James Scott

In this engaging conversation, James Scott, Co-founder and COO of Stories, shares his unique journey from mechanical engineering at Cambridge to leading a purpose-driven property development company. He highlights the importance of aligning capital partners with community needs, emphasizing social and environmental impacts alongside profits. James also discusses the challenges of securing funding for socially responsible projects and the significance of grassroots initiatives. His insights on empowering careers in real estate offer invaluable advice for aspiring professionals in the industry.

Send us Fan MailIf you're a developer trying to get homes built right now, you're stuck between two impossible choices:Pay what the landowner needs and lose money on the build. Or offer what the numbers say you can afford - and watch the deal die.Traditional deals are stalling everywhere. Finance and build costs are too high, sales are too slow, and the gap between what a developer can afford to pay for land - and what the landowner will accept - has become a chasm.But developers still want to build profitably, lenders and investors still want to back them, landowners still want to unlock value, and everyone agrees we desperately need more homes. Maybe the problem isn't a lack of motivation - it's that the traditional deal structure is outdated. What if the answer isn't trying to find a motivated seller who can offer cheaper land, or waiting for rates to drop - but structuring the deal itself completely differently, and working with the right kind of investors?In this episode, we're breaking down exactly how to do that, using a real case study of a deal that looked impossible on paper - a car park in Barnet owned by the Local Authority - but it got funded and is getting built anyway - with Sophie White, Regeneration Sector Head at Aviva Capital Partners, and James Scott, Co-founder and COO at Stories. This episode is in association with (and thanks to) Lloyds:https://www.lloydsbank.com/business/industry-expertise/real-estate.html?utm_source=The+Return&utm_medium=podcast+partnership&utm_campaign=sponsored+episodeGuest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmscott2/https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophie-white-89378a30/Host LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclareharper/