Inside Property Development
Inside Property Development is a no-nonsense show that rolls up its sleeves and digs into how the world of land, planning and property development really works in practice, providing rare access industry insiders and valuable insights into real-world development deals, as well as keeping you up to date with the latest industry news. Colourful and at times controversial, the show focuses on how to do development the right way and aims to inspire and empower developers of all levels, as well as other professionals in the both the private and public sectors, to work together to build more and better homes that we can all be proud of. Connect with us on our socials for more educational content to help you achieve success in development. Millbank Land Academy Website: www.millbanklandacademy.co.uk Millbank Group Website: www.millbankgroup.co.uk Connect on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/paul-higgs Connect on Facebook: www.facebook.com/paul.higgs.50 Join our community on Facebook: www.facebook.com/MillbankLandAcademy See all episodes on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@millbanklandacademy1266
Episodes
July 29, 2025 • 54 mins
In this episode Paul answers your questions about current trends in property design, the balance between creativity and functionality, and the impact of technology on future developments. Paul discusses the influence of modern methods of construction and sustainability on design aesthetics, highlighting the importance of collaboration between developers and local authorities in the planning process.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Design Tren...
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July 22, 2025 • 43 mins
Today, Paul is once again joined by the Director of Town Centre Regeneration Ltd, David Van Der Lande. He is a land development consultant who specialises in assessing viability and land assembly. David is also a compulsory purchase expert.
This time he and Paul discuss land valuation, the impact of affordable housing requirements, access to finance, town centre regeneration and more.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Paul and David share re...
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July 15, 2025 • 55 mins
In this episode, Paul once again sits down to talk with veteran planner Esther Kurland, the director of UDL, who has extensive experience including roles at London Transport, the GLA, and several other local authorities. Esther and Paul once again look at the challenges property developers are currently facing and how these issues can be overcome.
They discuss the use of the grey belt and why, at some stage, the green belt restric...
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Today, Paul is joined by the Director of Town Centre Regeneration Ltd, David Van Der Lande, a development consultant, viability, land assembly and compulsory purchase expert with many decades of experience. He and Paul discuss how CPOs have been used historically and how they are likely to be used in the future to enable local authorities to
deliver on the government´s new housing targets.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
All local councils ...
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July 1, 2025 • 57 mins
For this episode, Paul is joined by veteran planner Esther Kurland, the director of UDL, who has extensive experience, including roles at London Transport, the GLA, and several other local authorities. Esther provides an in-depth look at the challenges property developers currently face, how we got here and, importantly, how these issues can be overcome.
Including, multi-time cities, planning for objectives rather than by numbers ...
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June 24, 2025 • 65 mins
In this episode, Paul sits down with property developers Phill Williams and James Emmons to discuss the issues that are preventing SMEs from building new homes in the UK. Including some of the things that can be done to mitigate the risks that are making this problem worse.
Paul also shares the details of a new piece of software he is creating to help developers very quickly identify whether a site is financially viable or not.
...
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June 17, 2025 • 60 mins
In this episode, Paul is joined by Félicie Krikler of Barr Gazeta. She and Paul discusschanging the way buildings are designed to make them easier to repurpose and the idea ofmaking tried and tested, cost effective home designs that work for most sites that are highlylikely to pass planning available for builders.
The Property Development Scorecard
https://millbanklandacademy.scoreapp.com
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Reworking our existing b...
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June 10, 2025 • 30 mins
For this episode, Paul is joined by Tim Riley, director of the award-winning architecturalpractice RCKa. He believes buildings can be catalysts for social change and has experienceof building homes and facilities that genuinely have transformed people´s lives and improvedareas.
You will learn how you can be involved in transforming our society by providing greathomes.
The Property Development Scorecard
https://millbanklandacadem...
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June 3, 2025 • 39 mins
If you are tired of all the noise and misinformation about land values and developmenteconomics, this episode of the Inside Property Development podcast is for you. Paul cutsthrough the confusion and gives you the real deal.
The Property Development Scorecard
https://millbanklandacademy.scoreapp.com
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The true driver behind development is economics. Starting with being able toincentivise the landowner to sell.
No...
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May 20, 2025 • 39 mins
In this episode, Paul once again sits down to speak to Lewis Herbert to talk about the really important issues of homelessness and the housing crisis. As well as discussing how we got here, they look at some of the potential solutions, including the use of modular housing.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
In the UK, 134,000 people aged 16 to 25 are homeless or at risk.
There are 150,000 rough sleepers.
Homeless people need somewhere secure to li...
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May 13, 2025 • 71 mins
In this episode, Paul is joined by Leanne Tritton, the founder, former MD and EOT Trustee of ING Media, a team of strategic communications specialists for the built world. They think differently and invest energy and creativity into transforming the way people see buildings, cities and infrastructure.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The building sector is very tribal, very siloed, which is counterproductive.
The smartest operators understand get...
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May 6, 2025 • 54 mins
Today, Paul sits down with Alexa Culver, a lawyer who specialises in the field ofenvironmental development, planning and natural capital. She is legal counsel for RSKWilding - a DEFRA designated body under the Environment Act, which creates large scale nature restoration schemes that support developers to replace habitats.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The Planning and Infrastructure Bill Part III is flawed. Paul and Alexa discuss howthings got...
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April 29, 2025 • 51 mins
For this episode, Paul and Lewis Herbert sit down to discuss the root causes of the UK current housing crisis and how the problem can be solved. For decades, Lewis has worked to tackle homelessness and the housing crisis.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
After the war, successive governments focused on housing. Millions of councilhouses and good quality private homes were built.
The UK has not been building enough homes for about 50 years.The pri...
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April 22, 2025 • 52 mins
In this episode, Paul talks to Michael Langley, an architect turned developer, who started his career in London designing high-end buildings, extensions and basements. During COVID he decided to transition into development. He has already delivered projects and has several others in the pipeline.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
It is not the job of the architect to know everything about development. Their training does not cover all aspects of th...
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April 15, 2025 • 68 mins
In this episode, Paul is joined by Richard Stone, a chartered construction manager and cost consultant. He also trains people in project management and turns them into experienced developers which enables them to grow their wealth far quicker than they would if they worked a salaried job with a traditional pension.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Working in construction is an excellent gateway into development and building wealth quickly.
Use th...
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April 1, 2025 • 45 mins
In this episode, Paul talks about the main challenges property developers face and shares how he overcame each of them. He covers finding plots of land where the level of competition is minimal, how to quickly assess sites without spending a lot of money, securing the deal on good terms and maximising the profit. Paul also explains why you need to have your exit in mind and how to make a direct approach that maximizes your chances ...
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March 25, 2025 • 53 mins
For this episode, Paul is joined by Henry Bliss of Give My View, the app that makes it far easier for developers to engage with communities, find and motivate potential project supporters and effectively deal with any local objections. It creates surveys that are fast and easy to complete. Ensuring all voices are heard, rather than just the NIMBY view.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Traditional consultation methods only hear from a vocal minorit...
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March 18, 2025 • 53 mins
In this episode, Paul sits down with David Birbeck, one of the most knowledgeable people when it comes to planning and development. He is the CEO of Design for Homes, a Housing Design Awards director, an Honorary Fellow of RIBA, HCA design board member, NHBC councillor and Housing Forum board member.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Despite the desperate need for housing in the UK, at some point, somebody will start a sort of anti-development lob...
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March 11, 2025 • 61 mins
In this episode, Paul talks to Oli Lowrie, the director and co-founder of Ackroyd Lowrie Architects. He and his co-founder John Ackroyd believe that architecture is too siloed. They are entrepreneurs as well as architects, they do not simply stay in their lane. Instead, they anticipate the issues projects typically face and create designs that enable developers to more easily get around these problems.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Make sure yo...
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March 4, 2025 • 67 mins
In this episode, Paul talks to Saam Lowni a highly successful property entrepreneur who now specialises in providing innovative property finance solutions for investors and developers. Saam has been passionate about property from a very young age, so much so that he worked on building sites, with developers and in real estate offices, sometimes for free, to learn as much as he could.He and Paul discuss his journey, including weathe...
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