Property comment - an eye to the future

Landowners may feel now is not the time to sell a site with the current housing market showing a slowdown in prices. However, due to the complex, and sometimes protracted, nature of the planning system, developers are looking ahead and seeking sites to begin work on in 18 months to two years’ time.

There is still competition out there for sites that are subject to planning. The planning system means nothing happens tomorrow and developers are looking ahead and good sites are still being competitively fought over.

The biggest issue facing landowners with development sites that already have planning consent, is the lack of liquidity in the market. This means that deals will need to be more creative to allow landowners to maximise the land’s value, and this could be in the form of joint ventures, deferred payments or other financial mechanisms that assist a project’s cashflow.

The biggest issue facing landowners is the lack of liquidity in the market

Developers are primarily looking for sites with potential for houses rather than flats, and now may not be a bad time to start working on land with that potential.

For example, the cost of holding commercial property is now much greater with the loss of empty rate exemptions and owners may decide that now is a sensible time to look at all redevelopment options.

Landowners still need professional advice to make sure they secure the right development in the right place and therefore achieve the best price for a plot. Now is a good time to act, especially if you are paying rates on land and buildings which are doing nothing.

Mark Linington is a director of RPC Land and New homes. For more information, tel: 01622 691911

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