Procurement Specifications for Residential Development

This one-day in-person course will help participants develop the skills to assess viability of complex development schemes with confidence. They will gain a deeper understanding of how tenure mix, funding structures and cost assumptions impact financial viability. Through hands-on modelling and scenario testing, they will refine their ability to challenge assumptions, apply benchmarks effectively and troubleshoot financial risks. We aim to build participant knowledge and confidence to safeguard project viability, navigate financial complexities, and improve projects’ financial resilience and deliverability.

This course will explore how and when to engage a range of stakeholders, particularly the community, in a residential development process, aiming for them to shape a good and viable design. Participants will learn to identify a range of stakeholders, how to engage them, research their concerns, understand the impacts of those concerns and how they might be responded to. There will be a strong focus on community engagement.

This day and a half course is for mid to senior staff who are experienced at running financial appraisals but want to develop their knowledge base to cover more complex viability modelling. This course will build on the fundamentals of understanding how viability modelling works, covering the more complex key skills around how different tenures impact viability and how assumptions change the outputs. In this course will also look at market trends, benchmarks and more complex scheme delivery structures. Attendees will have the opportunities to adapt a financial appraisal using a bespoke model built for the course.

This half-day course will explore the principles behind using financial models to ensure a scheme is viable. Designed as an interactive workshop you will use live modelling to consider a variety of scenarios by using real live case studies. You will examine the source and quality of inputs and the application of common benchmarks to highlight viability challenges. A session on techniques for improving viability will conclude the course and all delegates will take home the viability model from the training complete with a glossary and guidance note.

This course helps participants build a compelling business case for schemes that may not be viable in a purely financial model but deliver wider social and economic benefits. During the course, participants learn how to challenge viability assessments, identify opportunities to improve financial performance, and position schemes within broader council priorities. Participants are given the tools to develop techniques to present cases effectively, helping them to gain buy-in corporately and move projects forward. This includes the tools to create a strong case for housing-led schemes and understand best practice to help secure approval, even for the most challenging projects.

Managing construction as a client isn’t just about keeping track of progress—it’s about making sure your project stays on budget, meets quality standards, and is delivered on time. But without a strong understanding of contract management and risk mitigation, it’s easy to lose control. Cost overruns, delays, and disputes with contractors can all put your project at risk. This course will give participants the confidence to take charge of the construction phase, helping stay in control of costs, timelines, and quality. Participants will learn how to actively manage contractors, enforce contract terms, and spot potential risks before they escalate.

The introduction of the Building Safety Act has placed greater responsibility on development teams to embed safety considerations from the outset. Many local authority teams struggle to navigate evolving regulations, manage compliance milestones, and understand how safety requirements impact design and viability. Without clear processes in place, projects risk delays, costly redesigns, and increased exposure to regulatory scrutiny. The course will provide practical guidance on integrating building safety into the development process, helping you anticipate regulatory hurdles, avoid common pitfalls, and make informed design decisions. You will gain a clear understanding of Gateway process, risk management strategies, and Golden Thread.

As the public sector increasingly levers in private finance to housing and regeneration projects, developing their own internal skills in commercial acumen is essential. The commercial world has different financial pressures, risk appetites, and governance structures. Without a strong grasp of commercial drivers and risk management, the public sector may struggle to create commercially attractive projects and negotiate effectively to secure the best outcomes both as project leads or partners. By strengthening your commercial acumen, you can develop an approach that builds better partnerships with the private sector and projects which perform better in the market.

On this half-day course participants go through the practicalities of identifying site opportunities and constraints. Participants will use a small site as a case study and carry out desk top analysis using real data. The key objective is to introduce and extend participant knowledge on what to look for on a site visit and what information they can access directly without the need for any consultants. We aim to build participant confidence and knowledge, to promote early identification of site risks that might otherwise jeopardise viability.

This one-day course will enable you to successfully plan a programme of further investigation based on initial site analysis. You will learn how to set up a project management framework for site investigation and explore the different types of specialist resources available. Using case studies to identify potential challenges you will structure a risk map and appreciate the impact this may have on your project. By the end of the course you will have the tools to enable you to draw up a development brief for a residential development site.

This course will explore the development management processes, particularly procurement and budget management, which ensure schemes are kept viable throughout the development process. Potential solutions for cost challenges will be a key component. Participants will learn about upcoming changes in procurement and how to get the most out of the process. They will explore how to monitor and evaluate all likely project costs and income as well as identify the external impacts of changing budgets. They will consider a range of actions to improve viability.

This course will examine how partnerships with the private sector can bring in new sources of finance and provide opportunities to risk share. This will include an exploration of the range of public-private partnership models and how they work in practice to maintain viability and deliver new housing. Participants will learn about the potential benefits and drawbacks of common forms of partnership such as development agreements and joint ventures, how to evaluate risk sharing and the impact of different forms of private finance.