I Am A Property Developer – Ask Me Anything!

Reply to the comment left by "Mark Alexander" at "05/11/2013 - 19:29":

Hard luck Mark. You could easily have been outbid by a residential buyer with the same idea: they would win over you because they would save money by actually living in the bungalow and refurbishing and maybe extending it gradually, with the development plot as a bonus on the (literal) side which will go to paying off the mortgage or be a buy-to-let investment for their retirement. Or I've lost out to a builder who was prepared to accept a lower margin because he'd just built out his last house and needed to keep his lads and other family members employed: it can be surprising what margins people are prepared to accept as long as they can keep working and pulling in an income, even if they're not making much of a profit.

Reply to the comment left by "Tony Atkins" at "05/11/2013 - 16:34":

Thanks Tony, that's a comprehensive and very useful response. It completely clarifies matters for one potential project.

Cheers, Ed

Hi Tony

I am looking for guidance as to a solicitor to setup a Deed of Trust transferring beneficial ownership for a couple of existing BTL properties and two more I am hoping to purchase this year.

I am also looking for an accountant experienced in handling a Limited Company with such assets.

I see you have mentioned doing this yourself and would appreciate your advice for a new property investor.

I have researched the advantages/disadvantages of different approaches and read a book by Carl Bagley on the subject which has convinced me this is the route to go down.

Any help you could give would be gratefully appreciated.

Regards, Ian

Reply to the comment left by "Ian Clifford" at "16/01/2014 - 17:44":

Hi Ian

The accountancy firm that I use specialise in working with people like you and I, i.e. property professionals. They are based in Norwich but have client nationwide.

They also have an awesome legal department which could deal with your Deed of Trusts to transfer beneficial interests - the link to Property118 member profile of the chap who looks after me is >>> http://www.property118.com/member/?id=452
.

Reply to the comment left by "Ian Clifford" at "16/01/2014 - 17:44":

Hello Ian,

I would recommend looking in your own area as I find it helps to be able to meet your solicitor and accountant and get to know him/her, rather than deal with a nationwide firm that claims to have expertise; I'm sure Mark's people are fine but Norwich is too far away for me and I would get nervous talking with someone purely over the phone or by email.

I would ask around other landlords and estate agents in your area, especially those who deal with professional landlords and/or developers, to see who they recommend. Local reputation has real value, provided the firm hasn't become complacent and over-full of itself. Gather some names, then have a chat with them and see who articulates themselves best and seems most on the ball for your particular situation.

Reply to the comment left by "Tony Atkins" at "17/01/2014 - 00:20":

Hi Tony

How often do you actually meet your accountant?

I probably only need to meet mine once a year, even though they are only up the road. Everything else is done by phone or email and I find that far more efficient.

I still used the same accountants when I was living in Florida.

For me, it is far more important to use a specialist firm. My accountants are landlords themselves and have been in business longer than I have. If it meant a day out and a long drive every now and again I'd still consider that to be very worthwhile.

There is merit to what you are saying too though, if there is a very good firm in your town of course. The other issue is cost, very good firms tend to charge a lot more. The one I use is based in Norwich and deal with landlords, hence their fees have to be very competitive LOL
.

Hi Tony (and the forum).

This is my first post and a question of liability..
Subject: Gas: Who is principally accountable for damage?

I recently had the misfortune of discovering an un-metered live supply at the rear of one of my properties undergoing an extensive refurbishment to bring up to a lettable condition.
The work has involved re-pointing both front and rear elevations of the mid terrace property.
There is a gas meter to the front of the property with a live supply. There was a metal pipe on the rear of the property which is unconnected and capped inside the property.
Said pipe was in the way for re-pointing, and was cut for removal, except it quickly became obvious that this was an un-metered live gas supply.

I called the gas board and find it difficult to accept liability for the cost of making safe the un-metered supply to the rear of my property when my registered metered supply is at the front of the property.

Particularly worthy of note is the fact that on an earlier project in Barnsley which had no meter, I had a hell of a job getting a meter fitted. An engineer was sent to carry out a live/dead test and was surprised to find a live supply as the property had been vacant for some time, telling me that as a matter of good practice the gas supply is cut off to vacant properties for safety.

So returning to the subject of a disused, unregistered un-metered live supply to the rear of a property. Regardless to the fact that I am responsible for cutting the pipe it is my thought that it is the negligence and mismanagement of the gas board that has lead to this loss - a loss which they *should* have already suffered had they been following good practice with respect to a long term unused supply.

Any thoughts and legal jargon to support or otherwise my argument will be gratefully received.

From a construction point of view under a CDM type arrangement the Gas board would be held accountable should there have been a disaster as they are responsible for the pipe, maintenance of and damage to, also it would be deemed as reasonably practicable for them to have made a better job of ensuring that such an accident would not be able to happen, ie capping disused supply pipes below ground level.

Kindest regards

Tony,

Very kind of you to offer your advice, which I would like to take the opportunity to tap in to.

I recently purchased a bungalow along the lines of Mark's description - derelict suburban bungalow, full refurbishment adding 20% floor space (extension), sell on.

Although in my case, let out whilst I seek planning for a new build bungalow at the bottom of the garden.

Tony, could you recommend a planning consultant that I could employ to assist me with the project? It's in the Milton Keynes area, if relevant.

I bought the plot with a view to making a small profit on refurbing the existing bungalow, upgrading and enlarging from 2 beds to 3 and a speculative punt on planning for the new build (with some sensible research).

For further clarity: The existing bungalow fronts onto a main road, the rear garden extends 54m backing onto a quieter road with 12.2m rear frontage. This road although adopted was built by a well known national developer as part of a 100 property development completed a few years ago. I of course want to create access via this new road.

Which professionals would you use to help gain planning for such a site?

I would be grateful for any advice.

Reply to the comment left by "Theodore Clouter" at "17/01/2014 - 16:11":

Theodore - presumably you don't know the history of this pipe, and there are no comparable situations in neighbouring properties? Quite possibly the original supply was at the rear, and for some reason it was moved to the front, and utility company safety policy at the time said it was acceptable simply to cap off the old pipe above ground level. I presume also you can't find a use for this unmetered supply, for example if you ever wanted to split the property into flats, this could become a new metered supply for one of the units.

I have had a similar situation, which I discovered when demolishing a house to replace it with two new ones last year. There was an unmetered supply in my garage that I had never noticed before. Maybe I was just lucky, but my gas infrastructure company made no charge to cut this back and cap it off underground: they said it was a safety issue and "one of those things" that cost them money tidying up old supply issues.

However, whatever the rights and wrongs of this situation, ultimately this unmetered gas supply is on your land and you want to get on and finish your refurbishment. I think the simplest answer is simply to pay up and get the problem fixed; they will probably just cut the pipe to below ground level and re-cap it, so I don't imagine it will be that expensive. You may be able to save costs by excavating and reinstating the ground yourself, as I know to my cost that utility companies charge a fortune for a man and a spade: you're usually far better off to do most of the work yourself, so all they do is deal with the gas.

If you want to pursue the issue of cost reimbursement, have you tried OfGem? This is the national regulator that is meant to defend customer interests in the areas of gas and electricity distribution, so they should be able to advise further.

Reply to the comment left by "martin wheeler" at "17/01/2014 - 22:49":

Hello Martin, It sounds like you have a nice project here: the access at the rear is crucial for the new bungalow. Are similar projects viable with the neighbouring properties? You may find it worthwhile to scout out your neighbours' views, although it may draw you some flak because they've already been approached by the national developer and are wedded to their back gardens, in which case you become a "garden grabber" in their eyes. The reason for considering a larger scheme is that you might be blocked with a single property because you are perceived as creating a new building line, and your local authority may discourage such scattered backland development. It all depends on the local circumstances and policy, but you may have more success if you (with others) went for three or four new houses in a line.

It definitely helps to have a planning consultant who knows your area, and since I'm not familiar with Milton Keynes, I suggest you ask around: try architects, though they may claim they have enough expertise in-house, and estate agents who have a New Homes department and may even do land promotion and development themselves. Or trawl through the planning decisions register looking for similar-sized projects, and see who was used there. You may find the same names cropping up again and again. You could even ask the local parish or town clerk or Chair of their planning and highways committee: they don't have decision-making power, but they do see every application in the area and will have formed their own opinions over the years about architects and consultants who do good work on one-off houses.

Have you checked the land ownership around the rear access road? Since this was built by a national developer, there is a strong chance that they will have retained ownership of a ransom strip between the adopted highway and your rear boundary, in which case you will have to pay a large amount of money to secure your access.

I would also check water and sewerage, gas and electricity records, to confirm you will have easy access to services at the rear. You will need to find out your local distribution companies, as distinct from your suppliers, but their records are usually free to access.

Your key professional is an architect or (cheaper) architectural technician, unless you have design skills of your own, or the in-house design team of a timber-frame supplier. A planning consultant is also invaluable if you get the impression this is going to be a sticky application. An estate agent's advice is useful if you plan to sell on, either after building the house or just by selling the plot-with-planning to a small builder or self-builder. The latter is the quickest way to get your money out but you do give up the profit in the construction work and any house price inflation while the unit is being built; equally you do save yourself all the hassle and heavy capital expenditure on the build.

Of course for the application you will also need a land surveyor, an environmental consultant to do a Phase 1 survey, possibly a bat surveyor (ask Planning), hopefully not an ecologist (the dreaded newts, badgers), and an arboriculturalist if you have any trees.