Watch the full episode on YouTube here

In this episode, Paul is joined by Henry Mayell, one of his business partners. Henry is the co-founder and COO of Viability, a software platform that enables homebuilders to quickly and accurately assess the viability of a potential development opportunity.

They discuss how Viability software enables developers to look at any site and quickly work out what type of homes, if any, can be profitably built on it. It can also be used to educate planners and legislators so they can quickly see how each of the additional things they ask for impacts the viability of the development. Henry also explains how Viability will help developers meet the new Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) targets.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Viability provides a step-by-step process and software to enable developers to very quickly produce an accurate development appraisal for any site. Once the relevant parameters have been fed in, the report takes seconds to generate.

• Viability software can also be a good education tool. It enables policymakers, planners and developers to quickly assess the cost impact of any proposed regulation changes.

• The software easily demonstrates to planners the impact each change they want has on costs and whether it is still viable to build on that site.

• Viability uses real-world market data, so planners are not left suspecting that the developer is trying to pull the wool over their eyes.

• Viability helps developers identify the right Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) for each project.

• What materials you use should be an integral part of the design process.

• Provided you choose the right type of MMC for each site and deploy it properly, MMC is not more expensive.
• Viability also provides early stage BNG assessments, allowing developers to understand if the biodiversity in a specific site makes it unviable.

BEST MOMENTS

“Viability gives you an automated development appraisal … in seconds, rather than in days or weeks.”

“Ultimately, to deliver the homes, we need developers to find viable development opportunities.”

“It's actually about which MMC solution is suitable for your site and allows you to maximize its potential.”

“When planners try to demand everything, all that happens is things become unviable, and they don't get anything at all.”

ABOUT THE GUEST

https://viability.site

The Times article

https://geovation.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% 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