Everyone is agreed: ONE: there is a shortage of residential property, TWO: there needs to be more, smaller residential developers active in the market to solve the problem and THREE: difficulties in accessing finance and smaller development plots is preventing them delivering what they could.
This is a CPD briefing about how to find the development opportunities and how to fund the developments.
With course directors Nitin Boodhun (Director, Lenders and Investors) from Arcadis, Richard Budge (Partner, Real Estate, Dentons UK and Middle East LLP), Jeremy Hinds (Director, National Head Retail Planning and National Planning Board) from Savills, and Victoria Hutton from 39 Essex Chambers, the course will take participants through site selection, planning and realising development potential, technical due diligence and the legal framework, and funding.
The content is practical and relevant – designed for all residential developers, their funders, investors, potential JV partners, local authority housing and planning teams, agents and advisors.
Topics covered:
- The art of finding the site – I have the land, you are a builder – together let’s do it
- Identifying growth areas and recognising site potential
- Working with relevant planning bodies and looking for common goals
- Maximising on public property assets and driving forward regeneration
- What do funders look for in pre-planning and what funding is likely for what development proposal?
- Guidelines for recognising the opportunity on the ground – maximising the planning opportunities and what to look for in optimal residential development
- How residential need is determined
- Commercial property space conversion including the expanding mixed-use development
- The effect of the duty to cooperate
- The critical issue of deliverability
- Brown field vs Green Belt – identifying brown field opportunities that meet commercial viability criteria
- Evaluating the risk of land remediation costs
- Recognising when Green Belt is a real possibility
- Check list – meeting your objectives and ensuring success in the planning process (including satisfying planning criteria)
- Engaging with the Local Plan
- Making sure you adopt a policy-focussed approach:
- Local vs national policy
- Before making the planning application
- Pre-application advice
- Environmental Assessments
- Supporting documentation
- The application
- Amending schemes post-application
- Financial matters:
- Planning obligations
- CIL
- Appeals
- The place and role of conditional contracts and option agreements
- When and why?
- Terms and conditions
- Tips and traps
- What the lender should do and what the borrower should address before the search for funds to obtain best terms – minimising the risks for all parties through thorough due diligence
- Assessment of developer’s capability, project set up and governance
- Technical review and risk profiling of development sites
- Development agreements – key watch outs
- Procurement strategies and risk transfer at development stage
- Ensuring the site/development is attractive to the funding market
- Strategies for local authorities – how local authorities must have a ‘developer’ mind-set and have the processes in place to unlock development sites and attract suitable funding for them
- Case Study: forward funding and acquisition of a new residential block/site
- What do financiers look for in JV deals - what are some of the pitfalls and concerns of funders