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The Return - Format Update

A quick note from Anna on what is changing and why.

After putting a question out to listeners on LinkedIn, a few clear themes came back - so we’re making changes.

From next month, The Return becomes a monthly, research-led series. Each episode will distill the key insights around a sector, strategy or market shift - anchored in reports and data from leading advisers - and unpacked in terms of what it actually means for investors.

Anna is also bringing on an experienced co-host: a real estate investor with 35 years in the sector.

The goal is more clarity, with lower lift.

Next episode: out next month.

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Most property developments run late, over budget, or both.
Not because developers are lazy.

Because they’re running projects without systems.
Anjuim Moied approached development differently.

Before property, he ran businesses.
So when he started developing sites, he treated them the same way:
With systems.

→ A clearly mapped critical path
→ Project management databases
→ Software tracking every pound spent in real time

Then he bought a derelict bingo hall in Woolston (Southampton).

It had:
→ Lapsed planning
→ Heritage constraints
→ Complex foundations

Many walked away (including the previous owner).

Anjuim turned it into 10 flats + a dance studio.

→ £310k purchase
→ £1.3m build
→ £2.3m asset

43% return.

On time. On budget.

In this episode he breaks down the systems he used to deliver this project - and three other ~£2m developments.

We’re also joined by Ben Mackett from Lloyds Banking Group, who finances developments every year and shares:

→ The warning signs lenders look for
→ Where developers’ forecasts usually go wrong
→ What separates developers who deliver from those who don’t

If you’re building housing, this episode will change how you run your projects.

This episode is in association with (and thanks to) Lloyds:
https://www.lloydsbank.com/business/industry-expertise/real-estate.html?utm_source=The+Return&utm_medium=podcast+partnership&utm_campaign=sponsored+episode

Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-mackett-19709184/

Host LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclareharper/

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If you're a developer trying to get homes built right now, you're stuck between two impossible choices:

Pay what the landowner needs and lose money on the build. Or offer what the numbers say you can afford - and watch the deal die.

Traditional deals are stalling everywhere. Finance and build costs are too high, sales are too slow, and the gap between what a developer can afford to pay for land - and what the landowner will accept - has become a chasm.

But developers still want to build profitably, lenders and investors still want to back them, landowners still want to unlock value, and everyone agrees we desperately need more homes. Maybe the problem isn't a lack of motivation - it's that the traditional deal structure is outdated.

What if the answer isn't trying to find a motivated seller who can offer cheaper land, or waiting for rates to drop - but structuring the deal itself completely differently, and working with the right kind of investors?

In this episode, we're breaking down exactly how to do that, using a real case study of a deal that looked impossible on paper - a car park in Barnet owned by the Local Authority - but it got funded and is getting built anyway - with Sophie White, Regeneration Sector Head at Aviva Capital Partners, and James Scott, Co-founder and COO at Stories.

This episode is in association with (and thanks to) Lloyds:
https://www.lloydsbank.com/business/industry-expertise/real-estate.html?utm_source=The+Return&utm_medium=podcast+partnership&utm_campaign=sponsored+episode

Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmscott2/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophie-white-89378a30/

Host LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclareharper/