Week 8| Importance of Financial Appraisal in Selecting a Development Project

Many development projects have been proposed every day yet not all of them are financially viable to carry out. The project could be technically and environmentally feasible but financial aspect is one of the most important aspects that we should not ignore of. Thus, I do realize that the lesson I learnt in lecture on financial appraisals is essential in selecting a viable project. In the lesson, I learnt that there are few methods we could implement to filter out our projects, such as: (Pay Back Method, Average Annual Percentage Rate of Return, Discounted Cash Flow, Net Present Value, Internal Rate of Return).

All these methods could be used in assessing the financial feasibility of the project. In the lecture, I was being taught on the use of all these mathematical calculation which is quite fascinating as the calculation is challenging. It is essential for us to identify the timing and amount of the cash inflow and outflow of the project as well as to determine the appropriate discount rate to be used in the calculation. Moreover, I do realize that we should not judge the project solely on the financial result that has been presented as there are few non-financial considerations we need to take note of such as the potential environmental impact and resources availability. Financial appraisal should be used as a standalone method in selecting the development project. I do learn that there are some drawbacks of all these financial appraisal methods. It will be essential to understand their drawbacks so that the decision that been made will be more informed. Such as, a short payback period does not indicate a good investment as it could be risky if the timing of the cash flow is unpredictable and inconsistent. A longer payback period may not indicate a bad investment as it could be less risky compared to a short payback period investment when the timing of cash flow is predictable and more consistent. 

Week 7| Building Adaptation or Refurbishment

 Due to the seminar in this week, Ms. Liew advise us the refurbishment rather than demolition and construct new building. Due to the public impact as we found during our group discussion, health and safety issue and the cost could be a major problem in this proposed development site at Matilda Street. 

The demolition or refurbishment of older housing has been an active policy area since the late 1880s in the UK, when the government first authorised the statutory demolition of  unsanitary slums. The debate on demolition and new building has been intensified since 2003, the government was also encourage all the contractor to opt for refurbishment rather than demolition due to sustainability policy.

Refurbishment offers clear advantages in time, cost, community impact, reuse of existing structure and protection of existing communities. It can also lead to significantly reduced energy use in buildings in both the short and long term in our proposed site at Matilda Street. So that, Our group had decided the refurbishment as our proposed method.

Week 6| Sustainable Development and Green Building?

This week seminar was talk about the Sustainable development. Firstly, I thought the Sustainable Development was same meaning of Green Building and I can't differentiate between them before Ms Liew described us the meaning and function.

Actually Sustainable development is a way to include many issues simultaneously and to mutual benefit, including local regeneration, community relations and service delivery. It based on balancing social, economic and environmental costs and benefits to ensure the best future. It is about looking at long term as well as short term costs and consequences, and about looking at global as well as local aspects of any decision to meets the needs of the present without harm for the future generations.

In other way, Green Building is a part of aspect in sustainable development, it using the green technologies to reduce energy consumption and designed to reduce the overall impact of the built environment on human health and the natural environment by efficiently using energy, water, and other resources. Besides that, Green Building might incorporate sustainable materials in their construction such as reused, recycled-content, or made from renewable resources to create healthy indoor environments with minimal pollutants.

In Malaysia, there are a lot of government and private companies start focus on the sustainable development. So this sustainable concept will important to support future career to achieve high opportunities in my employment.

Week 5| Market Appraisal: SWOT and PESTEL Analysis

Lesson from the seminar, the feasibility study of a proposed development should comprised market appraisal, site and location analysis. Other than the previous planning system, marketing appraisal and location analysis  we are also have to analyze the market value for development site by using the SWOT & PESTEL analysis.

The strengths and weaknesses are internal to the company and can be directly managed by it, while the opportunities and threats are external and the company can only anticipate and react to them. Often, SWOT is presented in a form of a matrix as in the illustration below:

SWOT Analysis

PESTLE is a mnemonic which in its expanded as (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal & Environmental). It gives a bird’s eye view of the whole environment from many different angles that one wants to check and keep a track of while contemplating on a certain plan.

PESTEL Analysis

Tutor discuss the SWOT & PESTEL Analysis with us during the seminar, so that we could more familiar the analysis in our proposed development site. The market appraisal allow me grown up the knowledge for a proposed development. This analysis could help me to improving the consideration on "Planning Work" under the CIOB competencies framework.