Property developers are accustomed to focusing on the numbers that are easiest to see.
Land acquisition costs. Build costs. Professional fees. Sales values. Gross development value.
All of these are critical. Yet, in my experience, one of the biggest influences on a developer’s ultimate profit often receives far less attention: timing.
The reality is that development rarely runs exactly to plan. Sales periods extend. Buyers delay decisions. Legal processes take longer than anticipated. Markets move. What looked like a six-month sales programme can quickly become nine or twelve months.
Historically, many developers have approached completion with a simple objective: repay the development facility as quickly as possible. But in today’s market, speed isn’t always synonymous with success.
Forcing the sale of completed units simply to meet an arbitrary deadline can place unnecessary pressure on pricing and erode margins that have taken years to create.
Increasingly, experienced developers are taking a different approach.
Rather than viewing the end of a development facility as a cliff edge, they are planning for multiple exit scenarios from the outset. That might mean selling units individually over a more realistic timeframe, retaining selected assets to generate income, or refinancing once a scheme has stabilised.
This shift in mindset changes the conversation. The question becomes less about, “How quickly can I repay this loan?” and more about, “How do I maximise the value of the asset I’ve created?”
For brokers advising developers, that distinction is significant.
Funding should support the commercial objectives of the scheme, not dictate them. The most effective finance structures are those that recognise that markets move, sales patterns evolve and strategies sometimes need to adapt.
Developers spend months creating value through careful acquisition, planning and execution. Protecting that value during the final stage of a project deserves just as much consideration.
Because in development finance, the difference between a good outcome and a great one is often measured not in basis points, but in timing.
BDM Team Contact details:
Richard Deacon, Managing Director (Sales)
richard.deacon@octanecapital.co.uk
07817 822554
Justin Cooper, Senior Business Development Manager
justin@octanecapital.co.uk
07799 772270
Mark Stephenson, Senior Business Development Manager
mark.stephenson@octanecapital.co.uk
07493 499767
Francesca Woodhouse, Senior Business Development Manager
francesca@octanecapital.co.uk
07741 591923
Shrena Patel, Senior Business Development Manager
shrena@octanecapital.co.uk
07920 256660
Lee Warne, Business Development Manager
lee@octanecapital.co.uk
07444 719164
Jamie Smith, Business Development Manager
jamie.smith@octanecapital.co.uk
07386 381055
Darren Pointer, Senior Internal Business Development Manager
darren@octanecapital.co.uk
07385 617330
Zsófia Hölbling, Internal Business Development Manager
Zsofia@octanecapital.co.uk
07503 320562
Alex Thompson, Internal Business Development Manager
alex.thompson@octanecapital.co.uk
07570 883472
