In our latest “Meet the Supplier” feature, we had a chat with Dave Markham, Partner at Beacon Partnership. As a key player on Lot 9 of our Herts, Beds, and Bucks Development Services framework, Dave shared his insights into Beacon’s exciting new innovations and introduced us to the diverse talents within their team – including skilled musicians and avid gamers. Discover how Beacon’s unique blend of creativity and expertise is driving its success below. 

What is your company’s mission statement/aims/objectives? 

Beacon takes pride in implementing sustainable development solutions through its team’s wealth of development, regeneration, delivery and financial modelling experience. The business is passionate about delivering quality, affordable social housing and working with others that share the same vision. 

Can you give us a brief history of your company? 

Beacon Partnership was formed in 2017 by four partners who had each worked in Local Authorities, Registered Providers and affordable home organisations for over 90 years between them. Beacon was formed to bring caring people together to work collaboratively with organisations that support the delivery of affordable housing. Alongside the founding partners, Dave Markham, Steve Beard, James Edge and Phil Purkiss, the business is proud to now have a growing team of staff and work with a number of experienced, professional associates to deliver its professional services and interim support functions.  

What are the biggest challenges currently facing the housing sector?  

Beacon feels that the biggest challenge currently facing the housing sector is the financial capacity to deliver real social rented homes at a proper affordable rent, together with homes for those seeking to take their first steps on to the property ladder. Optimism seems to be returning to the sector which will be needed to face these challenges head on; hopefully, the new government will lead the way.  

What are the biggest challenges currently facing your company and your supply chain partners?  

Uncertainty really affects the way Beacon works, mainly the price and services it can offer. It finds that a lack of decision making and willingness to commit means that the organisation and its supply chain find it hard to plan ahead constructively. 

Are there any recent innovations or developments in your business that excite you?   

The continued evolution of Beacon’s Development Appraisal Toolkit (Optimix). It is in the final testing stages on its latest version prior to roll out to the Local Authorities, Registered Providers, Charitable and Community Trusts and other organisations that use it. Optimix evolution, coupled with Beacon’s range of development and finance data benchmarking services mark an exciting time for the business,, as these are key services and products that support a more informed and understood position for its clients when developing affordable homes. 

If you were Housing Minister for the day, what would you change?  

If I were the current Housing Minister, I would commission a report to investigate what the obstacles and waste are that have stymied efficient delivery of public sector housing under the current procurement rules and processes.  

Can you tell us an interesting fact about your organisation?  

All of Beacon’s partners come from Housing Association and Local Authority backgrounds, some are actually talented musicians playing instruments such as the Alto Flute, and some are just geeks that love the retro Sinclair Spectrum 8-bit home computer! 

What impact has the Building and Fire Safety Act had on the delivery of projects within the sector? 

Cost, knowledge and understanding have been the biggest impacts of the Building and Fire Safety Act which have contributed to an impact on the development timeline. As the act is now the standard for projects, mainstream knowledge and understanding will improve and processes will become more efficient as experience is gained. Additionally, organisation’s responsibilities under the act will become clearer internally, all of which should drive innovation and competitiveness in terms of cost.  

What do you think are the biggest barriers to developing the volume of homes that the UK needs to keep up with increasing supply? How can these be overcome? 

There are multiple barriers to overcome to fill the shortage of affordable homes in the UK, we feel some of the biggest challenges and potential solutions are.  

The planning process in the UK can be slow and cumbersome, with lengthy approval times and procedures – we have seen how this can stop and delay the delivery of new homes. Our new government is now addressing the current planning process, simplifying regulations, and streamlining the planning process to support the delivery of new homes.  We should also investigate changes in current regulation where land isn’t suitable to develop from a planning point of view, if modelling shows it as viable land for affordable homes to be developed on.  

We have seen that, financially, new developments have simply not been viable. Combined with risks in the market and in construction, this has led to fewer new homes being built than required.  Our modelling has shown that we need to see government subsidies reviewed to cater for regional variations in costs of land, construction and sale. Financial incentive for developers to build affordable homes should also be explored.