Kooky HIGH WYCOMBE
A standalone block within Inland Homes Centre Square development in High Wycombe town centre.
LAND – We were offered the chance to acquire the freehold of Buckingham House, a standalone block within Inland Homes Centre Square development in High Wycombe town centre. The opportunity was brought to us by as a joint venture between Prime Plots and LVK Real Estate, this would turn out to be the second successfully purchased deal of 2020 introduced by Kane & James to Kooky.
The opportunity to work with another top tier Housebuilder was a big incentive for us.
Off the back of this already successful relationship Kane & James we were confident that if this site met all our initial acquisition criteria. They could recommend Kooky as the ideal purchaser, confident in our ability to execute the transaction in a timely manner with a pragmatic view to working through any unknowns that might come up during the legal process. The experienced team here at Kooky on the Land, Construction and Legal side take pride in our capacity to find solutions rather than throw in the towel.
Even with the extra battle of working through the period of lockdown, agreeing a purchase price and deal structure quickly move into Heads of Terms and the legal process.
As always we are confident that by showing our pedigree in our performance on this deal there will be other opportunities in the pipeline with Inland Homes on their future schemes.
Working with a PLC Housebuilder such as Inland continues to be our preferred route. As we see ourselves as the perfect purchaser for blocks Housebuilders are delivering and looking to secure a guaranteed early exit, sales achieved, marketing costs saved and peace of mind.
RESEARCH – Once we were offered this development we started investigating the area as we had no prior knowledge of acquiring here.
Research showed us that the ability to commute to London combined with good local employment and a nearby University would ensure a strong rental demand. The site’s location opposite the main shopping centre also means that amenities are on the doorstep for tenants. Evidence of this was clear when a number of flats in the scheme rented quickly.
CONSTRUCTION – Putting it all together. With the design considerably progressed by the Developer, we worked collaboratively to compile a final specification for the project which will achieve the KOOKY end product, whilst ensuring the scheme remains fully deliverable within the parameters of time, cost and quality set between both parties.
This was extremely fundamental for both the Developer and KOOKY and needed to be undertaken with open mindsets and shared values to achieving a swift route to contract exchange.
The project is now moving to site and the collaborative approach remains fully in place as we work through the detail, integrating the KOOKY requirements within the Stage 4 design. Communication is key and these routes are now fully established and active between both parties as the Developer’s self-delivery team mobilise onto the project. The KOOKY Construction Team will remain as the primary communication conduit with the Developer’s delivery team through to project completion and handover to the KOOKY Property Management Team.
LEGAL – Getting the contract right. We have exchanged contracts with a national developer for the freehold acquisition of 85 off plan apartments in the centre of High Wycombe.
We held weekly meetings with the developer (to include lawyers) to focus on the sale contract and any issues arising from our due diligence. The good rapport that we struck up with the developer enabled us to communicate directly with the developer on any outstanding legal points.
For example, we worked collaboratively with the developer and with full transparency on a title issue, which was promptly resolved to both parties’ satisfaction.
The negotiations were fast paced, intense but very rewarding. Our aim throughout the negotiations was to find a way to make the deal happen – on many occasions we managed to find a solution to outstanding commercial points. This attitude and the transparency in which we conducted our negotiations enabled us to exchange within the developer’s deadline.
We’ve dealt with a lot of the major players in your sector and genuinely it was refreshing working with you, I very much hope this is the first of many.
Inland Homes