Edward Dent has spent his career across commercial agency, development, renewables, and offsite construction, and now works as a freelance consultant helping SME developers and property companies make the most of their assets. In this interview, he talks about his journey in the property industry, the challenges facing the sector today, and the trends he sees shaping real estate in the years ahead.
What is your background and experience in the property industry?
I started out as a Commercial agent in Shoreditch which was a very different place then to nowadays – no high rises just lots of vacant Victorian warehouses and a couple of pubs. I then worked for other firms of surveyors ( Edward Erdman, Henry Butcher) before eventually working for myself setting up development deals for clients as the market took off.
Since then I have always been looking for new property related opportunities, and (amongst others) my experience includes renewables, residential conversion and new build, offsite construction and Landfill remediation.
Can you tell us a bit more about your business and what you do?
I now act as a freelance consultant, and provide services to smaller builder / developers, as well as agency services focussing mainly on South London. I also advise individuals and companies on how best to extract value from their property assets, and assist with strategy and planning, putting together small teams of consultants as necessary.
Who are your typical clients and how do you market your services?
Most of my clients are SME builder / developers, as well as smaller property companies and traders. I do not have a website and rely on my network of existing contacts for referrals and leads – however this may change in the near future.
How did you first cross paths with Newmanor Law?
I was introduced to Newmanor by the environmental lawyer and entrepreneur Stephen Sykes just after they had started up. He thought that it may be a mutually beneficial idea to meet up and proved correct as usual.
What are the key challenges currently facing the Real Estate sector and how are you addressing them?
Where to start? The industry is beset with a perfect storm of problems now – New building regulations, high and costs, labour shortages, complex and slow planning regimes – I could go on. As a sole trader there is very little, I can do to influence these constraints on development. However, property people are pretty imaginative and there is always an angle, so I try to focus on these areas of activity – at the moment these are educational and religious buildings, ‘bricks and mortar’ with value add potential, and consented housing sites.
What trends do you foresee shaping the Real Estate industry in the coming years?
Despite the pressing need for new housing, development (at least in London) seems to have ground to a halt. To deliver anything like the number of homes which the country needs Government will need to somehow make development an attractive option again – simplifying and streamlining planning and perhaps freeing it from some of the many obligations which currently fall upon it (such as affordable housing for small schemes, BNG etc).
Ultimately I would expect (and hope) to see modular or offsite construction provide many of these new dwellings – if not for simple cost benefits, then for the speed of deployment, predictability of costs and quality guarantees that the better technologies guarantee.