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NG4S702: Financial Management in Construction and Real Estate: 2022
Assignment 1- Student Briefing Document
Please note that this is a document designed to offer some suggested guidance with regards to the
above-mentioned assignment. It is not a mandatory template but rather comprises a series of ‘best
practice’ and suggestions which you may wish to adopt in part, but of course preferably, adapt as you
feel fit. There are however a number of sentences that should be incorporated as a matter of course
to accord with professional body {RICS} rules and regulations and these will be highlighted.
Much of your future professional careers will be taken up with the preparation of
advisory/consultancy reports. This assignment, apart from testing your understanding of principles
taught as part of the module, also seeks to get you to adopt best practice report writing. Your clients
will be paying you significant sums of money to impart quality advice in a succinct, readable, and
readily understandable format. Sadly, as your module leader I cannot reimburse you financially, but I
can award marks. Please treat me as though I were a highly regarded client with a regular pipeline of
valued instructions.
The word count of 2,000 words is quite tight. It offers little latitude for unnecessary wordy paragraphs.
With this in mind make every effort to export supplemental material to an appendix. The appendix
content will not count towards the target word count.
As a starting point please read, and then re-read the brief. Within there are key words and you should
seek to underscore these and use this document as a constant aide memoire of that which you are
hoping to achieve. For example I think that you can reasonably infer that the word ‘realistically’ in line
2 suggests quite clearly that your ultimate conclusions as to level of offer needs to take account of
matters such as ‘state of the market’, [perhaps a brief SWOT analysis],level of likely competition for
the site and so on. It suggests that the bid should be pitched at a level that is neither too conservative
nor excessively optimistic.
Your next preparatory staging post is to select an appropriate development site. ‘Appropriate’
assumes that it will neither be a postage-stamp sized development site but neither should it be an
enormous site of sub regional significance. It should be sufficiently large to accommodate a
hypothetical development that is substantial but not enormous. As a rule of thumb no less than 0.5
acres [to convert to hectares divide by 2.471] and no larger than 4/5 acres.
Most of the international recognised commercial property consultancies have a presence in either
Cardiff or Bristol. Whilst I am not prescriptive as to the chosen site location you might want to select
a site here in Wales which you can more readily identify with but I will have no objection should you
select a geographical location elsewhere in the UK. However, selecting a site outside Wales, England
and Scotland should be avoided as it throws up planning and other valuation issues that could be
problematic. The above mentioned firms of Surveyors/Property consultancies will be the source of
your selected sites and lists are available on the internet.
Each company will have its own website format but most if not, all will have a tab for properties
available for sale, and crucially a sub tab for development sites. There will be some core information
on the agents’ sales particulars. Please include a copy of this document in your appendix. Frequently
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the agents will include some basic information regarding likely planning consents that may be
forthcoming as well as a price guide.
Two government health warnings here. Firstly, always bear in mind that selling agents are instructed
to achieve the highest possible price for their client, the vendors. Whilst all agents are bound by the
Misrepresentation Act 1969 and cannot make false/misleading or fraudulent claims regarding the
properties which they market, nevertheless they are often prone to over optimism in their statements
and cover themselves by declaring that purchasers should make their own enquiries upon issues like
planning and use zoning. Whilst I am clearly not expecting you to carry out formal searches of the
Planning Authority Registers[although this does not preclude the diligent student from referencing
the relevant Local Plan] I would be looking for some explanation as to why you have made certain
assumptions on development site use.
Secondly agents will clearly want to steer purchasers to as high an offer figure as possible. Phrases
such as ‘Offers in the region of x’; Offers in excess of y’ are commonplace; Whilst this may give you a
steer it could just as easily mislead you. Ultimately I would wish to see your figure arrived at by your
own independent analysis using the residual valuation skills that[hopefully] you have garnered on this
module.
Planning is of course more than just about land use designation. It regulates issues such as site density,
site coverage, density, height of buildings, design parameters, car parking provision etc. Whilst I am
not expecting war and peace on this front, I would expect some well-reasoned commentary regarding
your assumptions upon such matters.
Once you have selected your site and established the most likely optimum development and whilst I
am more than happy to entertain mixed use developments you might want to make your lives simpler
by restricting to one or two uses only. e.g. residential/retail; or retail/offices etc.
There are a few other things that you will need to research before you can launch into preparing your
residual valuation [please see handout worked examples for template -pages 93-95 extract from
Property Development[Reed and Sims].The residual valuation will be included in your appendix. For
ease of reference to sections/figures within the valuation you may wish to include annotations.
You will need to ascertain the Estimated Rental Values. No detailed rental comparable required here.
Just reference to broad parameters by way of £x per sq. ft/sq. m.
Remember that Net Lettable Area for Gross Development Value calculation is different from Gross
External Area for Building Costs. You may adopt the % figures for professional fees as per the handout
although try and avoid slavish replication. But clearly other costs, including crucially finance costs, I
would expect some explanation/justification.
Try and select a freehold site[most development sites are offered freehold] as this will make the
capitalisation process easier for you and will not require your accessing valuation tables. Thus, if your
discount rate/capitalisation rate is 8% then 100/8 provides a YP multiplier of 12.5 for example. Some
commentary on your adopted rate welcomed.
As far as building costs are concerned you may use printed quarterly schedules [e.g. Spons] or other
as appropriate. Please specify your source.
You have been asked to provide commentary on the elasticity of the project and a sensitivity analysis.
The client [i.e. Moi] is therefore expecting your thoughts on upsides and downsides highlighting the
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more likely risk items based on your sensitivity analysis. What if interest rates go up by say 2% or 5%
or 8%? What if build costs increase by 10% or 15% for example?
Moving on to layout or format of your report. I shall not be unduly prescriptive here to allow for
individual creativity and also recognising that most surveying have their own bespoke report format.
Notwithstanding this I think many of you would find it useful to have a broad template with which to
work with so that there as few omissions as possible.
Your assignment therefore adopts a formal report format. As it is not a formal valuation that you
would be preparing herein, which would otherwise have to be in the prescribed RICS Valuation
guidelines format [The Red Book] , this does provide you with some latitude. Your report is required
in order to assist your client in pitching his offer for the site at the most appropriate level-essentially
a brokerage/agency function but incorporating .nevertheless accepted valuation guidelines [which
incorporate International Valuation Standards]
So mandatory wording for you all, probably included under ‘The Brief’ heading below.
“This is not a formal valuation. Whilst it incorporates the guidelines/procedures as set out in the RICS
Valuation Professional Standards the report has not been prepared by an RICS Registered Valuer but
rather produced for brokerage/agency purposes”.
And so to suggested sections and headings. For ease of reference number your paragraphs.
Name and address of fictional client
Nature of the Instruction/Brief/Purpose of report. Please do not regurgitate all of my lengthy
assessment cover sheet content [for padding purposes!!]Just reference that document in one
sentence.
Valuation date.
Extent of investigations. Information sources relied upon. Assumptions made schedule briefly.
Who are you? Identify yourself as the appointed surveyor. One sentence to include qualifications.
Property under consideration. Address inc. post code. A brief sentence or two on location and
situation.
Site area-acres and hectares. Comment on potential site coverage
Site details-configuration. Access to highway. Adjoining sites/buildings. Contamination issues.
Buildings requiring demolition? Potential flooding? Any other limitation factors.
Services-electricity/gas, communications, surface water/foul drainage
Legal title-tenure. Usually freehold and available with vacant possession.
Town and Country Planning-outline current/assumed planning
Nature of proposed development. Floor areas.
Commentary on Building Costs adopted including all items as scheduled in supplied handout [pp93-
95 Reed and Sims-Property Development]
Commentary on Gross Development Value
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Sensitivity Analysis. Commentary-risks relating to the property. Perhaps but not necessarily including
some of the following:-Location, Site condition, Sustainability issues, Planning, Rental value market
fluctuations, Capital value market fluctuations, wider market and property market risks. Plus any
others that you may consider relevant.
Conclusions and recommendations. Conclude this section with your reported figure/or a range which
you may or may not consider more appropriate
Finally sign off the document
“I trust that this report in response to the assignment brief is sufficient for your purposes”.