In an increasingly complex and competitive property market in the UK, investors, developers and lenders share a common challenge. Finding projects in which they can safely and profitably invest their money and time.
A growing demand for housing combined with a planning system that constrains the availability of new development sites has resulted in insufficient numbers of new properties being built and an inexorable increase in land and house prices.
This is not a new problem. Basic economics dictate that that growth in population and economic wealth on an island which contains a limited amount of space will result in an imbalance between supply and demand, pushing house prices ever higher in real terms as well as relative to people’s earnings.
The financial resources available to the UK’s large developers allows them to apply a long term strategy to this problem, by land banking and taking their time to optimise planning permission on sites. The market’s inherent supply/demand imbalance has allowed mainstream developers to adopt a mass production, cost focused mentality, resulting in the delivery of properties which are mostly anodyne, poorly designed and which feature basic, sometimes even substandard, fittings. Typically, they also offer limited choices of finish, poor customer service and refuse to customise properties to meet buyer’s needs.
Small developers lack the expertise, economies of scale and financial resources needed to acquire and develop larger sites. Investors and funders who want to put money into property development projects need confidence that the developers they work with and the projects they invest in will be delivered in a profitable and competent manner.
By adopting a design-led approach to Property Development, projects can be delivered in a profitable and cost-efficient manner, while also producing homes that feature a unique, contemporary design which is tailored around buyers’ needs. By developing on profitable foundations and working together in partnership with others, we believe that inspired design can help solve the UK’s housing crisis
At MELT Homes, we have developed a number of methods and processes which identify, evaluate and deliver property development projects in a profitable and cost-efficient manner. I enjoy sharing the philosophy which underpins our approach to property development and the methods we have developed to structure development projects in a manner that minimises risk and maximises return on capital.
We want to help people understand how to create, identify and be involved in interesting projects which make a difference and exercise their creativity to deliver exciting development projects which will leave a mark on the world.
If you’re interested in learning how to become a property developer, refining your approach to development or you’re an investor who wants to better understand how to identify property developers who know how to do it properly, please keep an eye out here or follow me on Facebook@EvanLMaindonald or @EvanMaindonald on Instagram or Twitter where I will be covering our approach in more detail.
