Freehold
The brief
Freehold is a professional network for LGBTQ+ people working in the real estate sector. They provide community, events, mentoring and advocacy for members across the UK property industry.
They came to me with a website that was effectively broken. The existing build was unstable, hard to update and no longer fit for purpose. We agreed on a complete rebuild: a new WordPress site that would be reliable, easier to manage and better reflect the professionalism and warmth of the network.
Design was a collaboration between HumanKind and Lucy Smith, a Freehold board member and partner at an architecture practice, bringing together deep knowledge of the community with a strong visual eye.
The challenge
Freehold sits at the intersection of professional network, membership organisation and community space. The new site had to replace a fragile build while clarifying what Freehold offers, making events and membership central, and keeping everything manageable for a volunteer‑led team. It also needed to keep the community safe by giving the team control over who joins.
Stable, maintainable rebuild
replacing a fragile, broken website
Clear membership story
explaining who Freehold is for and what members receive
Safer membership approvals
building in review steps before applications are approved
Volunteer‑friendly editing
so a small team can update pages and events without developers
The approach
We started by mapping the core journeys: finding out what Freehold is, joining as a member, discovering events and accessing resources. The site was reorganised around clear sections — About, Join, Events and Resources — with copy that explains Freehold’s purpose in plain language.
On the membership side, we introduced an approval flow so new applications can be reviewed before they’re accepted, helping the team keep the community safe and aligned with Freehold’s purpose.
Working closely with Lucy Smith, we translated a shared visual direction into a flexible WordPress theme, rebuilt the site from the ground up, and created reusable blocks for events, calls to action and featured content. Page templates were kept simple so the team can add new events, news and resources without breaking layouts.
The outcome
The new Freehold site gives the network a stable, cohesive digital home that finally matches the strength of the community behind it. It’s easier for potential members to understand what Freehold does, see upcoming events and join, and easier for the team to keep everything up to date.
Clearer journeys for joining, exploring events and understanding the network
Faster, simpler updates for a volunteer‑led team
A more professional presence for sponsors and partners
Freehold
Location
Year
Industry
Services
Website design
Website development
Content structure
Credits
Freehold LGBT CIC
WordPress
Louise Rankin
Louise Rankin / Lucy Smith Colab