Episode 112 – Interview with Charlie Dugdale and John Beresford on Master Planned Community Development in the United Kingdom (Part 2)
In Episode 112 of the Land to Lots™ Podcast, Carter Froelich continues his conversation with Charlie Dugdale, Founder of Ondare, and John Beresford, Managing Director of Buckland Development, on the design and infrastructure financing behind Welborne Garden Village a 6,000-home community in Hampshire.
In Part 2, they explore how England’s garden village principles shape Welborne’s development and the challenges of funding infrastructure early in a project’s life. Carter, Charlie, and John also compare the financing tools available to UK and US developers and discuss how long-term land ownership influences decisions about growth, investment, and project returns.
- What the English garden village movement set out to achieve, from the Victorian industrial communities at Cadbury, Port Sunlight, and Saltaire through Ebenezer Howard and Letchworth.
- Why the government returned to the garden village model after the eco towns program stalled, and what an allocation as a garden village commits a project to.
- Why Charlie argues that design codes need land ownership behind them, since planning alone cannot enforce what a scheme promised twenty years after approval.
- How UK house sizes, densities of 35 to 38 dwellings per hectare, open space and biodiversity net gain requirements, and a net to gross site efficiency near 40 percent explain why Welborne is 6,000 homes rather than the 10,000 allocated.
- What hurdle rate UK land developers underwrite to, and why a long term private landowner may proceed on a margin a listed housebuilder would decline.
- How Welborne carries roughly £400 million of infrastructure concentrated in its first three to four years, including grant forward funding for a £112 million motorway junction repaid as the project meets profitability targets.
- Why Section 106 and the community infrastructure levy tax a development rather than finance it, and what the absence of a residential equivalent to US special purpose taxing districts costs UK projects.
- Prepare a Special Tax District Bond Analysis for your Project – If you have a project in AZ, CA, CO, ID, NC, NM, SC, TX, UT, WA contact Carter Froelich and have Launch prepare an initial complimentary high-level bond analysis for your project.
- Hold a 1 Hour Complimentary Project Vision™ and DOS Worksheet for your Project – If you have a project in AZ, CA, CO, ID, NC, NM, SC, TX, UT, WA contact Carter Froelich and schedule a complimentary 1-hour Project Vision™ and DOS conversation for your project which will result in a high-level Project Path & Plan™ for your project. (Note: Projects should be of 250 acres or more).
- Add Favorable Financing Language to Annexation and/or Development Agreements – Create certainty and flexibility related to your project’s infrastructure financing by having Launch professionals prepare handcrafted favorable financing language for inclusion in your Annexation and/or Development Agreement. Contact Carter Froelich for more information.
- Perform The RED Analysis™ on your Project – We have developed a unique process at Launch called The RED Analysis™ in which we perform a diagnostic review of your project to determine possible ways to Reduce, Eliminate and Defer infrastructure construction costs in order to enhance project returns. Contact Carter Froelich for more information.
Complimentary Offers for Land to Lots™ Listeners
Carter Froelich, CPA
480-828-9555 | carter@launch-dfa.com
Carter Froelich hosts the Land to Lots™ podcast powered by Launch Development Finance Advisors. Carter shares how he and his team help their clients finance infrastructure, reduce costs, and mitigate risks all with the goal of enhancing project profitability.
