O’Riordan Bond Land and New Homes was asked last year to advise on a parcel of land in Northampton where the vendor had already received some advice, but was not satisfied that the agent had fully maximised the potential sales value.

Upon first inspection the land appeared to fit within current guidelines but a couple of key variables had been overlooked.

Firstly, the density on the site was too low under PPG3 (Planning Permission Guidance Three). Not only was this not following guidelines it was also failing to maximise the potential sales value of the land.

Secondly, the road that had been proposed into the site was in breach of highways requirements as it was too close to a corner. The owner had also not been informed that with the volume of houses proposed on the site that the road would have to be constructed to adopted standard, which would cost far more than initially expected.

After the initial meeting, we arrange to visit the vendors architects and discussed the sites density and subsequent requirements for an adopted highway. We then reviewed the actual house designs and sizes, establishing that the layouts for the houses were almost perfect but they were in danger of being over sized. As an agent O’Riordan Bond is able to  profile buyers of the properties accurately through its wide area network applicant database, the largest in the region to ensure the product is competitive and that the ratio between investment and return are the best they can possible be.

The outcome has been a seven percent reduction in gross internal square footage and a development up lift in unit density to eleven percent. The site will now be cheaper to build per unit , with more units on the development making the scheme far more profitable with an anticipated  return on investment  in-excess of thirty percent.

The scheme is currently at planning stage and construction is expected to begin in the autumn of 2005.

O'Riordan Bond Land and New Homes has been retained to handle all aspect of the marketing from brochures and  site office along with staffing and branch support form the twenty two branches across the Northampton and Milton Keynes regions.

O'Riordan Bond currently has over twenty active developments under its control across Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire so if you would be interested in discussing you individual requirements please contact Tim Macintosh on (01604) 814500 or e-mail on landandnewhomes@oriordanbond.co.uk.