Developer guides
Practical, evidence-first guides for UK developers, from the team behind Threshold. Browse live data by area: £/sqft for residential and care demand & bed supply.
Residential land & new-build 24 guides
Price per square foot (£/sqft) explained for UK property developers
What £/sqft really means, how to calculate it from sold prices and floor areas, why it beats headline prices for appraising new-build schemes, and the pitfalls to avoid.
Residual land value: how to calculate the maximum you should bid for a site
The residual land value method step by step: GDV, build costs, fees, finance and profit — with a worked example showing how developers set a maximum land bid.
Finding new-build comparables: the evidence developers actually need
How to find genuine new-build sold comparables, why the Land Registry new-build flag matters, the new-build premium, and how to use resale evidence when new-build comps are thin.
Sales rate (absorption): the number your lender will ask about
What absorption (sales rate) means for a new-build scheme, how to derive it from the sold dates of nearby sites, and how it drives cashflow, finance costs and scheme sizing.
EPC floor-area data: the missing half of UK sold-price evidence
How the EPC register provides floor areas for per-sqft analysis, how it joins to Land Registry sold prices, what habitable rooms tell you about bedrooms, and the limits of the data.
How to appraise a development site in five steps
A practical five-step site appraisal method for UK developers: evidence radius, £/sqft analysis, achievable pricing per house type, sales rate, and the residual land bid.
The new-build premium: what it really is and how to measure it locally
Why new homes sell for more per square foot than resale, why the premium varies wildly by area, and how to measure your local premium from Land Registry evidence instead of assuming one.
Indexing comparables with the UK House Price Index: old sales in today's money
How to bring 2021 or 2022 sold prices into today's money with the UK House Price Index, why unindexed comps quietly wreck appraisals, and the limits of indexation.
GDV: calculating gross development value a lender will believe
A practical method for calculating GDV for a residential scheme: evidence-based £/sqft, per-unit pricing, mix effects, and the errors that make lenders discount your number.
What development lenders actually test in your appraisal
The five things development finance lenders stress-test — GDV evidence, profit on cost, sales rate, sensitivity and exit assumptions — and how to present each one.
Choosing the right comparables radius (and when to break your own rule)
How to pick a defensible evidence radius for site appraisal: urban vs rural defaults, market-boundary checks, and the trade-off between more comps and wrong comps.
Choosing your unit mix from market evidence, not habit
How sold evidence should shape the mix of house types on a scheme: per-type £/sqft, depth of demand by bed band, absorption by product, and density trade-offs.
Appraising flats vs houses: where the same method needs different care
Why flats price differently per square foot: tenure and service charges, block effects, lender caution and absorption differences — and how to adjust your appraisal method.
Off-plan sales: what the sold data can and cannot tell you
How off-plan selling shapes registered sold data, what completion-date clusters reveal about a competitor scheme, and how to set off-plan pricing from evidence.
Finding development sites: reading the data before the land agents call
Data-led site sourcing: using £/sqft gradients, new-build premiums and absorption evidence to decide where to hunt for land before opportunities are marketed.
Pricing planning risk into land offers
How to structure and price land offers when planning is uncertain: probability-weighting the residual, options and conditionals, and what the value evidence contributes.
Build cost per square foot for UK new-build housing
Estimating new-build construction cost per square foot: shell versus all-in, what drives the rate, BCIS and QS sources, and how it feeds your residual land bid.
Section 106 and the Community Infrastructure Levy explained
Section 106 versus the Community Infrastructure Levy: what each is, how they differ, and how developers factor both into GDV and viability before bidding.
Development viability assessments and the NPPF
How viability works in English planning: the NPPF and PPG, benchmark land value, competitive return, and the link to affordable housing and Section 106.
Option agreements vs promotion agreements
Option agreements versus promotion agreements: how each works, who carries planning risk, how the landowner is paid, and which suits a developer or promoter.
Permitted development rights for housing: the appraisal view
How permitted development rights deliver homes in England: office and commercial-to-residential conversions, prior approval, and the appraisal impact.
Gross to net developable area: the number behind every land bid
Gross site area versus net developable area: what eats the difference, typical net-to-gross ratios, density, and why it must come before any GDV maths.
Affordable housing requirements and what they do to land value
Affordable housing tenures explained (social rent, affordable rent, shared ownership, First Homes), why the proportion varies, and how it hits land value.
Brownfield vs greenfield: how each shows up in a site appraisal
Brownfield versus greenfield development: definitions, remediation and abnormal costs, planning support, and how each shows up in a site appraisal.
Care homes & later living 12 guides
How to appraise a care home development site
Appraise a care home site from CQC and ONS data: the four questions every scheme turns on, from over-85 catchment demand to the maximum land bid it supports.
Care home bed demand: beds per 100 people aged 85+
Why the 85+ population drives care bed demand, how to read beds per 100 aged 85+ against the 32.5 national benchmark, and how to size an undersupplied area.
CQC ratings explained for care home developers
What Outstanding, Good, Requires improvement and Inadequate mean for care homes, and why the CQC rating mix in a catchment is a development signal.
Care home residual land appraisal: from value per bed to your land bid
The residual method for a care scheme: value per bed, build cost, fees, finance and profit back to a maximum land bid, with a full worked example.
Later living vs care home vs nursing home: definitions and demand
Residential care, nursing homes and retirement or extra-care living serve different residents and catchments. Why developers must get the distinction right.
Ageing population projections and care demand to 2043
Why the 2043 horizon matters: the ONS projects England's over-85 population up about 65%, so a care market that looks balanced today can be short in 15 years.
Care home occupancy, fees and revenue explained
How occupancy, weekly fees and value per bed turn a care scheme into revenue, and how that capital value feeds a residual land appraisal and land bid.
Nursing, residential and dementia registration explained
Residential, nursing and dementia CQC registration: what each means operationally, and how to read the registration mix of competing homes as a demand gap.
Care home catchment analysis: defining and reading a demand area
How to define a care home catchment by drive-time or radius, count the over-85 population and competing CQC beds within reach, and read what its size reveals.
Where care beds are undersupplied in England: a data-led method
A data-led way to spot care-bed undersupply: the beds-per-100-aged-85+ method, why balanced markets face 2043 shortfalls, and how to screen England quickly.
Care home planning and use class: a practical developer guide
How care schemes sit in English planning: Class C2 versus C3 and specialist housing, what planners weigh, and why an evidenced local need case strengthens it.
Self-funders vs local-authority residents: care demand by pool
The two care demand pools, self-funders and local-authority residents: why the mix varies by area and shapes fees, viability and the addressable market.