Core service
Asset strategy.
Hold, improve, convert or sell?
An independent view for owners of existing buildings: whether to hold, refurbish, convert, extend, re-let or sell, and help carrying out the decision.
Owners of an existing building usually have more options than they are shown, and each one tends to be put to them by someone paid on that route: the agent on the letting or the sale, the builder on the works. We set every realistic option side by side on the same basis: what it costs, how long it takes, what could go wrong and what it leaves you with.
Who it is for
For owners of offices, industrial units, shops, mixed-use buildings and residential blocks, from one building to a portfolio. For businesses that occupy part of a building and let the rest, family property companies reviewing what they hold, and investors who have bought a building to improve it.
What it covers
- The building nowCondition, services, the lease position, the energy rating and what it costs to hold, including when it stands empty.
- Income and leasesCurrent rents, lease events and how secure the income is, read alongside your agent’s view of the market.
- Planning and useThe existing use, what can change without a planning application, and what would need consent.
- Energy and complianceThe EPC rating against the letting rules, and the fire safety and building regulations work any change would bring.
- The optionsHold as it is, refurbish, convert, extend, split, re-let or sell, each defined clearly enough to be costed.
- Cost, time and returnEach option costed and modelled on the same basis, with the assumptions that matter most tested.
- RecommendationThe route to take, the order to do things in, and what would change the answer.
How it works
- 1
Brief
What you own, what you want from it, and the time and money available. - 2
Review
A visit to the building, and a review of the leases, the planning position and the energy rating. - 3
Compare
Each option costed and modelled on the same basis, so they can be set side by side. - 4
Act
If you go ahead, we manage the planning application, the works or the sale with your agents and solicitors.
Questions we answer
- 01Is the building earning what it should, and what is holding it back?
- 02Will it still be lettable under the energy efficiency rules?
- 03Would a refurbishment pay for itself in rent or value?
- 04Could it be converted to another use, or to homes, and would that be worth more?
- 05Should we hold, improve or sell, and in what order?
What you receive
- Review of the building, income and planning position
- Costed options, compared like for like
- Recommended route and the order of work
- Help carrying it out, if you want it
A buyer of three industrial units will occupy one and wants the best return from the other two: sell on, convert to offices or let in the existing use. Each option is costed, checked against the planning position and modelled.
Read the case study →Guides for owners
Common questions
- How is this different from what my agent does?
- An agent advises on the letting or the sale and is usually paid on it. We have no stake in which route you take, and we bring cost, planning and construction into the decision alongside the market view. We often work with your agent.
- Do you manage the property day to day?
- No. We do not collect rent or manage tenants. We set the strategy and, if you go ahead, manage the planning application, the works or the sale with your agents and solicitors.
- Is this a valuation?
- No. It is advice to help you decide what to do. Where a formal valuation is needed, for a lender or for tax, it comes from a registered valuer.
- What does it cost and how long does it take?
- Both depend on the number of buildings and options. The scope, fee and timescale are agreed in writing before work starts.