What separates a good scheme from a bad one

When a site lands on our desk, the first job is an honest assessment of the opportunity — before a penny is spent. Two developers can look at the same plot and reach very different conclusions, because a good scheme isn't about the site alone. It's about what you can put on it, and whether people will actually want to buy it.

If it already has planning

When a scheme comes with consent, you're really judging the quality of what's been approved. Are the layouts good — and, crucially, sellable? Are the homes the right size, or oversized in a way that just wastes money, or so tight there's nowhere to put a wardrobe? Do they meet the space standards the local plan expects? Is there parking — and does this location actually need it? In some areas a space is essential; in others it's wasted space. And above all: who is the local buyer, and will this scheme appeal to them? A scheme designed to win planning is not always a scheme designed to sell. Those are two different things.

If it doesn't have planning

Without consent, the questions shift to potential and risk. What's the deal structure — subject to planning, or unconditional — and how much risk does that put on you? What could you realistically get on the site? Is there access? What are local sales values per square foot, what's your likely build cost, and does the gap between them leave room for a profit? And if you're taking it on unconditionally, what could go wrong in planning, and can you live with it? This is where developers earn or lose money: back your judgement on what a site will take and you win; get it wrong on an unconditional deal and it hurts.

The thread through both: will it sell?

Notice what runs through both lists. It isn't “can it be built” — it's “will it sell, and for enough”. Efficiency, so you're not paying to build space no one values. The right mix for the local buyer. Parking that matches the area. Layouts people actually want to live in. A beautiful scheme that misreads its market is a bad scheme; a modest one that nails what local buyers want is a good one.

Small sites, same discipline

On a single home the checklist shrinks, but the logic is identical: is the plot right, what will the finished home be worth, what will it cost, and is there a sensible margin between the two. We appraise every site this way — for our own developments and for landowners weighing up what to do — because the assessment is where the money is made or lost, long before a brick is laid.

If you've got a site and want an honest read on whether it stacks up — and what would make it a better scheme — that's exactly the first conversation we have.