Simon Robson

The disposal of public sector sites by 'development competition'

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to investigate development competitions in England in order to uncover any shortcomings and point to improvements. A “development competition” is a sale by tender of publicly‐owned land with development potential where bidders also submit designs.Design/methodology/approach – First, an interview survey of local authorities in north‐east England; second an interview survey with developers in north‐east England; third a questionnaire survey of local authority estates officers and fourth an interview survey with London based property consultants.Findings – Despite their theoretical attractions, some competitions have problems. Conflict exists between professions and agencies. Development competitions encounter difficulties between developer appointment and construction which may lead to delay or the developer pulling out.Research limitations/implications – The data collected are biased in favour of the financial/property perspective. Further research is therefore sti...

The Perception and Management of Risk in UK Office Property Development

Risk is an ever‐present aspect of business, and risk taking is necessary for profit and economic progress. Speculative property development is popularly perceived as a ‘risky business’ yet, like other entrepreneurs, developers have opportunities to manage the risks they face; techniques include phasing and joint ventures. The associated areas of investment portfolio risk, development risk analysis and construction risk management have all been addressed by research. This article presents new knowledge about how developers perceive risks and the means they subsequently adopt to manage them. The developers of office projects across the UK were sent questionnaires by post. Respondents were asked about their perceptions of risks at the first appraisal stage and currently and about the risk management techniques that they had adopted. In‐depth interviews with a selection of respondents were then used to discuss and augment the findings. Developers were most concerned about market‐based risks at both stages. Concern about production‐orientated risks was lower and fell significantly between the two stages. A fixed price contract was the most common risk management technique. Risk management techniques were used more often outside London and the South East. Developer type affects both the perception and management of risk. While developers do manage risk, decisions are made on the basis of professional and business experience. These findings should help development companies manage risk in a more objective and analytical way.