Property development and conversions
Change of use, building conversions and development work across Leeds and West Yorkshire, including multi-unit schemes for developers and investors.
Development work is judged on two numbers: what it costs and when it finishes. Everything else is detail. Conversions add a third problem, which is that you are buying a building whose condition you cannot fully see.
We carry out conversions, change of use and development work across Leeds and West Yorkshire — single buildings into multiple units, commercial to residential, and refurbishment for sale or rent.
How it runs
Stage by stage
Every job follows the same sequence, so you always know what has happened and what comes next.
Pre-purchase or feasibility survey
Where you want it, before you commit. Structure, services, fire strategy and what the conversion will actually require.
Scope and cost plan
A build cost you can put into an appraisal, with the assumptions stated so you know where the risk sits.
Strip out and structure
Clearance, structural alterations, and the repairs the strip out exposes.
Compartmentation and services
Fire separation between units, acoustic separation, and the new service infrastructure each unit needs.
Fit-out
Second fix, kitchens, bathrooms, finishes — specified for the market the units are aimed at.
Certification and handover
Building control, warranty inspections where applicable, and a handover pack per unit.
Scope
What is included, and what is not
Stated up front rather than discovered later. Your written quotation says the same thing, itemised for your job.
Included as standard
- Feasibility and condition survey
- Strip out, clearance and structural alterations
- Fire compartmentation and acoustic separation between units
- New service infrastructure, metering and distribution per unit
- Full internal fit-out
- Communal areas, access and external works
- Building control sign-off and handover packs
Not included unless specified
- Planning and prior approval applications, unless we are arranging them
- Professional fees for architects, engineers and fire engineers
- Section 106, CIL and any affordable housing contributions
- Sales and marketing costs
Timescales
A conversion of a single building into three or four units is typically 5 to 9 months. Building condition drives it more than unit count — a sound structure with bad services is a very different job to a sound building with a failing roof. That is what the feasibility survey is for.
No prices appear on this site. Construction quotations depend on the property, the ground and the specification, and a figure published without seeing any of those is a guess. What we will do is come out, look at it, and put a written quotation in front of you.
What drives the cost
- The condition of the existing structure, roof and envelope
- Fire and acoustic separation requirements between units
- Service infrastructure — whether the incoming supplies can carry the new unit count
- Whether the building is listed or in a conservation area
- Unit specification, which follows the market you are selling or letting into
- Access and parking requirements attached to the planning consent
Common questions
Questions we get asked
Can you give me a build cost before I buy?
Yes, and it is the sensible order to do it in. A feasibility survey and cost plan before exchange costs a fraction of what a wrong assumption costs after completion. We will state the assumptions, so you can see which parts of the number carry risk.
Do you work on a design and build basis?
Yes, where you would rather hold one contract than co-ordinate a design team. We can also build to a design team you have already appointed — both are normal.
How do you handle a scheme where units are sold as they finish?
By phasing the programme so completed units can be certificated and handed over while work continues elsewhere in the building, with the site management and access arrangements set up for that from the start rather than retrofitted.
Related
Other renovation & fit-out services
- Full house renovations Whole-property refurbishment — strip out, first fix, second fix and finishes under one contract.
- Kitchens & bathrooms Full replacement including the plumbing, electrics, tiling and making good afterwards.
- Landlord & rental refurbishment Bringing a tired property back to a lettable standard, on a programme built around void periods.
- Commercial fit-outs & refurbishment Office, retail and hospitality fit-out, including phased and out-of-hours working.
- Industrial & warehouse works Units, workshops and storage — structural repairs, flooring, doors and external works.
Start a conversation about your project
Tell us what you are planning. We will come out, look at it properly, and put a written quotation in front of you.