Aspects of stakeholder engagement in the property development process

There is uncertainty of how external factors will affect property development costs. Clarification and mapping of these external factors and how they impact the property development process is needed in order to gain insights into total development costs in the early stages of a project. The objective of the research reported in this paper is to understand the impact of external factors, for example stakeholders, in the property development process and to determine the extent to which they have influenced the project. The research is based on a case study consisting of two property development projects in south west Sweden. The cases showed that the total direct impact would amount to 25% of purchase price for the land. In addition, an indirect impact of about equal size due to delays in the process has to be considered. The total external impact, thus, amounts to 50-60% of purchase price for the land. In the light of these findings, the paper concludes with a suggested strategy for future property development projects.