Épisodes

  • Architect/Developer Relationships with Cameron Straughan
    Jan 7 2026
    How can architects and developers work together to deliver projects that are financially viable, genuinely regenerative – create schemes like this that actually get built as planned? In this episode, Paul is interviewed by Cameron Straughan, a master’s student in architecture at the University of Bath, who is currently researching the realities of architect–developer relationships. Together they explore how these dynamics influence the design and delivery of housing in the UK. They cover the gaps in architects training, how land values and viability, not greedy margins, really drive what gets off the drawing board and the role planning policy, sustainability standards and build costs are currently playing in the market. KEY TAKEAWAYS Many architects qualify without spending time on a building site. That lack of hands‑on experience can lead to designs that don´t go through planning, are not financially viable or are too difficult to build. Developers need to do the land and planning analysis, so they can give a clear, detailed brief to their architect rather than saying “do me a scheme” and hoping the architect solves everything. Architects are taught a lot about sustainability and regenerative design, but very little about land economics, viability, and planning strategy – which is why many of their ideas never make it off the drawing board. The misconception that developers are greedy and making huge profits is leading to the creation of ridiculous rules that add prohibitive costs, making many schemes undeliverable. BEST MOMENTS “It's the developer’s job to understand it all and manage it all, not the architects ... don´t assume that they would always know the best thing to do.” “Build costs and different ways and techniques of building things all feeds into the equation when I give an architect an instruction.” “Architects don’t get taught about the development process.” “We can save a whole load of time not arguing and pushing for things that just don't work, if we could all get on the same page a bit more.” CAMERON STRAUGHAN LINK https://www.linkedin.com/in/cameron-straughan-43545827b/?originalSubdomain=uk ABOUT THE HOST Paul Higgs is a Chartered Planning and Development Surveyor with 40+ years; experience in land, planning and development and a 100% success track record in winning planning consents. Paul undertook his first refurb project when he was just 17 and then worked his way up from labouring on building sites to becoming Head of Land for renowned plc housebuilder, Barratt Developments. He managed to escape the corporate world in 2002 to set up what is now a multimillion-pound award-winning property development company, Millbank Group. In 2013 Paul founded the Millbank Land Academy, the UK’s first training company dedicated to property development; to teach established and aspiring developers the insider secrets the big housebuilders don’t want you to know! Paul is also a founding investor and former board director of the industry-leading PropTech Co, LandTech, and has lectured on Advanced Development Valuations on the MSc Property Development at London South Bank University. CONTACT METHOD LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-higgs Millbank Land Academy: https://www.millbanklandacademy.co.uk Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/paulhiggsofficial YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@InsidePropertyDevelopment This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/
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    57 min
  • From NIMBYs to Co‑Creators: How Communities Are Leading Development Through CLTs?
    Dec 17 2025
    This week, Tom Chance the Chief Executive of the National Community Land Trust Network joins Paul to discuss something most SME developers either haven’t heard of – or are massively underestimating - Community Land Trusts. If you’re battling viability, stuck on marginal sites, or sick of being painted as “the bad guy” in planning committees, this episode is for you. You’ll hear how CLTs can unlock land that doesn’t work at full residential land values, bring locals in as genuine partners, smooth planning, and even help with tricky Section 106 and funding challenges. Use Paul´s Scorecard to test your current development assessment process and work out exactly how to improve it. Click here - http://bit.ly/MLASCORE or https://millbanklandacademy.scoreapp.com KEY TAKEAWAYS A Community Land Trust (CLT) is a nonprofit organization that owns land and leases it long-term to individuals or groups who own the homes, gardens, etc. on the land and ensure they remain affordable when re-sold. There are already CLTs delivering schemes - everything from small village projects to a 600‑home former council estate in central London. CLTs turn locals from objectors into co‑developers – they own the land and help decide what gets built. Rural exception policies let CLTs unlock certain types of fields to be used for affordable homes. Landowners earn a reasonable amount and land that would not otherwise be financially viable for housing can be built on. CLTs often do better at planning. The real bottleneck is pre‑development cost and risk – getting to “site secured + consented” can cost £10–15k per home. When communities see the viability spreadsheet, they quickly drop the fantasy of “gold‑plated everything” – CLTs force the community to make the same hard trade‑offs on spec, standards and rent that private developers have to. BEST MOMENTS "At the heart of it is local people owning and running a democratic local sort of social enterprise that is part of the process and gives them some stake in how development takes place." "They vary from literally one or two homes in the edge of a village, to a CLT that owns a 600 home former council estate in central London.” "Landowners say, well, you've got a better chance of getting permission for this because it's being done by a CLP for affordable housing." “I describe it as policy acupuncture.” EPISODE RESOURCES https://www.communitylandtrusts.org.uk ABOUT THE HOST Paul Higgs is a Chartered Planning and Development Surveyor with 40+ years' experience in land, planning and development and a 100% success track record in winning planning consents. Paul undertook his first refurb project when he was just 17 and then worked his way up from labouring on building sites to becoming Head of Land for renowned plc housebuilder, Barratt Developments. He managed to escape the corporate world in 2002 to set up what is now a multimillion-pound award-winning property development company, Millbank Group. In 2013 Paul founded the Millbank Land Academy, the UK’s first training company dedicated to property development; to teach established and aspiring developers the insider secrets the big housebuilders don’t want you to know! Paul is also a founding investor and former board director of the industry-leading PropTech Co, LandTech, and has lectured on Advanced Development Valuations on the MSc Property Development at London South Bank University. CONTACT METHOD LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-higgs Millbank Land Academy: https://www.millbanklandacademy.co.uk Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/paulhiggsofficial YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@InsidePropertyDevelopment This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/
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    50 min
  • Is The UK´s Housing Crisis Mostly Fuelled by Planning Issues or By Its Property Tax System? – with Tony Vickers
    Dec 9 2025
    Who really creates land value, who cashes in, and could changing how we tax land finally shift development from easy Greenfield wins to regenerating the brownfield sites where we actually need homes? – Tune in to find out. Paul once again sits down with Tony Vickers to unpack why the UK housing crisis is so deep and to discuss ways to fix it. They reveal why so many developers are pushed towards easier Greenfield deals while complex brownfield sites stall despite people wanting to live there more. Paul and Tony look at how smarter land and property taxation, like that used in Hong Kong, could rebalance incentives, so that more of the right homes get delivered in the right places. Use Paul´s Scorecard to test your current development assessment process and work out exactly how to improve it. Click here - http://bit.ly/MLASCORE or https://millbanklandacademy.scoreapp.com KEY TAKEAWAYS Land value rises because of what’s built around it e.g. new transport links, – not what the landowner does. They sell that land at a huge premium, which means what is built on that land is expensive - the landowner gets the bonus - the people who move there effectively pay for it. If we push taxes on landowners too far selling is no longer viable, so sites don’t come forward and homes don’t get built. A middle ground has to be found. Most brownfield sites are too expensive and way too risky to develop. The numbers just do not stack up, so developers favour greenfield sites. Tax reform and funding can potentially be used to de-risk brownfield development and make it viable again. The number of hoops developers need to jump through to meet planning and environmental regs has reached the point where many developments are no longer financially viable. Well‑run planning committees with transparent processes, site visits and basic viability knowledge can unlock good schemes, while poorly run ones can kill perfectly workable projects. Better shared understanding between developers, councillors and communities about risk, viability and constraints could improve housing delivery as much as new policies or regulations. BEST MOMENTS “I don't think there's a lot wrong with the planning system, as Sir Jim O'Neill was indicating, it's the property tax system.” “There's human behaviour, there's environmental costs all factored in, and what I fear is that the government has given itself this impossible target.” “You've got to strengthen the hand of the local authorities a by allowing them to charge the full cost for developers.” ABOUT THE HOST Paul Higgs is a Chartered Planning and Development Surveyor with 40+ years' experience in land, planning and development and a 100% success track record in winning planning consents. Paul undertook his first refurb project when he was just 17 and then worked his way up from labouring on building sites to becoming Head of Land for renowned plc housebuilder, Barratt Developments. He managed to escape the corporate world in 2002 to set up what is now a multimillion-pound award-winning property development company, Millbank Group. In 2013 Paul founded the Millbank Land Academy, the UK’s first training company dedicated to property development; to teach established and aspiring developers the insider secrets the big housebuilders don’t want you to know! Paul is also a founding investor and former board director of the industry-leading PropTech Co, LandTech, and has lectured on Advanced Development Valuations on the MSc Property Development at London South Bank University. CONTACT METHOD LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-higgs Millbank Land Academy: https://www.millbanklandacademy.co.uk Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/paulhiggsofficial YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@InsidePropertyDevelopment This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/
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    58 min
  • Land Trading & Flipping Sites Explained
    Dec 3 2025
    In this episode of Inside Property Development, Paul expands on the ins and outs of land trading. Including how to source off-market opportunities, add planning value, and decide when to sell or build. To help him do this, Paul shares the details of a recent experience he had of selling a small, fully de-risked site on LinkedIn. This episode highlights the changing property landscape, the vital role of land traders, and provides advice for SME developers who are navigating today’s complex planning and building environment. KEY TAKEAWAYS Prioritise finding off-market land opportunities and securing optimal planning permission yourself to maximise profits and reduce risk. It is not wise to rely solely on buying sites with planning already in place. Mastering the skills of land trading and planning adds value not just to your own projects but also helps to fill a critical gap. As planning systems become more complex and intimidating for newcomers the UK needs more people to learn how to land trade. Be adaptable in your sales approach; for smaller or unique projects, public promotion (like on LinkedIn) can connect you with the right buyers. Solely, relying on private networks is not always the right approach. Investing in education, mentorship, and knowledge sharing within the industry not only supports your own growth but helps sustain and grow the wider SME property development community. BEST MOMENTS “There's no point people complaining about land traders - if the system was simple and easy as it should be, there wouldn't be any demand or need or market for land traders.” “If you are a house builder or a developer … you have absolutely got to be de-risking things to start with.” “I can get the planning, so I'm literally creating opportunities for people to build out that wouldn't otherwise exist.” ABOUT THE HOST Paul Higgs is a Chartered Planning and Development Surveyor with 40+ years; experience in land, planning and development and a 100% success track record in winning planning consents. Paul undertook his first refurb project when he was just 17 and then worked his way up from labouring on building sites to becoming Head of Land for renowned plc housebuilder, Barratt Developments. He managed to escape the corporate world in 2002 to set up what is now a multimillion-pound award-winning property development company, Millbank Group. In 2013 Paul founded the Millbank Land Academy, the UK’s first training company dedicated to property development; to teach established and aspiring developers the insider secrets the big housebuilders don’t want you to know! Paul is also a founding investor and former board director of the industry-leading PropTech Co, LandTech, and has lectured on Advanced Development Valuations on the MSc Property Development at London South Bank University. CONTACT METHOD LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-higgs Millbank Land Academy: https://www.millbanklandacademy.co.uk Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/paulhiggsofficial YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@InsidePropertyDevelopment This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/
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    20 min
  • Land Trading, Option Agreements and Promotions – What They Are and How to Use Them
    Nov 26 2025
    For this week's episode of Inside Property Development, Paul covers a subject a lot of his trainees at the Milbank Land Academy are asking about - land trading, option agreements and profit agreements. He explains how they are different and shares some use cases for each of them. If you have a question about property development or today´s episode, we would love to hear from you! Please drop your questions in the comments section on YouTube or reach out to Paul directly at https://www.millbanklandacademy.co.uk/contact-us. Your input will help shape future episodes and ensure that Paul is covering the topics that matter most to you, so it would be very much appreciated. KEY TAKEAWAYS The majority of profit in property development comes from finding off-market sites, securing them at a sensible price, and maximising their value through strategic planning and design enhancements. Securing land via options, especially £1 options is a very good way of getting land at the right price. Landowners are happy to do this. You do the work to establish whether the land can be built on, and they know how much you will pay to take final ownership. Land trading enables you to acquire off-market sites on favourable terms, maximising it´s value through planning, and then either sell the contract or rights, rather than building to make your profit. Honing your fact finding and relationship building skills is essential, regardless of what approach you use. Landowners, like all people, want certainty so offering them a fixed price helps to get deals over the line. Promotional deals are best suited for long-term land opportunities with uncertain future value. They let landowners and developers share in the uplift once planning permission is secured, rather than setting a fixed price up front. BEST MOMENTS “Finding off-market sites, securing them on sensible terms, typically one pound option agreements and then adding maximum planning value… creates massive value.” “They (landowners) are way, way, way less inclined to agree to a promotion type deal or a discount to market value deal when it's relatively short term.” EPISODE RESOURCES Milbank Academy Scorecard - https://millbanklandacademy.scoreapp.com ABOUT THE HOST Paul Higgs is a Chartered Planning and Development Surveyor with 40+ years & experience in land, planning and development and a 100% success track record in winning planning consents. Paul undertook his first refurb project when he was just 17 and then worked his way up from labouring on building sites to becoming Head of Land for renowned plc housebuilder, Barratt Developments. He managed to escape the corporate world in 2002 to set up what is now a multimillion-pound, award-winning property development company, Millbank Group. In 2013 Paul founded the Millbank Land Academy, the UK’s first training company dedicated to property development; to teach established and aspiring developers the insider secrets the big housebuilders don’t want you to know! Paul is also a founding investor and former board director of the industry-leading PropTech Co, LandTech, and has lectured on Advanced Development Valuations on the MSc Property Development at London South Bank University. CONTACT METHOD LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-higgs Millbank Land Academy: https://www.millbanklandacademy.co.uk Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/paulhiggsofficial YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@InsidePropertyDevelopment This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/
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    30 min
  • Changing the Rules to Secure More and Better Housing
    Nov 19 2025
    In this episode, Paul sits down with Tony Vickers, Chairman of West Park’s Council, who has had a long career in land use, planning and property development. Together, they discuss how land value is created, the case for land value taxation, and what it will take to solve the UK’s housing crisis. Paul and Tony explore why collaboration between developers, policymakers, and communities matters, drawing on international examples and hard-won experience to reveal what really drives land values—and who should benefit. KEY TAKEAWAYS Traditional adversarial relationships in property development are holding us back. Collaborative approaches between policymakers and developers are essential for addressing housing shortages. The value of land is significantly influenced by the surrounding community and public investment, e.g. infrastructure, amenities, and shared demand, not so much by the owner. A land value tax would share the fruits of the value increase more fairly. Taxing land value, instead of just housing transactions, encourages development, can fund local services, and make housing fairer. Tony shares the details of the exact mechanisms that make this happen. The complexity of the UK system has led to sector consolidation at all levels, including with contractors. SME´s struggle too much to compete, simplification is part of the solution. Continued dialogue to ensure all stakeholders and lawmakers have a clear understanding of the challenges and joint advocacy for policy reforms are vital to solving the housing crisis. BEST MOMENTS "A landowner does not create the value of the land. It’s everybody else around it." "We should be thinking of land as something that we all own the value, because we’re all helping to create it." "Developers are behaving perfectly rationally, doing as they do. The government has got to step in and change the tax system." "If you tax an event or a transaction, you are deterring that event or transaction, which is why stamp duty is such a daft tax." "We’ve got to be much more collaborative and try and work together, despite it being competitive." "There is a real housing crisis. There is a real environmental crisis, and yet they’ve got to turn a profit on building those houses and protecting the environment." House of Commons Report https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/49932/documents/268911/default/ British Housebuilders History Analysis by Fred Wellings https://www.abebooks.co.uk/book-search/title/british-housebuilders-history-analysis/author/wellings-fred/ ABOUT THE HOST Paul Higgs is a Chartered Planning and Development Surveyor with 40+ years of experience in land, planning and development and a 100% success track record in winning planning consents. Paul undertook his first refurb project when he was just 17 and then worked his way up from labouring on building sites to becoming Head of Land for renowned plc housebuilder, Barratt Developments. He managed to escape the corporate world in 2002 to set up what is now a multimillion-pound, award-winning property development company, Millbank Group. In 2013 Paul founded the Millbank Land Academy, the UK’s first training company dedicated to property development; to teach established and aspiring developers the insider secrets the big housebuilders don’t want you to know! Paul is also a founding investor and former board director of the industry-leading PropTech Co, LandTech, and has lectured on Advanced Development Valuations on the MSc Property Development at London South Bank University. CONTACT METHOD LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-higgs Millbank Land Academy: https://www.millbanklandacademy.co.uk Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/paulhiggsofficial YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@InsidePropertyDevelopment This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/
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    59 min
  • The Stark Realities of Building Homes In The UK With Philip Barnes
    Nov 12 2025
    Today, Paul sits down with Philip Barnes, former UK group land and planning director at Barrett who now works part time for Savills. Together they explore the challenges and opportunities facing today’s property developers. Including discussing the stark differences between SMEs and major housebuilders, the impacts of planning reforms, environmental regulations, and financial hurdles. They share what is really shaping the future of the UK housebuilding industry. Whether you’re an industry insider or curious about how policy and economics influence the building of new homes, this candid and sometimes alarming episode is for you. KEY TAKEAWAYS The economies of scale gulf between large scale and SME housebuilders is growing, making it even harder for SMEs to survive. Developers are not enjoying large margins. That is a misconception. When margins are tight it doesn´t take much for a company to go bankrupt. The barriers to entry are growing bigger making it really difficult for new housebuilding firms to get established and make a profit. Build costs are increasing faster than house prices. Increasingly banks are pulling the plug on small developers. Some are actively lending on questionable projects knowing that the likelihood of it failing is high. The UK housebuilding industry does not operate in a collaborative or cartel-like environment. It is highly cutthroat and driven by intense growth pressures, so expecting and basing scheme delivery on close collaboration is unrealistic. If you're working on a set margin, and something like nitrate neutrality is an issue, that can delay you for a couple of years, long enough to make many firms go bankrupt. BEST MOMENTS "If you're a little guy, you can't afford to be spending fortunes on potential deals that don't go anywhere." "Lots of abortive costs is a real operational issue in the planning system." “Developers big and small are not building.” "You can only get kicked in the nuts for so long before you start not liking it anymore." "The Nature Restoration Levy and Environmental Development Plans, if done well, will massively help... My worry is that might not happen for two or three years." ABOUT THE GUEST https://www.linkedin.com/in/philip-barnes-70a44119 ABOUT THE HOST Paul Higgs is a Chartered Planning and Development Surveyor with 40+ years experience in land, planning and development and a 100% success track record in winning planning consents. Paul undertook his first refurb project when he was just 17 and then worked his way up from labouring on building sites to becoming Head of Land for renowned plc housebuilder, Barratt Developments. He managed to escape the corporate world in 2002 to set up what is now a multimillion-pound award-winning property development company, Millbank Group. In 2013 Paul founded the Millbank Land Academy, the UK’s first training company dedicated to property development; to teach established and aspiring developers the insider secrets the big housebuilders don’t want you to know! Paul is also a founding investor and former board director of the industry-leading PropTech Co, LandTech, and has lectured on Advanced Development Valuations on the MSc Property Development at London South Bank University. CONTACT METHOD LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-higgs Millbank Land Academy: https://www.millbanklandacademy.co.uk Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/paulhiggsofficial YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@InsidePropertyDevelopment This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/
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    53 min
  • Collaborating to Solve the Housing Crisis
    Nov 5 2025
    Can collaboration really solve the housing crisis? seasoned property developer and industry expert Paul Higgs explores the challenges facing SME developers, housebuilders, and planners — and why the confrontational nature of the industry must change if we’re to create better homes and more sustainable communities. With over 40 years’ experience in land, planning, and development, Paul shares candid insights into the complex planning system, the decline of SME developers, and the urgent need for joined-up thinking across all sectors of the housing industry. If you’re interested in understanding what’s really holding back development — and how collaboration can unlock new opportunities — this episode is a must-listen. KEY TAKEAWAYS The housing and affordability crisis can’t be solved in isolation — collaboration is essential. The property development industry has been too confrontational; cooperation between stakeholders is crucial. SME developers and smaller housebuilders are declining, partly due to planning complexity. The Millbank Land Academy Scorecard helps developers assess and improve their processes. Sustainable housing requires developers, planners, and policymakers to work together rather than in opposition. BEST MOMENTS “We all need to understand property development from every angle — not just our own.” “The industry has become confrontational, and that’s stopping us from creating the homes people need.” “If SME developers can’t survive the planning system, we’ll lose a huge part of the housing supply chain.” “The only way we’ll solve the housing crisis is by working together.” ABOUT THE HOST Paul Higgs is a Chartered Planning and Development Surveyor with 40+ years' experience in land, planning and development and a 100% success track record in winning planning consents. Paul undertook his first refurb project when he was just 17 and then worked his way up from labouring on building sites to becoming Head of Land for renowned plc housebuilder, Barratt Developments. He managed to escape the corporate world in 2002 to set up what is now a multi-million-pound, award-winning property development company, Millbank Group. In 2013 Paul founded the Millbank Land Academy, the UK’s first training company dedicated to property development; to teach established and aspiring developers the insider secrets the big housebuilders don’t want you to know! Paul is also a founding investor and former board director of the industry-leading PropTech Co, LandTech, and has lectured on Advanced Development Valuations on the MSc Property Development at London South Bank University. CONTACT METHOD LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-higgs Millbank Land Academy: https://www.millbanklandacademy.co.uk Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/paulhiggsofficial YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@InsidePropertyDevelopment This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/
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    7 min