Unlocking small sites for housebuilding at scale

Contact

Jamie Hillier
07791 718 377
Jamie.Hillier@akerlof.co.uk
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Overview

Boroughs own a lot of land but rarely know which of it could hold homes. Rising costs have broken conventional viability appraisals so sites get sold instead, reducing the ability to build later. The GLA funded this collaborative commission to help the London boroughs of Hounslow and Lambeth develop a process to unlock small sites, as pathfinders for a new blueprint for the capital. We brought four elements together as one unique system:

  • Geospatial analysis of small sites across the borough displayed in an interactive mapping tool
  • Targeted SME developer and contractor engagement, testing appetite and challenges
  • A replicable pre-appraisal business case process, aligned to local priorities and existing governance
  • An invest to save tool for temporary accommodation (TA) to assist with development viability​

What we did

We listened first, to understand what each borough already does and where the pressure sits, then designed a process that slots into existing governance rather than replacing it. We worked with RCKa to guide the design and delivery of a geospatial tool that screens a borough’s whole land database and shortlists sites in hours.

Working with the boroughs and drawing on the consortia’s expertise, we built a five-stage recurrent appraisal process around the existing governance cycle, supported by user-friendly documents that feed each other to help teams build up the outline business case for sites. Alongside this, we mapped the funding and delivery routes open to a borough, so disposal to the market becomes an active choice rather than the default.

Key to our work was the development of an invest-to-save ready reckoner to allow teams to test what share of homes could be allocated for TA use and social rent to aid viability through TA subsidy savings.

The impact

  • Screened over 3,600 sites across Hounslow and Lambeth’s databases in hours, finding space for over 550 homes.
  • Built a repeatable process aligned to borough governance, so appraising small sites becomes routine, not a one-off.
  • Shortlisted and provided the data for 15 real sites in each borough, identifying the potential for over 380 homes ready for officers to unlock.
  • Quantified the prize: the TA subsidy saving on these sites would save each borough over £1.3m a year.
  • Demonstrated moving 200 people from TA into settled homes could result in a £14m social return on investment in Hounslow alone.

Don't just take our word for it...

While the overall impact is still emerging, initial benefits are evident in the structures that have been established. Notably, the templates offer a standardised framework that supports the development of robust business cases.

Ida Horner, Senior Housing Development and Supply Officer, London Borough of Houslow

Jamie Hillier

Partner
Contact
Linkedin Twitter
jamie.hillier@akerlof.co.uk
07791 718 377

With a penchant for tweed and jackets with leather arm patches, Jamie began his career as a quantity surveyor, before climbing the ladder to lead major projects for a Tier 1 contractor.

Eventually expanding his book collection beyond copies of SMM7, Jamie has interest in a broad range of subjects linked to delivering better outcomes for society and the environment.

His strategic insights on MMC and behavioural science have made their way into numerous government, industry and academic publications, including the Construction Playbook, Transforming Infrastructure Performance Roadmap to 2030, the Platform Rulebook and the RIBA DfMA Overlay.

John Handscomb

Partner
Contact
Linkedin Twitter
john.handscomb@akerlof.co.uk
07305 486 581

Construction is in John’s blood. Learning from his father who was a planner and project manager, John began his career by working on some iconic projects in both the public and private sector.

As a procurement expert and integrator of new ways of working, John has pioneered the integration of platform principles, DfMA processes and supply chain within over £5bn projects in the last 15 years, for some of the largest building programmes in the UK. Despite his considerable expertise, John keeps it simple, communicating complicated ideas with ease and helping to equip the industry with new knowledge and skills.

Outside of Akerlof, John enjoys his executive role with technology start-up ScanTech Digital, spending time with his family, taking trips down the football, playing a bit of golf with friends and the odd pint. 

Our name is shared with George Akerlof, a Nobel Prize-winning economist.

His seminal paper, Market for Lemons, demonstrated the devastating consequences of making decisions under the conditions of quality uncertainty and unequal information between buyers and sellers, increasing the chance of buyers ending up with a ‘lemon’.

This 50-year-old concept continues to retain parallels within the construction industry.

Through our insight and experience, we can rebalance this information asymmetry on behalf of our clients, levelling the playing field to deliver better outcomes.