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The strongest development outcomes start with a clear understanding of what a site can achieve. We help clients understand what their site could become and how best to get there. Because we’re involved before key decisions are fixed, we can shape the vision, phasing, infrastructure and governance that have the biggest effect on long-term value.
Early strategic thinking sets the direction for everything that follows, from acquisition and promotion to planning and delivery. As part of our Development Partner service, we look at each site in the round, testing policy, constraints, infrastructure needs and viability together so that clients can commit to a route forward with confidence. We support major strategic land holdings and individual sites alike, providing full strategic leadership or focused advice at a single stage.
Why Choose Brookbanks for Land & Development Strategy
Our specialists combine developer-side experience with in-house expertise across planning, engineering, environmental and commercial disciplines. That means the strategies we prepare reflect both the technical realities of a site and the commercial priorities of the people investing in it. We treat due diligence as a way to find opportunity as well as risk, and we revisit strategies as policy, markets and infrastructure requirements change.
Key Client Benefits
- Clients gain a clear view of a site’s potential, risks and likely costs before making major commitments.
- Land promotion is backed by coordinated evidence that supports allocation and planning permission.
- Masterplans and development options are tested for deliverability and viability at an early stage.
- Decisions about acquisition, promotion and investment rest on objective, commercially focused advice.
- Our land strategies consider value in its widest sense: speed to planning, infrastructure phasing, placemaking, community benefits and environmental gain, as well as land value.
Specialist Services
Development Partner Strategy and Advisory
Every site has its own mix of planning policy, physical constraints, market conditions and stakeholder interests. Acting as a client-side Development Partner, our specialists draw these factors together and set out the realistic options for a site, explaining the implications of each so that clients can choose the route that best meets their objectives.
Our advice covers acquisition, promotion, investment and disposal decisions, and we keep it under review as circumstances evolve. Planning strategy forms a central part of this work, and we work closely with our planning specialists to define a route to consent that reflects both policy and commercial aims.
Site Identification and Opportunity Assessments
Finding the right site, and understanding it fully before committing, is one of the most important decisions a client will make. Our site identification work helps landowners and developers find land that matches their objectives, while our opportunity assessments look at what a site could deliver and what it would take to unlock it.
Due diligence brings planning, engineering, environmental and commercial specialists together to identify constraints and opportunities early. Highways, drainage, utilities and ground conditions are all considered alongside likely costs, giving clients the evidence they need for acquisition and investment decisions.
Read our insight on taking early red flags and creating better development outcomes.
Land Promotion
Strategic land is often promoted over several years to secure allocation and planning permission and to realise its full value. Our specialists work with landowners and promoters to take land through the plan-making process, preparing the evidence, representations and technical strategies needed to secure policy support.
We engage with local planning authorities and key stakeholders throughout promotion, coordinating the planning, transport, environmental and infrastructure inputs that underpin a credible case for development. The aim is to position each site so that it is ready to move smoothly from allocation to consent and on to delivery.
See how our specialists led local plan promotion across a land portfolio for This Land.
Masterplan Appraisals and Viability
A masterplan needs to work technically and commercially as well as on paper. Through masterplan appraisals, we review proposed layouts and land use strategies against planning requirements, infrastructure needs and site constraints, and recommend changes that improve deliverability and value. We are equally comfortable reviewing existing technical work prepared by others.
Development viability sits alongside this. Supported by our Cost & Commercial specialists, we bring together cost, value and programme information to test scenarios, understand the effect of planning obligations and infrastructure requirements, and help clients protect development value.
Sectors We Support
We support strategic land promotion, major residential and mixed-use schemes, regeneration projects, commercial development and public sector land initiatives, working for landowners, promoters, developers, investors, housebuilders and public bodies on sites ranging from single plots to new settlements.
Our Development Partner team works across all types of development and all of the sectors we support: residential, industry and logistics, infrastructure, commercial, data centres, leisure, education, healthcare, high rise and heritage.
Talk to Our Land & Development Strategy Specialists
Did you know? Nearly 95% of our Development Partner Team have previously worked for property developer or house builder.
Contact a member of our Land & Development Strategy team directly, or email hello@brookbanks.com and one of our experts will get back to you.
Group Director, Development Management, and Head of Yorkshire and North East Office
Tori Hall
tori.hall@brookbanks.com
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FAQs
When is the best time to involve a Development Partner in a new site?
As early as possible, ideally before an acquisition, option or promotion agreement is committed to. Early involvement allows constraints, infrastructure needs and viability to be understood while there is still flexibility to shape the strategy, which helps protect value later on.
What does an opportunity assessment cover?
An opportunity assessment looks at the planning, technical, environmental, market and commercial factors affecting a site. It sets out what the site could realistically deliver, the main risks and likely costs, and the steps needed to unlock its potential.
Can you review a masterplan or technical work prepared by another team?
Yes. Our specialists regularly review and critique existing masterplans and technical reports, then make recommendations to improve deliverability, reduce development costs and protect the programme.