WHY DO LAND OWNERS NEED OUR HELP?
Unless they have a considerable amount of money, a time frame of up to 3 years and experience in running a large team of professionals, we believe our assistance would help imeasureably.
Even a simple application for a few houses usually requires public consultation and may need any or all of the following – surveyors, planning consultants, architects, ecologists, tree consultants, highways engineers, drainage engineers, archaeologists, flooding experts, noise consultants, air quality experts, conservation and right of light consultants – any minor complaint from the public, however unfounded, often requires a professional report.
On larger sites it gets more challenging and costs can easily run into hundreds of thousands of pounds. Each site requires specialist knowledge and experience to determine the most efficient layout, house-types to optimise the build-to-sale ratio, how best to tackle the Local Authority regarding policy and Section 106 contributions or how to go about choosing the most cost-effective social housing options. Any of these decisions can have a very material effect on the final price.
WHAT ARE THE ALTERNATIVES?
The usual alternatives are to sell unconditionally at a discounted price to reflect the risks or enter into an option or conditional contract with a housebuilder. The problems with the former are:
An additional problem with the latter is that the two parties to the agreement have diverging interests. The landowner wants the most valuable planning permission and sell at the highest price whereas the housebuilder wants a permission that suits their company’s products at the cheapest possible price. They will also want to mitigate risk if unforeseen problems occur and/or the market for housing deteriorates.
Our solution: Codex Land is a specialist land company that controls the project, provides the promotional budget, runs the planning exercise and crucially has identical aims to the landowner. Our services are paid for from the proceeds of a successful sale. We are able to help land owners when their project is just begining or in situations that are ongoing but need an injection of capital and expertise.
finding a credible partner
in this age of uncertainty for both the planning process and housing market, the discount required by housebuilders needs to be substantial