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Fact Sheet: Appraisal Tool Explained

A full breakdown of the Appraisal Tool, covering what it does, the three templates available, what it calculates, and what it produces.

Updated this week

What is the Appraisal Tool?

The Appraisal Tool lets you build a development appraisal directly within LandInsight. It pulls site data in automatically, including planning information, ownership details, CIL rates, and build cost benchmarks, so you can move from site data to a working financial model quickly.

It is designed to give you a high-level viability check at the shortlisting stage: fast enough to run on multiple sites, detailed enough to be a meaningful filter before committing to deeper due diligence.

The Appraisal Tool is powered by LandFund.


How to access it

  • Save your site to your preferred pipeline stage

  • Open the Assessor on the right of your screen

  • Click the Management panel

  • Click the Reports tab

  • Select Appraisal Tool


The three templates

When you open the Appraisal Tool for a site, you choose from three templates depending on how much detail you want to input:

Basic A simplified template for a quick, high-level viability check with minimal inputs required.

Complete Template with Clear Inputs A full development appraisal template with all cost categories available to complete. You enter your own assumptions across all sections.

Complete Template with Pre-Filled Inputs The same full template, but with benchmark figures pre-populated based on LandInsight site data (including CIL rates, build cost benchmarks, and site details). You can review and adjust any pre-filled figure before running the appraisal.

💡 LandTech Tip: At this stage, use the pre-filled template as a starting point. It lets you run a meaningful viability check quickly, and you can refine the inputs as your understanding of the site develops.


What the appraisal covers

The Appraisal Tool structures your inputs and outputs across the following sections:

Site Details Pulls in site area, local authority, current and historic use classes, flood risk, nearby listed buildings, and number of registered titles from LandInsight.

Income Gross Development Value (GDV), total fees, and Net Development Value.

Development Costs

Build costs are broken down across:

  • Construction (cost per m²)

  • Demolition and Site Clearance

  • Preliminary Costs (site hoarding, general preliminaries)

  • Earthworks (site levels, foundations)

  • Infrastructure Services (new connections)

  • Roads and Access

  • External Works and Landscaping (hard and soft landscaping, other external works)

Professional Fees include line items for: Architect, Pre-App Advice, Planning Application Fee, Planning Consultant, Building Control Agent, Structural Surveyor, Arboricultural Survey, Right to Light Survey, Transport Survey, Topographical Survey, BRE (Daylight/Sunlight) Survey, Ground Investigation Survey, Highways Survey, Acoustic Survey, Party Wall Survey, Drainage Survey, Asbestos Survey, Monitoring Survey, Bank Valuation Survey, and other surveys.

Other Costs include: CIL (Local and Mayoral), Local Authority Naming/Registration, Marketing (show home, brochures, website, photography, CGI), Vendor Legal Fees, Option Fee, and Insurance.

Land Acquisition Purchase price and Stamp Duty.

Funding Senior debt modelling including net loan percentage, interest rate, loan term, arrangement fee, exit fee, and total funding cost. Also shows total equity required.

Financial Summary GDV, total costs (build, professional fees, other costs, funding), and profit figures including profit on GDV and profit on cost.

Sensitivity Analysis A matrix showing how total profit and profit on cost change as GDV and build costs vary across a range of scenarios (from -20% to +20% in 5% increments).


What you get

Once your appraisal is complete, you can download it as a PDF report. The report includes all input sections, the financial summary, and the sensitivity analysis matrix, formatted for sharing with stakeholders, funders, or an investment committee.


Plan availability

The Appraisal Tool is a paid add-on, available to all LandInsight users regardless of plan tier. To add it to your subscription, speak to your account manager or request a demo.


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