Who really creates land value, who cashes in, and could changing how we tax land finally shift development from easy Greenfield wins to regenerating the brownfield sites where we actually need homes? – Tune in to find out.

Paul once again sits down with Tony Vickers to unpack why the UK housing crisis is so deep and to discuss ways to fix it. They reveal why so many developers are pushed towards easier Greenfield deals while complex brownfield sites stall despite people wanting to live there more. Paul and Tony look at how smarter land and property taxation, like that used in Hong Kong, could rebalance incentives, so that more of the right homes get delivered in the right places.

Use Paul´s Scorecard to test your current development assessment process and work out exactly how to improve it. Click here - http://bit.ly/MLASCORE or https://millbanklandacademy.scoreapp.com

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• 
  

  Land value rises because of what’s built around it e.g. new transport links,  – not what the landowner does. They sell that land at a huge premium, which means what is built on that land is expensive - the landowner gets the bonus - the people who move there effectively pay for it.

  
  


• 
  

  If we push taxes on landowners too far selling is no longer viable, so sites don’t come forward and homes don’t get built. A middle ground has to be found.

  
  


• 
  

  Most brownfield sites are too expensive and way too risky to develop. The numbers just do not stack up, so developers favour greenfield sites. Tax reform and funding can potentially be used to de-risk brownfield development and make it viable again.

  
  


• 
  

  The number of hoops developers need to jump through to meet planning and environmental regs has reached the point where many developments are no longer financially viable.

  
  


• 
  

  Well‑run planning committees with transparent processes, site visits and basic viability knowledge can unlock good schemes, while poorly run ones can kill perfectly workable projects. 

  
  


• 
  

  Better shared understanding between developers, councillors and communities about risk, viability and constraints could improve housing delivery as much as new policies or regulations.

  
  

BEST MOMENTS

“I don't think there's a lot wrong with the planning system, as Sir Jim O'Neill was indicating, it's the property tax system.”

“There's human behaviour, there's environmental costs all factored in, and what I fear is that the government has given itself this impossible target.”

“You've got to strengthen the hand of the local authorities a by allowing them to charge the full cost for developers.”

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

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

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/paulhiggsofficial

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@InsidePropertyDevelopment

This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/