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Paul is joined by Andrew Black, from land buying to planning, Andrew shares his journey through the ups and downs of the property market. He talks about the challenges faced by developers, the intricacies of the planning system, and the importance of SMEs in the industry. He also discusses green belt land and the many problems planners have faced due to government mismanagement of planning laws and regulations. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Experience in both land buying and planning is crucial for success in property development, as understanding the technical aspects and being able to negotiate deals are essential.
• SME developers play a vital role in the industry, offering unique approaches and flexibility that larger developers often lack, but face significant challenges in competing and surviving.
• The planning system in the UK is under resourced and often inefficient, with frequent policy changes and a lack of understanding between government, local authorities, and developers.
• Green Belt development is a contentious issue, but not all Green Belt land is pristine countryside, and well designed developments can often actually improve previously developed Green Belt sites.
• Infrastructure provision is often disconnected from housing development, leading to public resistance and a need for better integration of development and community facilities.
• The government's approach to planning and housing has been inconsistent and often ineffective, with multiple policy changes and a failure to implement recommendations from industry reviews.

BEST MOMENTS

"It's not an easy game. It's really not, which is why so many SME developers have disappeared and they're disappearing all the time."

"The Green Belt, if you just think about the Green Belt as an entity, it's got the best spin doctors, PR spin doctors that have ever been, hasn't it?"

"I think it's more entrance into the market going to help that SMEs doing stuff differently. Seeing SMEs evolve, become bigger builders. I think that's all helpful."

"There are some really talented planners out there. If you're a local authority planner, imagine you've got a hundred cases on, ten of them are nice developments, right? Ninety of them are clearing conditions."

"This is the worst government for planning and housing I've ever seen in my 40th year now. I mean, they've just literally been off the scale diabolical."

ABOUT THE HOST 

Paul Higgs is a Chartered Planning and Development Surveyor with 40+ years' experience in land, planning and development and a 100% success track-record in winning planning consents.

Paul undertook his first refurb project when he was just 17 and then worked his way up from labouring on building sites to becoming Head of Land for renowned plc housebuilder, Barratt Developments. He managed to escape the corporate world in 2002 to set up what is now a multimillion-pound award-winning property development company, Millbank Group.  

In 2013 Paul founded the Millbank Land Academy, the UK’s first training company dedicated to property development, to teach established and aspiring developers the insider secrets the big housebuilders don’t want you to know! 

Paul is also a founding investor and former board director of the industry-leading PropTech Co, LandTech, and has lectured on Advanced Development Valuations on the MSc Property Development at London South Bank University.

CONTACT METHOD

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-higgs/?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Egoogle%2Ecom%2F&originalSubdomain=uk

Millbank Land Academy: https://www.millbanklandacademy.co.uk