Methodology

How the numbers are built.

Good appraisal isn't calculating an answer — it's knowing which questions to ask. Here's exactly how Residual assembles a scheme, where the evidence comes from, and where your judgement stays in control.

01 · Sales evidence

The real sales picture, not a guess.

Residual searches Land Registry and Rightmove to build the true sales picture for your site — so GDV is grounded in what's actually happening, not an optimistic round number.

What the search returns
Sold comparablesRegistered sale prices for genuinely comparable homes nearby
Current stockWhat's on the market now, and at what asking values
AbsorptionHow much is selling, and how quickly it's moving

Your call on the value. The search shows you the evidence — you decide the £/ft² the appraisal runs on. Residual never guesses your sales value or land price.

02 · Build cost

Grounded in real developer benchmarks.

The build is priced against real benchmarks by type, size and specification — base build, externals and abnormals, utilities, contingency and professional fees — then every line is yours to override with your own quotes and cost plan.

Base build £/ft²Externals & abnormalsContingencyProfessional feesCIL · S106 · BNG
03 · Finance

The way a lender reads it.

Debt is capped at the lower of loan-to-GDV and loan-to-cost, interest rolls up, and equity goes in first — so you see peak debt, the equity genuinely required and the true finance cost, exactly as a development lender would model it.

LTGDV / LTC capRolled-up interestArrangement + exitEquity-first cashflowPeak debt
04 · The decision

What has to be true for this deal to work.

Residual doesn't stop at a residual land value. It stress-tests the scheme — sensitivity, break-even GDV and build cost, and the assumption doing the heavy lifting — then reverse-solves the levers: the land price, sales value or build cost that would make a marginal deal stack. Every verdict is broken into the tests behind it, so you can always see why.

Sensitivity & tornadoBreak-even GDVBreak-even buildPrimary riskNext questions
Decision-support, not a valuation. Residual is built on the standard appraisal methodology and cost benchmarks developed across my career, and tested against 60+ real residential development appraisals. It shows its working at every step. It is not a RICS Red Book valuation, planning advice or financial advice — verify CIL, SDLT and statutory items independently, and treat the output as a rigorous basis for your own decision.

See the methodology run on a real deal.

Screen a site in ten minutes, or read a full worked example.

Screen a deal → See a sample report