In this episode, Paul reveals the disciplined approach that has enabled him to maintain a flawless 40-year record of securing planning approvals. Drawing on decades of experience, Paul explains the strategies developers can use to strengthen their own applications, avoid common pitfalls, and navigate complex planning regulations with confidence.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
If at first you do not succeed, appeal. Paul has done this many times and has never lost an appeal.
Take your time when putting together your plans. You need to do as much as you can to avoid getting a refusal on a site. Sometimes this can blight a site.
Educate yourself about planning. Paul did this partly by going to planning meetings and observing what went on out in the real world. Book learning only gets you so far.
Paul recommends qualifying as a Chartered Planning and Development surveyor like he did. He explains why.
Never assume you know everything. That is why Paul still works with planning consultants. But at the same time, he also double-checks everything himself.
Look at every little thing and think about how it applies to your site. That means keeping up with regulations, monitoring which planning applications are approved and which are denied and understanding why.
Be all over all of the details. Do the planner's job for them to make it easier for them to approve you than it is for them to refuse you.
BEST MOMENTS
“Having a planning strategy before you even start is a big part of how I've got a 100% planning permission track record.”
“You don't really want refusals on your sites …. sites with refusals can sometimes get a bit blighted.”
“A lot of those applications I've had to win at appeal.”
“Be super detailed. Reverse engineer everything.”
“Understand all of the things that might come up before they come up and address them at the application and design stage.”
“You do need to learn and understand quite a lot of this stuff well, as much of it as possible yourself, in order to spot the angles, the opportunities and the pitfalls at an early stage.”
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/