In this episode, Paul talks with Trevor Thorn the founder of Thorn Homes. He was a self-employed roofer, who became a property developer and established a roofing firm. Trevor uses private equity funding instead of borrowing from the banks, he explains why and how he does this.

They also discuss meeting the challenges that the current planning system in the UK throws up, tax planning, net zero builds, new building regs, and modular construction techniques. Trevor also touches on how he uses LandInsight, private investors, and certain FMB products.

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Educate yourself about tax and VAT. Not getting your company structure and deals right can cost you dearly.
• If you need to get someone to build for you choose the right person, which means being prepared to pay them the right money.
• Borrowing from banks has downsides, including the danger of having development funding pulled before the project is complete. Paul and Trevor share several examples during the episode of companies that lost everything because of this.
• If you do borrow from banks, don´t just use one company. You are putting all of your eggs in one basket.
• Even when you buy a plot with planning the margins are incredibly tight, so costs must be controlled, which is why Trevor builds his properties using his team.
• Planning now takes at least 12 months in most parts of the UK. Allow at least 27 months to get something built.
• Managing landowner's expectations and educating them on how it all works is part of the art of getting off-market deals done on sensible terms,
• The Federation of Small Builders (FMB) offers some powerful products developers can use. Including a warranty that the banks like and insurance.

 

BEST MOMENTS

“I don't fund anything with banks.”

“To survive and thrive, everyone needs to be aware of the problems and the ways around them.”

“Your business should be more wealthy than you are as a person, because that´s ultimately, where your  income comes from.”

“If there is bad news, just deliver it, you can´t hide it.”

EPISODE RESOURCES

https://www.thornhomes.co.uk

https://www.fmb.org.uk

ABOUT THE HOST 

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

Paul undertook his first refurb project when he was just 17 and then worked his way up from laboring 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