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Diligence

How H&A decides which development opportunities to offer you

We view scores of developments every month, of which we whittle the choice to a few projects worth offering (see examples in Property Investment Opportunities). For us, the key to a successful development is ensuring there has been an adequate level of due diligence carried out on the property, and that we are satisfied with its prospects.

To this end, here’s a very basic outline of what we do before we offer you a development or property.

We judge the market. We verify the quality of a development dependent on the specifications, as well as view a developer’s previous projects and track record. We look at the location and make comparables. We assess a project’s financial prospects. We factor in whether a property would still rent and sell in a downturn, thus ascertaining whether a property will make a lucrative investment opportunity and beat the competition in the marketplace. For further details see our Property Investing Criteria.

Once we have decided an investment project is worth the effort, that’s when H&A’s first level of due diligence kicks in.

We provide the developer with a Developer Checklist - a groaningly detailed questionnaire that developers and/or agents must complete if we are to market their project. This spreadsheet of information is then signed off by the developer and commits him or her to the details contained within it. This in turn is then signed off by a Senior Property Consultant at H&A, a Finance Director, a Site Engineer and a Property Lawyer who approve the project and ensure that all the details required exist.

There is an inexhaustible diligence list for each development. To give you an example, here are just a few of the questions we expect developers or project promoters to answer. You’d be surprised by how many of them do not have the answers to hand, and therefore the number we can never offer, despite a great location. Potentially negative consequences eighteen months down the line are our biggest concern. Therefore, we will not suggest a development unless we have this information, or we will clearly flag up the items that await confirmation.

Click here if you would like a detailed example of the kinds of diligence checks we carry out.