In today's episode of This Week in Property, Richard had an insightful conversation with Lesley Treacey, Head of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) at Dandara Homes and Living. 

The interview provides an in-depth look at the importance of sustainability in the property development sector, with Lesley sharing her extensive experience and unique perspective on how the industry is evolving.

Lesley discusses the growing focus on ESG, highlighting how issues like biodiversity, energy efficiency, and sustainable building practices are becoming central to modern construction. 

Lesley explains the key drivers behind this shift, from regulatory changes to rising consumer awareness and grassroots movements. With sustainability no longer a niche concern, it has become a top priority for developers, investors, and governments alike.

One of the key topics covered is Dandara’s ongoing work to implement the Future Homes Standard and achieve net-zero carbon homes by 2050. 

Lesley touches on how this ambitious target is reshaping the way homes are designed, from using renewable technologies like air source heat pumps to improving the energy efficiency of materials and building processes. 

However, Lesley also notes the challenges posed by this transition and how collaboration with suppliers and the broader industry is crucial for success.

For listeners interested in the future of property development and how companies like Dandara are addressing the pressing issues of sustainability, this interview offers valuable insights. 

Lesley’s passion and expertise shine through, making this a must-listen episode for anyone keen to understand the challenges and opportunities in building a greener, more sustainable future. 

Tune in to hear more about the projects and innovations transforming the industry...

thisweekinproperty.tv

You've bought an investment property, or you're planning to?

Ok. Quick question...

Have you bought a house, a home, a property, or an asset?

All just words of course.

But the one you choose will say a lot about your mindset as an investor.

If you chose any of the 1st three words, then you maybe have a hobby. Or an interest. Or a side hustle.

If you chose 'asset', then you might just be an actual INVESTOR.

Serious. Professional. Focused.

And if you are indeed an investor, buying assets, growing portfolios, generating revenue, and building a legacy for your nearest and dearest...then you better make sure you're PROTECTING them! All of them.

Insurance is a boring word; we're talking about several layers of PROTECTION here.

Simon Massey, from Express Mortgages, is a specialist with a wealth of experience.

There's not much that Simon hasn't seen with investors and investments.

Sadly, some of those have been sad tales of assets being lost, businesses not being structured properly, tax being overpaid, and families left with a LIABILITY rather than a LEGACY.

Let's have less of those sad tales please!

Let Simon help you. Help protect your assets. Help protect you. And help protect what you've built for your loved ones.

In today's chat, the conversation goes everywhere.

From the most obvious, like Buildings Insurance, to the more specialist and more obscure.

And to questions that you might not even have known to ask yourself.

Tune in to watch or listen to Simon's wisdom when it comes to protecting the things you've worked hard for, and the people that you're doing it all for...

Where is the prime place in the UK to face, experience, challenge and enjoy “the game” of property, planning, building and development?

It has to be London, yes?

And the ‘spear’ for facing that battle needs to be credible and powerful. So how about the iconic name of Barratt?

And for the tip of that spear, you’re going to need someone who has seen it all.

Experience and expertise in the game for over 20 years.

Knowledge of planning and development inside companies from SME developers to giant PLCs.

Experience of residential-led volume developments, tricky brownfield sites, mixed-use projects, and major regeneration programmes.

But they can’t just be a Solo Star.

They have to enjoy building partnerships and relationships. Seeing the best and the opportunity in others.

A track record of forming partnerships that find solutions, solve problems, and bring award-winning homes to the people and families that come to live in the end home or the constructed leisure space.

Someone who doesn’t just know and excel in the detail, planning, design and construction with success and financial figures. But who actually cares about the residents and tenants involved. And takes actual joy from travelling past sites that he’s been responsible for building years before.

Someone who thinks about the now and the present, but also thinks about the future and legacy.

That person just happens to be today’s guest, Mr Craig Carson, the Managing Director at Barratt West London…

When your iconic real estate brand is already well established in the UK for over 200 years, where can you take it?

That’s right. Everywhere else!

The Chestertons brand has been thriving in the UK since 1805.

Chestertons Global sits within that wider brand, as a network of leading international real estate companies.

And you need a global expert to lead that expansion around the world.

In steps today’s guest, Parikshat Chawla as Head of Operations for Chestertons Global.

A self-confessed “Global Nomad,” Parikshat and his wife had already lived a rich life of travel, working and staying in many different parts and cultures around the world.

With over 20 years of experience in the global real estate sector, he has worked with diverse and multi-national companies across the world, delivering innovative and effective solutions to market and sell properties globally.

And he’s put that experience to good use, leading Chestertons Global’s expansion and management of the affiliate and franchise network, overseeing various functions such as marketing, servicing, technology, and business development.

Things are certainly going well.

The firm has enjoyed a legacy of success and now has a strong global network in more than 10 countries, offering a comprehensive range of client services, from property sales and lettings to commercial services and investment advisory.

And Parikshat has no intention of stopping or slowing that expansion.

In today’s show, he talks about his personal experience, the business growth, the challenges and the milestones, networking, PropTech, the digital economy, and much more…

So you've had challenges in your life, yeah?

Ever been made homeless?

Ever had that happen to you and your family before you were even 1 year old?

No?

What about feeling that life is against you?

Had that family home taken away from you because of some lack of paperwork?

Some legal technicality?

A battle in life where your family had to pull money together to get you overseas to try and make money elsewhere to send it back to your family?

No?

What about your darkest moments?

How did it feel when you were at your lowest? Your own 'rock bottom'?

Was it a scenario where you had to actually live and shelter inside a red phone box in the city of London?

Was it like that?

Did you feel as hopeless and as vulnerable as a young person in their twenties would feel in that kind of environment?

No?

And what about your mindset, your resilience?

Have you been able to find the strength to take the darkest moments and find light in them?

To take a dark feeling of "life happening to you" and empower it with a confidence of "life happening for you"?

To grind through jobs and work and study, no matter what the hours or pay, and do it with a heart full of caring and gratitude?

To see every potential hurdle as an opportunity?

To see every rejection and blockage as a chance for you to step in and fix them?

No?

Well that's just a sampling of the life story of today's guest.

Julie Condliffe is a powerful force of inspiration in this life.

Julie has walked between the extremes of poverty and homelessness, to success and wealth.

A self-taught, best-selling author, who has inspired many people through her books.

A trained lawyer, who has now helped thousands of property buyers and sellers.

A successful property investor in her own right, who has not only taken on the lessons from buying over 40 properties through the auction process for her own personal benefit, but who also uses that unique skillset to guide and advise an endless line of other property investors in the same arena of property auctions.

It's a story and a life that will amaze you, inspire you, encourage you, and motivate you.

Listen to today's show now...

Did you know exactly what you wanted to do after school?

No, neither did today's guest, Sean Spalding.

He passed some Higher Exams, he had some jobs in retail and sales.

He even tried searching down a few different paths with college, university, working with his dad, and even applying to join the police force.

Curiously searching around for his path in life, for the route to success and supporting himself and then his family.

Have you, or are you, surrounded by people and systems telling you that certain things are just not for your kind of people?

Yeah, that's what Sean faced too.

He could see signs and examples of how, for example, money and wealth could be achieved through property investing.

However, schools and establishments, and even family, dictated that he could easily work IN property in some way, but the real profits and wealth were for some reason only reserved for other types of people. Whatever that actually means.

Have you yet found the resilience and determination to just keep going, to just keep looking, and to just keep learning?

Good. Cause that's what Sean did. He kept working and grafting. But he also kept his eyes and ears wide open for learnings and opportunities.

In today's show, Sean speaks about the various jobs and refurb projects he worked on, and how he was always looking for how the people behind the curtains, the investor owners, were able to find and structure and buy the properties.

He speaks about all the lessons and learnings through his work. He speaks about his education through Paul McFadden's Property Protege programme, and how he managed to recoup that investment from his very first deal.

Are you looking for inspiration and encouragement in your own journey?

Well listen in to Sean's powerful story about his various deals, about the sellers he has helped, the investors he has helped, and other property sourcers that he's done business with.

It's an impressive story.

And it's a story that is still being written, with a long way to go...

What things pop into your head as a seller or a buyer when the word "auction" is mentioned?

A large, stuffy room with over-emotional bidders waving paddles in the air and paying over the odds for a property they haven't properly considered?

A seller having to give away massive amounts of their property's value just to desperately get a sale that their local estate agent couldn't manage?

A buyer's panic at a host of fees to pay, with feelings more of gambling than security, and a countdown clock ticking loudly towards a short completion date?

It doesn't have to be that way!

And it's NOT that way if you're lucky enough to do business with John Morris and Luis Guarin from Prime Property Auctions.

Those stuffy rooms in a dated hotel on a specific date that you might not make, are replaced with 2024 tech of online property presentations and a simple offer process.

As John and Luis' expanding team love to say: "Every day is auction day at Prime Property Auctions!"

What words would reassure you as an investor looking to buy at auction?

What about hearing that at Prime, they have auctioneers who are actually investors!

Yes, both John and Luis are experienced property investors in their own right.

They get it!

They know all about the pressure of running due diligence, of thinking of your proper exit strategies, and also understanding and discussing the bigger picture of your own personal investment strategy, criteria and risk-mitigation.

You don't just throw a paddle in the air for someone with a hammer who couldn't care less about you.

The guys take a keen interest in speaking with and understanding your own personal investment journey, and can speak your language!

But what if you're not an investor and simply a personal buyer? Even a 1st time buyer?

Again, the team fully appreciate your desires and concerns, and are there to guide you by the hand with all aspects of purchasing, solicitors and mortgages.

They can find and share properties with you that can be your ideal personal home.

So does all that buyer assistance mean that the seller has to lose out?

Absolutely not!

What about hearing these wonderful assurances as a seller..."Sell your property within 28 Days. You set the price, No upfront costs & no sale, no fee."

Yes, that's the way that auctions should be working to help the sellers of property out there too.

And that's exactly the security and reassurance that Prime Propety Auctions brings.

Now hear the full amazing story.

In today's episode with John and Luis, you'll hear all about their approach to helping so many different people, and the full fascinating story of how Prime Property Auctions came about and has rapidly grown.

Are we handing over too much power to machines and robots with all the latest and greatest apps and AI tools?

What if someone could ensure the changes and developments we make, have the person, the human, very much centre of focus?

What if the resident or tenant was thought of first, before any technical changes?

What if the client or property owner or facility manager was put ahead of any app or flashy interface?

What if the engineer or repair man or service provider was considered before any AI entity?

That's exactly the approach that askporter has taken.

That's why askporter has been able to help L&G's Affordable Homes tenants to fix 30% of their housing issues by themselves.

That's how askporter has been able to help solve the headaches that contractors and engineers usually face, by being able to successfully automatically diagnose 97% of issues raised.

Forget about computers and efficiencies, what actually makes people's lives easier?

It's a tenant having instant answers and information about an issue anytime, day or night, and not having to wait on a call centre opening or an enquiry eventually being answered.

It's a property/portfolio owner being able to focus on the bigger and most important ways they can improve their properties and lives, without being distracted and bogged down by low-level issues and noise.

It's the residents and the managers of social housing estates being able to have instant communication, have problems solved, and have daily lives improved.

People want to be heard and understood.

Today's guest, Clara McKibbin, Head of Customer Experience at askporter, has been fully focused on the experience, the journey, and the communication that the human people involved in property really yearn for.

Designed with the people in mind.

Observed and improved for making resident's lives better and with less friction points.

Working and collaborating with owners, managers and contractors to make the individual human experiences to be properly listened to and acted upon.

Looking for pain points to be removed? For problems to be solved? Then askClara at askporter...

I've not really got time for property?

Have you heard that before?

Have you maybe even said it yourself before?

Well today's guest in the Property Pros Spotlight is going to put those excuses to shame.

Because once you've heard Steven McKaveney's life and business journey to date, you'll be forgiven for thinking that we've interviewed five guests instead of just one!

A nomad of action, making things happen.

Life, family and work experiences all across the UK and abroad.

Refurbs, flips, Rent-to-SA, buy-to-lets, conversions, land deals...the list goes on and on.

Did we mention the industry-disrupting AI software service that he's built and patented "on the side"?

Yeah, you won't be able to accuse Steven of being lazy or procrastinating.

His journey and mindset will inspire and encourage you with your own goals.

So has it all been sunshine and unicorns for him?

Absolutely not!

Steven is a completely open book about sharing all of the priceless lessons and challenges he's faced throughout his journey.

And he's humble and keen to share them with others, to light the way for your own goals and success.

Are there 2 words other than "Capital Allowances" that sound more mysterious and complex to property investors?

If there are, we'd like to hear them!

Too difficult to understand, too complex to navigate, and too advanced to waste time investigating.

That's a common reaction to property owners and investors.

But if they could be shown the huge amounts of cash that they're leaving on the table?

That would change things!

Losing out on a ton of money is a much simpler concept to understand.

And wanting to do something about that lost money is what a wise investor would do.

But that then leads to more questions unravelling...

What situations can I claim these allowances?

How far back can I claim?

What exactly is my Annual Investment Allowance?

Those are some of the usually bewildering questions that can be asked.

But there's a better set of questions to ask...

What experts out there could actually do all the heavy lifting for me?

Who would be able to quickly know if I have a case to claim back much needed money?

Who would have the experience and knowledge to compile the case to actually get that money?

And that's where today's guest comes in!

Mark Anthistle, from Bonham & Brook, has compiled more than 1,000 successful valuations, resulting in the identification over £300Million of unclaimed capital allowances, and securing over £60Million in tax relief for clients!

That's who your new pal should be.

The expert to have in your corner.

Listen in to today's show and hear all of the different ways that Mark and his team can possibly help you with reclaiming all of that lost money...

There are some words that strike fear in the hearts of property investors. 'Tax' and 'Stamp Duty' are up there with the most terrifying.

And in that world are abbreviations that not only add to the terror but also demonstrate the minefield of complexity that investors have to try and tip-toe their way through safely: SDLT, LBTT, and LTT.

But for every horror there is a haven. And words like 'tax relief' and 'exemptions' help to soothe and comfort.

And for every monster there are heroes to save the day.

He might not have been wearing his cape during our chat today, but Kishan Kavi, the Head of Property Taxes and Head of Tax Investigations at Bonham and Brook, is very much that hero that can help you.

With a highly impressive background in Law, Litigation and Tax, Kishan and has team have been responsible for tax savings running into the multi millions of pounds and growing.

Stamp Duty is a 'self assessment' tax that the buyer is responsible for.

But you don't have to tread through that minefield alone.

While your solicitor is staying in their lane and handling the conveyancing part of your purchases, you should have people like Kishan on your side to review and advise on the costly tax elements for you.

And with 51 different reliefs and exemptions available, Kishan has a host of weapons available to fight off the tax monsters for you.

During the show we touch upon just a few of the reliefs and possible scenarios for savings. You'll hear from Kishan's chat that he has an encyclopedic knowledge of rules and regulations and case law aimed at helping you in your individual scenarios.

Use the links below to reach out to Kishan and his teams at Bonham & Brook to see how they can help you.

They can initially review your situation for free.

And there's other links to their Stamp Duty Reliefs Guide and Kishan's recent article on Stamp Duty Exemptions...