The course was kicked off by John Slaughter, director of external affairs at the Home Builders Federation.
Online mortgage lender LendInvest launched its second property development academy in London today – a two day course teaching students how to build residential properties.
The course was kicked off by John Slaughter, director of external affairs at the Home Builders Federation.
He said: "The cumulative undersupply of homes is a serious issue in this country. It is widely accepted that we need small house builders to enter the market and we need them to grow if we are to meet the challenge of delivering more homes.
"The housebuilding industry is not an easy professional endeavour and people coming into it as new entrepreneurs benefit from initiatives such as the LendInvest property development academy."
The non-profit course is provided in collaboration with the University of Reading and covers the whole development process, including land valuation, planning permission and final sale.
The sessions are led by solicitors, planners, valuers and surveyors.
Ian Thomas (pictured), LendInvest's chief information officer and co-founder, said: "Our development academy is providing property entrepreneurs with the tools they need to get their projects off the ground, supporting them to navigate the challenges of securing land, obtaining finance, and ultimately adding to the nation's housing stock.
“The support of the Home Builders Federation for the academy underlines demand from across the industry to promote property entrepreneurship and reverse the decline of small scale house builders.
"With government set to publish a white paper on housing in the coming weeks, we encourage Housing Minister Gavin Barwell to support the small-scale property investors and developers who play a critical role in delivering the homes communities need most."
