Are modern methods of construction really the answer to the UK’s housing crisis, or are there deeper challenges holding back development? Michael Keaveny, Director of Land and Development at Grainger PLC, to further discuss the realities of property development in the UK.

They discuss why innovation alone isn’t enough, how regulations like Gateway 2 impact viability, and what’s really needed to deliver more affordable housing. This conversation will give you a clearer understanding of the obstacles, and opportunities, that are shaping the UK´s home building industry.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

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  Innovation, including Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), is not a silver bullet.

  
  


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  Builders are not Luddites; if a new way of doing things is better and cheaper, they adopt it.

  
  


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  At Grainger, specialist subcontractors who have the expertise to ensure each system e.g. Foundations and cladding are installed correctly and efficiently, do the design. Making the building more practical and buildable.

  
  


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  Most of the time building rules are made by people who have no practical experience of building homes. If you've got a lot of money going out before any starts coming in, it completely changes the numbers and makes things unviable.

  
  


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  Banning off-plan sales to international investors makes it much harder to finance and build new homes.

  
  


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  High construction costs and slim margins mean it’s not viable for developers to build homes that ordinary people can afford. It is far too big of a risk.

  
  


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  Without external financial support, e.g. subsidies, affordable housing isn’t viable under current market conditions.

  
  

BEST MOMENTS

“If it’s more expensive than traditional building, it’s got no business case.”

“Gateway two has stopped a load of schemes coming forward.”

“The only way we could build much cheaper flats is if the cost of construction dropped.”

“The message is getting through because development has stopped.”

“People who would head towards nimbyism, what they're really voting for is really to block the next generation.”

EPISODE RESOURCES

Part 1 - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/land-planning-and-viability-the-hidden/id1750859336?i=1000729415826

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 multi-million-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/