Business Development Manager - Land & New Homes in London

My client is exploring a potential new business development channel focused on sellers of multiple residential units.

The opportunity is with the owners of completed or near-completed residential stock who need help either generating income while units are being sold, accelerating sales, or both.

The aim is to bring someone in with an existing network of such clients as well other routes to sourcing relevant clients (advisors, brokers etc.) and build a repeatable and commercially viable new business unit.

The opportunity we want to test

We want to on sellers of multiple residential units with two core products:

1. A flexible letting solution that allows vacant units to generate income while they are being sold. This could be particularly relevant to developers or owners facing holding costs, interest costs, lender pressure or cashflow constraints.

2. A multi-agency sales solution delivered at sole-agency pricing. This could be relevant to developers or investors who would otherwise instruct a single agent but may benefit from broader distribution and more sales momentum.

The first and most obvious target client is small to mid-sized residential developers who have completed schemes but have been unable to sell all of their built stock.

These are likely to be developers who are more exposed to cashflow pressure, debt costs or lender pressure, and who may therefore be more open to alternative solutions.

A second important target client is investors acquiring bulk residential stock from developers at a discount, with the intention of breaking up the bulk purchase and selling the individual units at closer to market value. For these investors, the opportunity is to generate income during the sales period and improve sales execution on the exit.

There may also be other relevant sellers of multiple units, including funds, family offices, landlords, lenders, receivers, administrators, asset managers or other owners of vacant or underperforming residential stock.

The person we are looking for

• We are looking for someone who can help build this market quickly and intelligently.

The ideal person would have:

• Existing relationships with small to mid-sized residential developers
• Direct access to decision makers, not just junior contacts or general advisers
• A network of introducers who are close to developers at moments of pressure or decision
• Experience originating new business in the residential property market
• The ability to build target lists, identify the right companies, and work out the route into each one
• A good understanding of development finance, new homes sales, bulk sales, investment stock or distressed/slow-moving residential stock
• The confidence to approach senior decision makers and test a proposition that is still evolving
• The commercial judgement to help us understand what is resonating, what is not, and where the real opportunity may sit

Relevant introducer networks

We are particularly interested in someone who either already knows, or can build relationships with, people who are close to these opportunities before they become widely visible.

Relevant introducers may include:

• Developers
• New Home Builders
• Investment Agents - buying and selling relevant portfolios/properties
• New homes agents
• Land and development agents
• Development finance lenders
• Bridging lenders and mezzanine lenders
• Debt brokers
• Restructuring and insolvency advisers
• Property lawyers
• Valuers and surveyors
• Project monitors
• QS firms
• Contractors working with smaller developers
• Family offices and private property investors
• Bulk-sale advisers
• Asset managers

This is not a passive relationship management role. We need someone who can actively run the channel.

The role would include:

• Helping define the most promising target client segments
• Building a target list of relevant developers, investors and multi-unit sellers
• Identifying live schemes with unsold, vacant or slow-moving stock
• Mapping decision makers and routes into each target
• Using their existing network to create warm introductions
• Approaching prospects directly where appropriate
• Feeding back what is resonating, what objections are arising and where the proposition may need to change
• Generating qualified opportunities for us to assess and convert
• Helping us decide whether this channel can become a viable, repeatable business unit