Live case study · Real project
7 St Mary’s Drive
JDI in practice — before and after the redesign.
Before
Original · 4 apartments
The consented scheme converted the 4-bed house into four apartments, with a new extension on the original building. On paper the numbers barely closed.
- Land£600,000
- Build (4 apts)£630,000
- Total cost£1,230,000
- GDV (4 apts)£1,200,000
After · step 1
Redesigned · 5 apartments
A tighter scheme: five apartments, no extension of the original building, outside areas reworked. Delivered and rented — then the garden still had more to give.
- Build (5 apts)£550,000
- GDV (5 apts)£1,500,000
After · step 2
+ Detached bungalow
Garden subdivided; planning for a detached 2-bed bungalow beside the apartment block — the quiet second move that changed the arithmetic.
- Bungalow build£250,000
- Bungalow GDV£550,000
Numbers · original path vs redesigned path
Before · thin margin
- Land£600,000
- Build (4 apts)£630,000
- Total cost£600k + £630k = £1,230,000
- GDV (4 apts)£1,200,000
- PositionLittle / no profit
After · unlocked
- Combined GDV£1.5m + £0.55m = £2.05m
- Combined build£550k + £250k = £800k
- Land£600,000
- Total cost£600k + £800k = £1.4m
Illustrative surplus (derived)
£2.05m − £1.4m = £650,000
Derived from the figures above — combined GDV less total cost (land + combined build) — versus the original thin path of £1.23m cost against £1.2m GDV.