How to Pitch Developers with Unsold or Unlet Stock

The short answer: Developers with unsold or unlet units have a cost problem: empty units earn nothing and an empty building is harder to sell. Pitch serviced accommodation as a flexible way to earn from the units while they wait, keep the building looking lived in and hand the units back when a buyer or tenant is ready. Lead with a short developer pack, approach the sales or asset manager by name, offer a small pilot, and agree in writing how units are released.

Part of our guide to growing a serviced accommodation business in the UK.

Developers and asset managers are a different buyer from a private landlord with one flat. The deal can cover several units at once, the conversation is more formal, and the people you speak to answer to a board, a lender or a fund. This guide covers how to approach them. For the wider method, from the offer to the enquiry form, see how operators win new properties from landlords.

Why developers listen

A completed unit that has not sold or let still costs the developer money: finance, service charges, council tax or business rates, insurance and security. Every month it sits empty is a month of cost with no income.

Serviced accommodation can offer them three things a long let cannot:

• Income while they wait. Nightly or weekly income from units that would otherwise be empty.
• Flexibility. Units can come back for sale or a long let on agreed notice, which a tenancy makes much harder.
• A building that looks lived in. Furnished, cleaned and occupied units can help the rest of the scheme feel finished to buyers. This is an argument to make carefully, because some developers will worry about the opposite, so ask before you assume.

Your pitch should make the cost of waiting concrete, using their numbers, not yours. Ask how many units are unsold, how long they have been on the market and what each one costs to hold. Then show what you can offer against that.

Which schemes to target

Not every development is a good fit. Look for:

• Completed or nearly completed schemes with units still for sale or to let.
• Locations where you already have guest demand, ideally near business districts, hospitals, universities or transport hubs, so your occupancy is not a guess.
• Unit types that suit short stays: studios, one-beds and two-beds usually work better than large family homes.
• Buildings where short lets are allowed. Check the lease terms, planning conditions and any local rules early. A scheme where the head lease or local restrictions rule out short lets is not worth pursuing. Our guides to the UK short-let rules and the London 90-night rule cover the main ones.

Sources for finding schemes include your local planning portal, new-homes listings on the property portals, local property news, and the selling and letting agents who handle new-build launches.

What to put in a developer pack

A developer will not read a brochure. Give them one or two pages they can forward to a colleague:

1. Who you are: years trading, units managed now, the areas you cover, the people involved.
2. Proof as figures: guest review scores and counts with their source, occupancy if you can show it honestly, and any landlord or developer who will speak for you, with their permission.
3. What you would do with their units: furnishing (and who pays for it), photography, listings, guest vetting, cleaning, maintenance, reporting.
4. What they get: a guaranteed rent or a share of revenue, how often they are paid, and the reporting they will see.
5. How they get units back: the notice period, how you handle viewings and sales, and the condition units are returned in.
6. Compliance and insurance: the cover you hold, safety certificates, and the licences or registrations needed in that area.

Link the pack to a landlord and developer page on your website, so a developer who looks you up finds the same story. Our guide to the landlord landing page covers what that page needs.

How to approach

Find the person, not the inbox. The people to reach are usually the sales director, the asset manager or the head of lettings. Their names are often on LinkedIn or in local property news. A message to a general enquiries address rarely gets to them.

Use the agents. The selling or letting agent on a new scheme knows exactly which units are sticking. Some will welcome an operator who can take units they are struggling to place, and some will see you as competition. Ask for an introduction, and be clear about how you would work with them rather than around them.

Be specific. “We would like to discuss partnership opportunities” is easy to ignore. An illustrative alternative: “You have six one-bed units unsold at the scheme on Mill Street. We could furnish and run three of them as serviced apartments for twelve months, with units returned on 30 days’ notice for sale” invites a reply.

Offer a pilot. Asking a developer to hand over a whole block to an operator they have never worked with is a big ask. Asking for a few units for a fixed period, with monthly reporting, is a small one. A pilot that runs well is the strongest proof you can bring to the next conversation.

Terms to settle before you sign

Developer deals fail most often on the details nobody wrote down. Agree in writing:

• The model: a fixed rent, a revenue share or a management fee, and how it is calculated.
• Length, notice and break clauses on both sides.
• Release for sale: how much notice you get when a unit is sold, how viewings work while guests are staying, and whether any units are excluded.
• Furnishing: who pays for it, who owns it, and what happens to it when units are returned.
• Condition on return, and how wear and damage are handled.
• Insurance: the developer’s building cover, your liability cover, and whether short lets are allowed under both.
• Consent: the developer’s lender, the freeholder or head lease, and any planning or licensing requirements in the area.
• Service charges and bills: who pays which, and from when.

Take legal advice on the agreement. The structure you choose, whether a lease, a licence or a management agreement, has consequences for tax, liability and how the arrangement can end, and they differ case by case. Our guide to what landlords ask before they hand over a property covers the official sources behind several of these points.

Mistakes to avoid

• Promising occupancy you cannot evidence. Price any guaranteed rent from your own booking data in that area.
• Ignoring the building’s rules. A head lease or planning condition that bans short lets ends the deal, however good the numbers look.
• No plan for sales. If guests are in a unit the developer wants to show, there needs to be an agreed process.
• A pitch that only talks about you. Lead with the developer’s problem and their numbers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why would a developer let units to a serviced accommodation operator?

Because an unsold or unlet unit costs money to hold and earns nothing. A serviced accommodation operator can produce income from it while it waits, keep the building looking occupied, and hand units back on agreed notice when a buyer or tenant is ready.

Should I offer a developer guaranteed rent or a revenue share?

It depends on the developer and your appetite for risk. Guaranteed rent gives the developer certainty and puts the void risk on you, so price it from your own occupancy data. A revenue share or management fee keeps the risk with the developer but gives them the upside. Offering a pilot on a few units makes either easier to agree.

Who should I contact at a development?

The sales director, asset manager or head of lettings, or the selling or letting agent handling the scheme. Approach them by name with a specific proposal rather than writing to a general enquiries address.

If you want a landlord and developer page, a developer pack and the campaigns to put them in front of the right people, we build those for operators. See landlord acquisition for serviced accommodation operators.