Kevin McCloud, oh deary me

[snake_oil]

Property guru somehow manages to lose everyone all their money invested in his ethical property company.

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/aug/...

Just how does one lose money developing property in a property boom?

[alock]

I live a mile up the road from the Kings Worthy development. No one could believe how over-priced the houses were when the plans were first released. We moved house in 2012, so were very clued up on prices. A similar new build 4 bed nearby was £600k. On this development it was £900k.

I've not actually checked whether they sold for these initial prices, or if there were huge discounts.

[anonymous-user]

I’ve always liked KM on Grand Designs but I think you need a certain amount of arrogance to you call your business Happiness Architecture Beauty (HAB) homes.

[easytiger123]

garyhun said:

I’ve always liked KM on Grand Designs but I think you need a certain amount of arrogance to you call your business Happiness Architecture Beauty (HAB) homes.

And no little naivety to think that the name plus the KM association will be enough to make buyers pay a vast premium for the houses.

[anonymous-user]

easytiger123 said:

garyhun said:

I’ve always liked KM on Grand Designs but I think you need a certain amount of arrogance to you call your business Happiness Architecture Beauty (HAB) homes.

And no little naivety to think that the name plus the KM association will be enough to make buyers pay a vast premium for the houses.

Indeed.

[mattnovak]

I met him at the BMW i8 launch in the Cotswolds - Mrs N and I were handed the keys to one for a weekend for free, complete with a lovely stay at Soho Farmhouse - due to the nature of my work, I reached out to him earlier this year with the aim to discuss my company possibly setting up a fund with HAB for a fixed return.

He / his PA / his colleagues never got back to me. I was annoyed at the time, but relieved now.

I believe the idea has merit, it simply failed in its execution.

[anonymous-user]

“I’ve learnt that business is really tough........”

No st Sherlock?

I do wonder whether whatever he ‘invested’ was compensated by ‘consultancy fees’ or the like?

[alfaman]

I wonder if the business was structured so that ‘HAB Land” made good returns from the housing business that which private investors participated in ?

Or have all the related businesses done badly?

Which business is Kevin’s money in?

[untakenname]

It always seemed a bit off on Grand Designs as he would push the couples to spend more and keep to their initial plans when they were trying to reign it in after inevitably going over budget, made for good TV I guess.
Looks like his developments have over 30% affordable homes on them which would probably put of those buying the unaffordable ones.

Filing history here
https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/0903979...
https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/1053669...

Edited by untakenname on Friday 23 August 11:10

[greygoose]

All those child support payments for the multiple pregnancies on Grand Designs were bound to drain the finances.

[Equus]

I know him from a project of ours that featured on Grand Designs.

I was also working for a major housing developer just up the road, when HAB was doing their early projects in Gloucestershire area (one in Stroud comes to mind, particulalry). These provided us with much amusement: to say that they were clueless about how to properly manage such projects is an understatement.

He's a likeable chap, but knows fk all about development, construction management, or even construction. He's not an Architect by training - he studied history of art and architecture and he then became a theatre set designer (which is presumably where he met enough Luvvies to become involved in the media).

[JuanCarlosFandango]

Maybe it will all, finally come together in the end.

[T-195]

easytiger123 said:

garyhun said:

I’ve always liked KM on Grand Designs but I think you need a certain amount of arrogance to you call your business Happiness Architecture Beauty (HAB) homes.

And no little naivety to think that the name plus the KM association will be enough to make buyers pay a vast premium for the houses.

The Jamie Oliver of Property.

[Blackpuddin]

He tried to set up a small venture on a site literally round the corner from us. Unfortunately nobody seemed to notice that it was a site of some natural interest. Nevertheless the site was cleared, including some mechanised stream digging that was supposed to have been done by hand to protect the animals living there. The scheme was kicked into touch by the council and we've heard nothing since. I wonder if a few more HAB schemes may have gone the same way, ie presuming permission that did not materialise.

[turbobloke]

alock said:

We moved house in 2012, so were very clued up on prices. A similar new build 4 bed nearby was £600k. On this development it was £900k.
.

Whatever the ethics were, they put £300k on the price of a 4-bed quite lilely due to a 'liberal' dose of expensive green blob.

All fashion all cost not much happiness or beauty. Silly name anyway.

[turbobloke]

mattnovak said:

I believe the idea has merit, it simply failed in its execution.

Not sustainable after all.

[rxe]

As someone who’s done a bit of building, the thing that never added up was the delusional budgets in some of these projects. “ooh yes, we’ve reshaped a hillside and built some architecturally relevant house and stayed within our budget of 250k”. bks, you spent 100k on ground works, and another 80 on the kitchen .... did you do all the rest for 70k ....?

[Triumph Man]

garyhun said:

I’ve always liked KM on Grand Designs but I think you need a certain amount of arrogance to you call your business Happiness Architecture Beauty (HAB) homes.

Sounds like a far Eastern company.

[JuanCarlosFandango]

turbobloke said:

Not sustainable after all.

It's amazing how often you can be correct by assuming that anything sold on its "green" credentials is a scam.

Some neighbours of ours are serial suckers who have been disappointed with solar panels, some miracle insulation and an air source heat pump. They have an electric Nissan too.

Aside from the fact that they have surely spent multiples more on this bks than I have on actually heating my house with a mix of wood and electricity I imagine the amount of plastic, packaging and shipping that has gone into it all is an ecological disaster in its own right.

[anonymous-user]

JuanCarlosFandango said:

It's amazing how often you can be correct by assuming that anything sold on its "green" credentials is a scam.

Some neighbours of ours are serial suckers who have been disappointed with solar panels, some miracle insulation and an air source heat pump. They have an electric Nissan too.

Aside from the fact that they have surely spent multiples more on this bks than I have on actually heating my house with a mix of wood and electricity I imagine the amount of plastic, packaging and shipping that has gone into it all is an ecological disaster in its own right.

My wife is an IFA and people often ask her for "green" investments. When she tells them the expected return, they soon lose their ethics