Development Manager

Hastoe Housing; Dorchester; Hybrid; GBP 48,000 - 59,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working opportunities

Annual leave up to 28 days

Pension scheme

Health cash plan

Life assurance

Discounts for local shops and gym

Job summary

Hastoe Housing in the South of England is seeking a Development Lead to bring forward affordable housing sites, handling from inception to completion. You will liaise with Rural Housing Enablers, landowners, agents and developers to secure opportunities and fund new developments.

You will manage planning permissions, funding bids, contractor appointments, and oversee delivery to ensure on-time, on-budget handover to Hastoe internal teams.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years development experience.
• Experience negotiating with land owners, agents and developers to acquire land and new homes.
• Experience obtaining planning permissions and negotiating legal contracts in relation to development.
• Experience of contract management.
• Experience of the Homes England funding regime.
• Experience of line management.
• Ability to meet budgets and deadlines.
• Ability to analyse information and make decisions and recommendations.
• Ability to build and maintain good working relationships with a range of people.

Responsibilities

• Preparation of land and package bids for new development opportunities.
• Securing planning permissions and other statutory approvals for new projects.
• Appointing consultants and professional services to ensure new projects are appropriately managed.
• Briefing consultants and contractors in accordance with the Hastoe New Build Standard.
• Tendering and negotiating the appointment of contractors for new projects.
• Submitting funding bids for new projects to Homes England and ensuring funding milestones are achieved.
• Monitoring the progress of construction works and overseeing consultants, Clerks of Works and others to ensure that completed projects achieve the required programme, cost and quality outcomes.
• Liaising with internal teams to ensure they support new developments proposed and are kept informed of project progress.
• Managing a Development Administrator for the counties to be covered.

Skills

Development experience

Land negotiations

Planning permissions

Contract management

Homes England funding

Line management

Budgeting

Decision making

Relationship building

Communication skills

Job description

Salary:Up to £53,220 (dependent upon experience) + £5,000 pa car allowance.
Hours: Full-time(35 hours) with flexible working pattern considered.
Location:Hybrid, with minimum one office day per week in one of our offices (Hampton Wick, Litle Canfield or Dorchester). With travel across the South-East of England, including Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey, West Sussex and East Sussex.
Benefits: 26 days annual leave, plus bank holidays and an additional 1.5 days complimentary leave. Option to purchase additional annual leave, healthcare cash plan, enhanced pension and more.

About us:
Hastoe owns and manages more than 7,500 homes across the south of England from Devon to Norfolk. We are a social housing landlord and England’s leading rural housing specialist. We deliver small housing developments in partnership with rural communities although, for historic reasons, we also own some housing in urban areas.

Hastoe built its first rural affordable homes in 1987 and since then all our homes have been built to a higher standard than required by building regulations. Innovation and sustainability are high on our agenda. Hastoe built the UK’s first rural affordable Passivhaus scheme in 2011 and we developed our own Hastoe New-Build Standard in 2021. This new Standard adopts a fabric-first approach; reducing carbon emissions and saving residents money on their heating bills. Other key elements of the Standard are reduced water consumption, local vernacular design, minimal impact on the environment, Nationally Described Space Standards (NDSS), as well as accessibility and future-proofing features.

About the role:
You will work to bring forward new sites for affordable housing and deliver those projects from inception to completion. You will liaise with Rural Housing Enablers, landowners, agents and developers to secure new opportunities for development. You will secure planning permissions and grant funding for new developments. You will also manage projects in delivery and ensure a smooth handover of the properties to internal teams within Hastoe.

This will involve:

• Preparation of land and package bids for new development opportunities.
• Securing planning permissions and other statutory approvals for new projects.
• Appointing consultants and professional services to ensure new projects are appropriately managed.
• Briefing consultants and contractors in accordance with the Hastoe New Build Standard.
• Tendering and negotiating the appointment of contractors for new projects.
• Submitting funding bids for new projects to Homes England and ensuring funding milestones are achieved.
• Monitoring the progress of construction works and overseeing consultants, Clerks of Works and others to ensure that completed projects achieve the required programme, cost and quality outcomes.
• Liaising with internal teams to ensure they support new developments proposed and are kept informed of project progress.
• Managing a Development Administrator for the counties to be covered.

About you:

• Minimum 5 years development experience.
• Experience of negotiating with land owners, agents and developers to acquire land and new homes.
• Experience of obtaining planning permissions and negotiating legal contracts in relation to development.
• Experience of contract management.
• Experience of the Homes England funding regime.
• Experience of line management.
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written.
• The ability to meet budgets and deadlines.
• The ability to analyse information and make decisions and recommendations.Self-motivation to complete tasks/projects and to work to high standards.
• The ability to build and maintain good working relationships with a range of people.

A personal note from the hiring manager, Mike Cramp, Head of Development:

“Affordable housing is integral to the sustainability of rural communities and Hastoe’s Development team takes great pride in building high quality, affordable homes in partnership with rural communities.

This role will particularly suit an individual focused on the sustainability of rural communities and with the range of development skills to independently manage affordable housing projects from inception to completion.”

Benefits provided

Annual Leave: Starting at 26 days, plus Bank Holidays (pro-rata for part time) and 1.5 days complimentary leave, along with the option to purchase additional leave.

Enhanced Pension: Hastoe's employer contributions start at 5% and are based on a matching of your own contribution level, plus 2%, up to a maximum of 8% employer contribution.

Other benefits include:

• Flexible working opportunities
• Annual leave increasing with length of service up to a maximum of 28 days (pro rata for part time employees)
• Discounts for local shops, restaurants and gym membership
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) – confidential phone and online support and resources service with 24/7 access
• Health Cash Plan (a type of health insurance).
• 4 x salary Life Assurance from day 1, for all pension holders
• A supportive working environment with ongoing learning and development opportunities.
• Long Service awards.

If you would like to find out more about the role please contact the hiring manager, Mike Cramp, at [e-mail] or for enquiries about the application process please contact the HR Team at [e-mail].

This post is subject to background checks. Follow the link for further information on this: https://www.hastoe.com/background-checks/