
Unlocking Potential: Strategies for Viable & Sustainable Projects With Leanne Tritton
Inside Property DevelopmentShow Notes
In this episode, Paul is joined by Leanne Tritton, the founder, former MD and EOT Trustee of ING Media, a team of strategic communications specialists for the built world. They think differently and invest energy and creativity into transforming the way people see buildings, cities and infrastructure. KEY TAKEAWAYS The building sector is very tribal, very siloed, which is counterproductive. The smartest operators understand getting a project over the line takes many hands and are able to engage with all the groups involved. When things go wrong, the natural thing is to add a layer to stop it happening again, usually in the form of legislation. Now, we have so many layers the only ones who can break through it all and deliver a project has to have deep pockets. Property companies are becoming a bit anonymous and too technocratic.Shareholders interests are aligned with producing a great product. Margins are not so tight, that you can´t build quality homes. There are 600,000 unused buildings in the UK that are suitable for housing. Ifdeveloped they bring homes into existing communities. BEST MOMENTS“Our sector is very tribal.”“There´s not been a lot of understanding about how it all fits together.”“Some people in positions of leadership in the built environment are too far removed from the end product.” The Property Development Scorecard https://millbanklandacademy.scoreapp.com EPISODE RESOURCES https://www.dontwastebuildings.com https://2025.ukreiif.com/ Jon Stewart and Ezra Klein – Abundance - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcZxaFfxloo ABOUT THE HOST Paul Higgs is a Chartered Planning and Development Surveyor with 40+ years' experience in land, planning and development and a 100% success track record in winning planning consents.Paul undertook his first refurb project when he was just 17 and then worked his way up from labouring on building sites to becoming Head of Land for renowned plc housebuilder, Barratt Developments. He managed to escape the corporate world in 2002 to set up what is now a multimillion-pound award-winning property development company, Millbank Group.In 2013 Paul founded the Millbank Land Academy, the UK’s first training company dedicated to property development; to teach established and aspiring developers the insider secrets the big housebuilders don’t want you to know! Paul is also a founding investor and former board director of the industry-leading PropTech Co, LandTech, and has lectured on Advanced Development Valuations on the MSc Property Development at London South Bank University. CONTACT METHODLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-higgsMillbank Land Academy: https://www.millbanklandacademy.co.ukInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/paulhiggsofficialYouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@InsidePropertyDevelopmentThis Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/
More from Inside Property Development
In this episode, Paul once again sits down with David Birbeck, one of the most knowledgeable people when it comes to planning and development. Together, they discuss the government´s new draft Planning Practice Guidance (PPG) and how it should work in practice.
In this episode, Paul sits down with Lucas, a recent Bristol civil engineering graduate, who is considering becoming a property developer. Together, they discuss why everything in development starts with finding and controlling land, how planning policy has evolved to make that both harder and more crucial, and why today’s planning environment might actually be one of the best times to get into development despite a tough sales market.
In this episode Paul is joined by Steve Morris the co-founder and Managing Director of Linfield Construction, to discuss the viability of building a property development business later in life – especially if you come from a contracting and commercial background rather than following the more typical pure developer route.
Today, Paul sits down with former Wandsworth councillor and Pocket Living land director and the Managing Director and founder of Urban Sketch Nick Cuff. Drawing on his rare mix of political and development experience, Nick explains what a genuinely pro‑development culture looks like, and why most UK councils are not pro-development.
How can architects and developers work together to deliver projects that are financially viable, genuinely regenerative – create schemes like this that actually get built as planned?