Investin Plc, Residential Financial Viability Assessment

Challenge

Vail Williams was appointed by Investin Plc to provide a residential financial viability assessment for a build-to-rent scheme on the site of the former Royal Mail Sorting Office in Portsmouth city centre.

The proposal was for a 6-storey 102-bed build-to-rent (BTR) scheme made up of one and two-bed apartments boasting a range of premium facilities, from gym to concierge. The residential units would be accompanied by commercial space on the ground floor, following demolition of the existing building.

How we helped

• With no purpose-built BTR schemes in Portsmouth at this time, the scheme provided a different residential tenure type in the city centre.
• However, Portsmouth City Council policy required 40 of the units to be affordable housing, representing 39% of the total to be delivered.
• Our development viability experts undertook a viability assessment, concluding in their in-depth report that although the scheme was deliverable overall, the percentage of affordable housing was not.
• The report was subject to external independent review. Portsmouth City Council instructed BNP Paribas who agreed with our findings.

Result

• Portsmouth City Council agreed that the scheme could proceed without affordable housing provision, enabling the scheme to progress to the next stage, outside of policy requirements.
• Our knowledge of the local residential market and development viability process, enabled our developer client to proceed with the planning application for this scheme.
• If approved, it will become the first BTR scheme to be built in Portsmouth, addressing significant private rented sector (PRS) demand in the city centre.