Planning delays and its impact on a small developer

The highs and lows of being a small developer: Planning delays, its impact on a small developer and how to turn it to our advantage.

It’s fact. Every developer can relate to the frustrations of a prolonged planning process. It’s not a one-off experience, whether you’re a small or large developer.

You’ve ticked every box: finances, land agreements, investment, feasibility studies, design, what could possibly hold the decision up? But alas, delays are inevitable and if they are left too long, projects simply become unrealistic.

The knock-on effect

For a small developer like us, there are several damaging effects planning delays can have.

Project disruption

The schedule disruption has potential to impact operations, with a risk of losing staff – especially site staff and contractors – if they themselves are at risk of no pipeline work.

One of our key goals is consistency of high standard buildings, and so we need to attract and retain the best skilled workforce, which is hard to do if your development pipeline is uncertain.

Costs

Costs are rising all the time, which has to be factored into a standard planning process, so delays of weeks and months can throw off initial estimations completely. As a small developer, can be tied up in investments, making it very difficult to manage procurement of all your development overheads when you are trying to grow.

Cashflow

One of the most challenging areas to manage as a developer is cashflow. We must continue to speculate and increase our opportunities for growth, but the planning process can slow everything down we can only move at the rate of the planners. This can impact on relationships that we’ve built, which is hugely frustrating.

Reputation

As a young business with an ambitious growth plan, reputation is paramount. So far, our developments have stood out for their high-quality design, build and finish. The last thing we want is to lose the reliable reputation that precedes us. It feels unjust for the developer to lose their credibility at no fault of their own. We want our clients, partners and stakeholders to recognise our passion and feel invested in a project with us.

Turn time into a positive

Being on this delayed journey, we’ve had time to learn. Circumstances, experience and re-aligning plans has taught us so much in the last year, and here’s how we’ve turned the negatives into positives for our business.

How can we help speed up the process?

As a small developer, we thrive on our agility, being able to make decisions and move quickly to ensure the project stacks up and works for all parties. We are flexible and accessible, we are here ready to add our value, to work with local authorities and councils to drive their economic targets. Don’t lose heart, by staying proactive and engaging with stakeholders, you can achieve breakthroughs.

Improved project quality

Delays afford us extra time to check and adjust plans and costs, which could work in our favour. It’s always a good idea to keep comparing supply costs and quality of materials, to see if there are ways to improve aspects of your build. You may be able to find more sustainable practices, which can enhance the quality of your project as well as future-proofing it.

Market adaptation

Sometimes there is an opportunity to switch up plans for the building useage, to meet demand of the local area for new facilities. Where possible, we like to try and use a portion of accommodation for local workers, with flexible office space, creative or leisure space that can make a positive impact on the community.

Don’t be disheartened, the planning process is a learning journey and those who maximise the planning time can make such a difference to their business growth.

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