PDW Ltd

A very merry Christmas from all of us at PDW Ltd! Its been a year of huge challenges in the affordable housing sector, and I am sure 2025 will be just as challenging……but we work with some fantastic people and there are undoubtedly many opportunities ahead, along with a huge amount of good will and energy to delivery more, better quality housing. Thank you to all our clients and the many consultants and colleagues that we have worked with over the last 12 months – we are really looking forward to 2025!

Towards the end of December we, like a lot of businesses, reflect on how our year has been. Not only from a monetary perspective, but how we are performing and growing as a team. We all work remotely, however there is an office base that we meet up in regularly as a team, and spend time coworking together. At a recent meeting, we jokingly discussed how long each of us had specifically worked in social housing development......... It turns out we have a collective 62 years experience, with Vikki Brooks and Lisa Murray MRICS bringing to the table a further 30 years of experience working within the social housing sector. Quite an achievement, and along with our experience, we also focus on our values, and commitment to excellent customer service. To discuss any of our services, message me on LinkedIn or drop us an email at [email protected] Daniel Winsor Lindsay Grey Samuel Coulthard Lisa Murray MRICS Vikki Brooks

Yesterday I shared the top question we get asked about our PDW Ltd Development Procedures Manual (DPM). We are also asked "What are the key benefits of owning PDW’s Development Procedures Manual?" 🔽 🔽 🔽 Developing homes is a specialist and complex area. Organisations who use the Development Procedures Manual will find the development process much easier and clearer, whether they are new to development or an established team.   The manual is also an important risk management tool, serving as an invaluable aid to the compilation of a full audit file, whilst helping to demonstrate compliance with funding conditions.   License holders will also benefit from additional support, regular updates to the manual in response to changes in the operating environment that ensures it is always live and current. A free help-line for license holders is also provided, with PDW’s team of development professionals ready to answer any questions on any development matters. We are currently offering housing associations and local authorities a free presentation of our DPM, which will give you a valuable insight into how the manual can help your teams. To book your free presentation, please contact [email protected]

Our next PDW Ltd UK Housing Development Training course, commencing on Wednesday 8th January 2025 is delivered online over 6 months for half a day each week. The course is not only suitable for those already in development who want to progress further, or those who want a more thorough understanding of the processes and procedures relating to development project management, but it is ideal, also for those considering a career in housing development. New for 2025, we are offering a pick and mix menu, for anyone who doesn't require the full 6-month course To make an enquiry or to book your place email [email protected] Samuel Coulthard, Lisa Murray MRICS, Lindsay Grey, Daniel Winsor, Vikki Brooks #ukhousingdevelopmenttraining #housingassociation #localauthority #socialhousing

We are excited to announce that our next PDW Ltd UK Housing Development Training course will commence on Wednesday 8th January 2025. Our ever popular course is not only suitable for those already in development who want to progress further, or those who want a more thorough understanding of the processes and procedures relating to development project management, but it is ideal, also for those considering a career in housing development. New for 2025, we are offering a pick and mix menu, for anyone who doesn't require the full 6-month course To make an enquiry or to book your place email [email protected] Samuel Coulthard, Lisa Murray MRICS, Lindsay Grey, Daniel Winsor, Vikki Brooks #ukhousingdevelopmenttraining #housingassociation #council #socialhousing

It was great to participate in the launch event of ‘Urban Retrofit UK’ this week at University of Glasgow UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence and the ESRC: Economic and Social Research Council This is a fascinating project and looking at ways to scale up adaptations to the built environment through planning and development systems. The launch event was a great opportunity to meet the project team and other project partners as we reflected on the aims and objectives of #URUK. James White

Lisa Murray MRICS and I had the pleasure of meeting some of Weaver Vale Housing Trust’s development team on Thursday (Louise Marsden, Annette Dennett and Sean Cheeseman). Louise has recently joined WVHT and kindly invited us to Northwich to provide an overview our PDW Ltd Development Procedures Manual (DPM) to ensure that they are making the most of our service. It was great to learn more about the team, how they operate and the types of affordable housing that they are providing to their community. We are looking forward to working with the full team over the coming months to deliver a tailored DPM, which will support them with their affordable housing programme. #developmentproceduresmanual #affordablehousing

Planning Reform Working Paper: Brownfield Passport Our latest briefing note, distributed to our PDW Ltd Development and Sales Procedure Manual clients, provides an overview of the planning reform working paper for the proposed ‘Brownfield Passports’. The paper forms part of a series of working papers on various aspects of planning reform, designed to inform further policy development in collaboration with the wider sector. The working paper considers how the aims of the policy could best be achieved, with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s (MHCLG) focus being on four main options: - Principle of development - National policy to explicitly express that development on brownfield land within urban settlements is acceptable, unless specified exclusions apply (for example, that there is no adverse impact in relation to flood risk and access that cannot be mitigated); - Scale of development - National policy to set minimum expectations for the scale, height, density and accessibility of development in certain types of location. Alternatively, a policy may be amended to encourage such parameters to be set through local development plans, whether across whole urban areas or at a more local scale; - Form of development – The use of design guides and codes to identify regeneration opportunities, and provide clarity on the types of development that are regarded as acceptable in particular locations. It would not give an automatic consent – but by reflecting local views and reducing ambiguity regarding what is acceptable in advance, it would determine a clear framework for development proposals and planning decisions; - Area-wide permissions - An additional approach would be to combine the options for the scale and form of development with Local Development Orders (LDOs), in order to provide upfront consent to developments that meet the specified criteria. The Government believes that the use of an LDO would remain a matter for local decision and that any LDOs would be prepared with the benefit of effective community engagement. The Government will now be considering the responses to this consultation, with a view to publishing an updated National Planning Policy Framework before the end of the year. A copy of the working paper can be viewed on the Government’s website: https://lnkd.in/ewP8Fs4Q

Next week I will be at the Chartered Institute of Housing Housing Community Summit in Liverpool. If any of my connections are attending and fancy a chat over a coffee, drop me a message and we can arrange to meet up. We have lots of exciting developments in the pipeline for PDW Ltd as we continue to flourish and grow. #SocialHousing #Development #ProjectManagement #Training