Property Deal Sourcing for Developers: How Development Deals Are Found, Tested and Bought

What property deal sourcing is: two very different markets

Search for property deal sourcing and most of what comes back sells one product. A sourcer finds a buy-to-let flat, an HMO or a serviced accommodation unit. They add a rent estimate and a yield, and sell the deal to a small landlord for a fixed fee.

Development deal sourcing is a different job for a different buyer.

The difference matters because the risk is different. On a buy-to-let flat, a weak deal costs you some yield. On a development site, a weak deal can cost the whole profit before anyone digs. A wrong build cost or a refused application does not come back.

Buying a home to live in? Then you need a buying agent, not a deal sourcer, and this guide is not for you. Everything below is about development deals.

How deal sourcers are paid, and why it matters

Here is the first question to ask: who pays the sourcer, and when? The answer tells you whose side they are on. Three models cover most of the market.

1. Paid per deal by the buyer. The usual buy-to-let model is a fixed fee, due when you reserve or complete. The sourcer earns only if you buy, so every deal shown is a deal they want you to take.
2. Paid by the seller or the selling agent. An introduction fee from the other side of the table. The sourcer is then working, at least in part, for the seller's price.
3. Buyer-side, agreed per deal. The sourcer acts as your representative, on terms set before the search. That can be an upfront fee plus a success fee, a percentage, or joining the deal as a partner.

None of these is wrong in itself. The danger is a sourcer whose only income is a completed sale. On most development deals, the honest answer is to walk away.

That is the core problem we see. Most agents send buyers poor deals where the maths does not work, because they are paid to sell, not to protect the buyer. We work buyer-side, and our terms are agreed deal by deal and client by client.

The rules a UK property deal sourcer must follow

Deal sourcing is not a separate profession in law, but it is not unregulated either. Under section 1 of the Estate Agents Act 1979, introducing a client who wants to buy land to a seller is estate agency work. It applies when the sourcer acts on the client's instructions. That brings real duties.

1. Money laundering supervision. HMRC's registration guide lists property finders and private acquisitions specialists among the estate agency businesses that must register with HMRC. Registration comes before any estate agency activity, and HMRC says trading while not registered is a criminal offence.
2. Redress. Anyone doing estate agency work on residential property must belong to an approved redress scheme. The duty comes from section 23A of the 1979 Act and the Estate Agents (Redress Scheme) Order 2008.
3. Data protection. A business that holds clients' personal data must pay the data protection charge to the Information Commission, unless all its processing is exempt.

Ask any sourcer which of these apply to them and how they meet them. A sourcer who cannot answer plainly is a risk before you see a single deal.

Development deal sourcing: what a buyer should expect

A development deal is only a deal once the numbers, the planning and the risks have been tested. A buyer-side sourcer should do five things before you commit.

1. Bring deal flow the portals do not have. Off-market sites come through people already active on projects: a contractor next door, a consultant, a lender with a stalled scheme.
2. Run a full appraisal. Sales value from real comparables, a build cost priced by a builder, then fees, finance, obligations and profit. Work back to the most you can pay.
3. Give a view on planning. Without consent, the chance of getting it. With consent, the conditions, the obligations and the time limit.
4. Put every risk on one list. Title, access, rights of light, services, ground, flood risk and the condition of any building.
5. Negotiate on your side. Price, timing, exclusivity and overage, negotiated for you and not for the seller.

On a consented site, the job is to check the seller's numbers. On a site without consent, the job is to price the hope. Both need someone who can cost the build, not just read the pack.

The whole stage, from finding a site to exchange, is set out in our guide to land acquisition for development. Buying a building to add value rather than land? See how investors approach investment property in London.

Red flags in a sourced development deal pack

A deal pack is a sales document. It is written to make the deal look good, and it usually does. These are the signs that the numbers will not survive a survey.

1. A build rate with no source. A generic cost per square foot hides demolition, basements, abnormals and services.
2. Sales values from the best flat in the postcode. Ask for sold comparables of the same size, age and specification, not asking prices.
3. "Planning potential" with no planning history. Read the site's history and its neighbours' before you pay for any uplift.
4. No line for finance, fees or obligations. Planning obligations, professional fees and interest are real costs of the deal.
5. A deadline to pay a reservation fee. Pressure to pay before you have checked anything is the clearest flag of all.
6. Only the fee is certain. If the pack is vague on everything except what the sourcer earns, ask why.

Each of these can move the land value by more than the sourcer's fee. We set out the common gaps in the real numbers behind a development site for sale.

Real examples: where development deals are won or lost

Three schemes show the same lesson from different sides. The deal is won or lost before the build, at the stage a sourcer should cover.

Allitsen Road: a building bought before the checks

A vacant, derelict former members' club on a corner plot in St John's Wood was bought at auction in 2026 without proper due diligence. Our feasibility study then designed and priced four options. They ran from four apartments within the existing building to seven with an excavated basement.

The biggest scheme was not the best. Excavation gave seven apartments and £6.06M of sales value for a £2.75M build. Raising the ground floor for a basement gave six apartments, £5.87M of sales value and a £2.51M build, with none of the digging risk. We advised against excavating.

Planning shaped the deal too. A members' club cannot simply become flats. The council needs proof that the club use has ended, and the study plans 12 to 18 months for it. See the Allitsen Road feasibility study.

Holborough Lakes: land bought without planning

Holborough Lakes, at Snodland in Kent, was a Blue Circle chalk quarry. Berkeley bought the land without planning permission and began building in 2005. Robert Barton, who now leads our development partnerships, secured the masterplan for 1,100 homes there while at Berkeley Homes.

The lesson for a buyer: on land without consent, the value is made at the masterplan stage. The price should reflect the planning work still to do. More in the Holborough Lakes story.

Crab Hill: winning a large site on certainty

Crab Hill, now Kingsgrove, in Wantage has outline consent for up to 1,500 homes on 227 acres. The scheme includes a primary school, a neighbourhood centre and a central park. Before he joined us, Robert Barton led the bid to win the scheme, with contracts completed within six months.

Moving that fast means the price, the planning position and the obligations were agreed without reopening the deal. Sellers price certainty as well as money. See Crab Hill in Wantage.

How we source development deals for developers

We work for the buyer, not the seller, on development schemes from £3M to £150M gross development value, in London and across the UK. Our development land and site sourcing service covers the whole stage as your representative.

1. Deal flow. We are in the industry and active on projects, so off-market deals come to us. We already have deals on the table.
2. The numbers. We run the full appraisal and viability check, so you know the deal makes money before you offer.
3. The planning chance. Without consent, we advise on the odds. With consent, we check the numbers as your representative.
4. The risks. Every one highlighted before you commit, from the title to the ground.
5. The terms. We negotiate the best terms on your behalf.

After the purchase, the same team can take the scheme on through planning, design and construction. We have built since 2016, and our combined team experience includes £225M+ of land acquired and 10,000+ homes through planning.

What we ask of a buyer

Terms are agreed deal by deal: typically an upfront fee plus a success fee, a percentage, or joining the deal alongside our other services. We ask serious buyers to have proof of funds, or funding in place, before they approach us. Already holding a deal pack from an agent? Send it and we will give it a free first check.

Property deal sourcing works for developers when the sourcer sits on your side of the table. Looking for your next development deal? Tell us what you're looking for and we will say what we have and whether it works.