Head of Development Viability

Town Hall
160 Whitechapel Road
LONDON
E1 1BJ

Salary & Benefits: We are offering a salary between £70,830 - £75,390 (experience dependant - with annual increments). Our additional benefits are exemplary and unrivalled - see remuneration pack for full details.

Start Date: February 2025 (alternative commencement dates will be considered for lengthy notice periods)

Contract: Permanent

Eligibility: Applicants must be a formal member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) - Minimum MRICS status or higher in a relevant discipline.

Application Closing Date: 15th December 2024

Location: London (Whitechapel) and remote working

Background

Do you want to be at the forefront of solving the housing crisis and creating great places for our communities to live in? The need to accommodate thousands of individuals and families on housing waiting lists across the capital continues to grow rapidly, creating an urgent need to maximise the affordable housing contributions made by developers as part of new development schemes.

To meet this urgent need requires consistent delivery of both private and affordable housing through the planning system. Development Viability plays an integral part within the planning process and the delivery of affordable housing and developer contributions.

The Team - Tower Hamlets Viability (THV)

To ensure Tower Hamlets is best placed to address the challenges, Tower Hamlets Council has a dedicated team to assess development appraisals and provide advice to planning officers and politicians.

THV is an internal council service & a fee earning commercial service providing specialist development viability advice to both the planning department at LBTH as well as other planning authorities. The team is well established and fantastically staffed, holding professional expertise in development viability/valuation and relevant RICS accreditation (qualified chartered status). Experience held within the team is vast with private and public sector backgrounds.

The Viability team have a wide remit of work, including (but not limited to):

1. Review & negotiate financial viability assessments/development appraisals of mixed-use development schemes from small to very large/strategic development (2000+ units)
2. Area wide development viability advice (Local Plan/CIL Charging Schedule)
3. Site inspections where required.
4. Review mechanisms (Securing effective reviews through s.106 agreements and undertaking assessments at triggers)
5. Community Led Housing/Self Build Projects - reviewing viability assessments and assessing affordability.
6. CIL Payment in Kind - land valuations/approach advice.
7. General advice to the council on the state of the market and the viability outlook.

Your responsibilities

You will lead the team and the Council's affordable housing ambitions more widely, both in Tower Hamlets and across London. Your everyday responsibilities will comprise (not limited to) the following:

1. To lead, coordinate, manage and have overall responsibility for the Councils development viability duties and service requirements. This includes being the Councils primary expert in development viability matters in all circumstances, including statutory and legal Planning roles.
2. To provide leadership and management of Tower Hamlets Viability (THV is the Council's viability consultancy that undertakes viability assessments for internal and external clients), when undertaking independent Financial Viability Assessments for internal and external customers, to meet all necessary statutory and professional (RICS) requirements, to ensure a reputationally sound and legally robust service is provided.
3. To provide leadership and management of the wider service in undertaking all non-THV development viability matters, driving improvement, understanding and best value within the wider organisation.
4. Supporting and providing advice to legal/planning colleagues with respects to securing affordable housing provisions/clauses as part of any legal agreement.
5. Supporting and providing Ad-Hoc viability/valuation advice relating to any matter within the council.

Is this role for me?

This is a management and leadership level post in a dynamic team, and therefore ideal for candidates with a strong background in development appraisals within a planning context. The position will require the candidate to be familiar with the planning process and able to undertake duties upon commencement with minimal supervision. Your leadership skills will be strong and you must have a desire to deliver for the local people in our borough.

The Package/Benefits

The council is determined to employ and more importantly retain valued members of the team. Given that we offer so much by way of additional benefits we have set out the full and extensive list within the remuneration pack (attached/available on our website). From excellent pay scales, annual leave allowance, training and support we've not missed anything out. Our aim is to have staff feel confident in their roles and recognised for their continuous efforts.

Apply

This is a genuinely fantastic opportunity with outstanding benefits so apply today via the council's recruitment portal.

We strongly advise you to read "Advice for Applicants 2024" carefully before applying. This can be found on our website as part of the role and will be the best form of guidance when creating an application.