footprints fading? analysing dynamics in work, corporate real estate strategies and building use. Building Research & Information. View this article in WRRO
- Analysing the built environment academics’ perceptions of generative AI technology on teaching and learning practice. Cogent Education, 12(1). View this article in WRRO
- The investment and valuation nexus: exploring the perceptions of Nigerian real estate valuation professionals. Journal of Property Investment and Finance. View this article in WRRO
- Guest editorial: Digital technology and innovation in real estate – Part 1. Journal of European Real Estate Research, 18(1), 1-3.
- Technological adoption in building surveying: exploring the impacting factors and strategies for enhancing utilisation. Journal of European Real Estate Research, 18(1), 47-67.
- Did 2004 EU expansion matter to new migrants' housing tenure and settlement choices in England?. The Manchester School, 93(1), 83-102. View this article in WRRO
- COVID-19 outcomes: exploring the footprints of the pandemic on the office sector in Johannesburg, South Africa. Journal of Corporate Real Estate, 26(3), 219-236. View this article in WRRO
- The Covid-19 pandemic and office space demand dynamics. International Journal of Strategic Property Management, 27(1), 35-49. View this article in WRRO
- Implementation of lean for small- and medium-sized construction organisational improvement. Smart and Sustainable Built Environment.
- What property attributes are important to UK university students in their online accommodation search?. Journal of European Real Estate Research.
- Examining regional asymmetries in drivers of international migration
flows. The Manchester School, 90(6), 648-667. View this article in WRRO
- Why do natives and non-natives have different housing outcomes? Evidence from Britain. International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis, 12(2), 298-329.
Conference proceedings
- Workspace Dynamics: analysing stakeholders’ perspectives on workspace use and management. 31st Annual European Real Estate Society Conference
- Exploring PropTech Investment Capital Pull Factors. 29th Annual European Real Estate Society Conference
- BARRIERS TO THE ADOPTION OF SMART HOUSING CONCEPT IN AFRICAN SMART CITY PROJECTS. Redefining the Future of Real Estate in Africa: the 21st Annual AfRES Conference
- ANALYSING (A)SYMMETRIES IN STUDENT ACCOMMODATION PRICING: EVIDENCE FROM EUROPEAN STUDENT ACCOMMODATION MARKET. Redefining the Future of Real Estate in Africa: the 21st Annual AfRES Conference
- What Property Attributes are important to UK University Students in their Online Accommodation Search?. The Future of the African Real Estate Sector: What Next? The 20th Annual AfRES Conference
- What Property Attributes are Important to UK University Students in their Online Accommodation Search?. 28th Annual European Real Estate Society Conference
- Developing an Integration Framework for Property Technology (PropTech) and Innovation in Real Estate Education. The Future of the African Real Estate Sector: What Next? The 20th Annual AfRES Conference
- Developing an Integration Framework for Property Technology (PropTech) and Innovation in Real Estate Education. 28th Annual European Real Estate Society Conference
- An Analysis of the Relationship between the COVID-19-induced Remote Working and Future Office Space Demand. The Future of the African Real Estate Sector: What Next? The 20th Annual AfRES Conference
- Why do Natives and non-Natives in the United Kingdom have different Spatial Patterns?. 26th Annual European Real Estate Society Conference
- Does Migration Policy affect the Residential Pattern of Immigrants? evidence from UK quasi-experimental research. 26th Annual European Real Estate Society Conference
- Housing Tenure Patterns for British Natives and non-Natives. 25th Annual European Real Estate Society Conference
- The Drivers of Discrimination in Mortgage Lending. 24th Annual European Real Estate Society Conference
Reports
- PropTech Education Integration Framework (PEIF) : integrating innovation and digital technology in real estate higher education View this article in WRRO
Preprints
- Age at Arrival and Immigrants' Housing Tenure: Evidence from the UK, SSRN Electronic Journal.
- Age at arrival and immigrants’ housing outcomes: evidence from the UK. Housing Studies. View this article in WRRO
- Teaching activities
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I currently teach on the following modules:
- GPL219 Planning, Viability and Development
- GPL444 Real Estate Innovation and Digital Transformation
- GPL445 Applied Real Estate Valuation
- GPL449 Real Estate Investment
- GPL450 Investment Valuation
- GPL455 Planning and the Development Process
- GPL456 Real Estate Economics
PhD Supervision
I am the Primary supervisor for the following PhD student(s):
Mohamed Elshanawi, Digital Technology Adoption in the UK Residential Real Estate Market (Co-supervisors: Dr Shilpa Taneja and Professor Malcolm Tait).
I am part of the supervisory team for the following PhD student(s):Enes Aydin, Redefining Socio-spatial Inequalities through Comparative Urban Policy Analysis (Primary Supervisor: Professor Stephen Hincks; Co-supervisor: Professor John Flint)
Interested in PhD study?
I welcome enquiries from prospective PhD students who have interests in:- Innovation and Digital transformation in real estate and the built environment
- Workspace and workplace planning and management
- Operational real estate market dynamics
- Real Estate and Urban Economics