We had heard of builders merchant in West London that was being quietly marketed for sale as a development opportunity. Enquiries with the local authority established that planning would not be looked on favourably with this site on its own but might be with its neighbour, a welder’s yard. The neighbours could not agree on what kind of scheme would maximise the value of their land, nor could they agree a division of the purchase price.

On top of all this both sites combined employed a dozen people and loss of employment was going to be a significant hurdle is achieving a planning permission. We brokered a deal that was fair to both parties, introduced a housing association to purchase the land and were granted permission to build two 100% affordable apartments blocks.