NAME: Victoria Epplestone COMPANY/REGION: Persimmon Homes West Midlands Ltd JOB TITLE: Land Manager DEPARTMENT: land PLEASE DESCRIBE WHAT YOUR DEPARTMENT DOES? The Land Department is responsible for the procurement of land. PLEASE DESCRIBE WHAT YOU DO ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS? The process begins with identifying sites that may be suitable for residential development. Sites are either identified as off market opportunities or are on the market for sale with Agents. The next stage is to look into the likelihood of securing a residential planning consent for the site – not all sites are suitable for residential development due to existing planning policy or due to their context and how they relate to their surrounding environment. The next stage is to liaise with the Sales and Marketing Director with regards to the product mix for the site i.e. what size and number of units could be successfully sold from the site. Different markets suit different product mixes so it is important that a lot of thought goes into this process. Next, an Architect is instructed to produce a sketch layout for the site and Engineers undertake Site Investigations to determine if the ground is contaminated and if so how this affects the remediation strategy. It is the responsibility of the land department to ensure that all of this work comes together at the right time and that any development constraints as identified by the Engineer are fed through to the Architect in order to ensure that the development proposed on the layout could actually be built. When all of the above is ready the unit numbers, projected sales incomes, standard build costs and abnormal development costs are input into a Viability Appraisal. The viability appraisal generates a value for the land. The land value along with terms /conditions of the deal is then offered to the land owner either directly or through the Agent. If the offer and terms are acceptable and the Vendor wants to sell the site to us then Heads of Terms are drawn up and agreed, these are the forwarded to the Buyers and the Sellers Lawyers. The Heads of Terms then form the basis of the draft contract. Once the Buyer and the Seller are comfortable with the contract, Contracts are Exchanged and Completion takes place at a date after that. Once a site is owned the Land Department hold a Pre-Start 1 meeting with the Technical Department. This meeting provides an opportunity to communicate any terms in the contract that will have to be discharged by the Technical Department. WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT WHAT YOU DO? A job in the Land Department provides a great deal of variety and you are given a lot of autonomy to make decisions. You get the opportunity to work with a wide spectrum of professionals from different Companies such as Architects, Urban Designers, Agents, Lawyers and Engineers / Environmental Consultants. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THIS CAREER? I have always had an interest in property and a career as a land buyer sounded exciting a diverse. It also offered autonomy and the opportunity to mix with a variety of people. You are also not tied to a desk as you are out and about looking at sites and meeting people. WHAT QUALIFICATIONS DID YOU NEED TO GET THIS JOB? Most people entering a career in Land Buying tend to have a property related Degree. This is not essential, I have a business Degree. IS THERE ANY PARTICULAR ADVICE YOU WOULD GIVE A GRADUATE OR TRAINEE LOOKING FOR A JOB IN YOUR WORK AREA? Get some work experience either in the Holidays or in a year out as part of a sandwich course at University. It is important to spend time with all of the different departments in the company in order to gain an appreciation of other peoples roles and how each part of the business contributes to the whole.
