Paul dives into one of the most powerful tools in a developer’s toolkit – the £1 option agreement. Despite sounding too good to be true, option agreements are a tried-and-tested way of controlling land without needing huge amounts of upfront cash.
Paul explains what they are, how they work, why landowners agree to them, and how they can be used to unlock serious planning gain.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Option agreements give you control, not obligation – you can secure land while buying time to add value, without committing if the market changes.
Landowners benefit because developers take on the cost and risk of increasing the site’s value.
The real profit comes from planning uplift – using knowledge and expertise to turn a £1m site into a £2m+ opportunity.
Negotiating the right price is critical – get it wrong and the deal isn’t viable.
Option agreements can also be sold or assigned on, meaning you can profit without ever completing on the land.
Success depends on deep planning knowledge – anticipating objections, reverse-engineering the process, and effectively “doing the planners’ job for them.”
Paul’s approach has helped him maintain a 100% planning approval track record over four decades.
BEST MOMENTS
“Why would I spend millions buying land if I can control it with a pound and a piece of paper?”
“Option agreements buy you time – and in property development, time is everything.”
“The name of the game is making the pie as big as possible, and then negotiating how it gets divided.”
“I’ve never had a landowner pull out of an option agreement in 30+ years – when done right, they’re rock solid.”
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.
He worked his way up from small refurb projects to becoming Head of Land at Barratt Developments before founding his own award-winning development company, Millbank Group, in 2002.
In 2013, Paul launched the Millbank Land Academy – the UK’s first training company dedicated to teaching developers the strategies the big housebuilders would rather keep to themselves. He is also a founding investor in PropTech leader LandTech and has lectured on Advanced Development Valuations at London South Bank University.
CONTACT METHOD
LinkedIn: Paul Higgs
Millbank Land Academy: millbanklandacademy.co.uk
Instagram: @paulhiggsofficial
YouTube: Inside Property Development