Property developers

Get the neighbourhood on board before you apply for the permit

For a property developer, HelloStreet is the place where all contact with the neighbours of a project comes together: a scan of the site and its surroundings, a letter with a QR code to every address, a project page in plain language, one inbox for every question and a participation report to add to the permit application. After the permit, the same project page stays the address for the works and for buyers from the neighbourhood.

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Neighbours look through the viewing window in the site hoarding.
Mill Lane homes: neighbours follow the build through the viewing window and in the app.

The situation

A good plan, an old warehouse and a street that has seen it all before

A typical case: a developer wants to build homes on the site of an old warehouse. Ten years ago a similar plan was refused after dozens of objections. The neighbours remember it; the developer’s new team does not.

The questions are predictable: parking, shade in the gardens, construction traffic past the school, the trees along the footpath. What is less predictable is where they will come up. In a local Facebook group, at the council, or for the first time in an objection during the public inquiry.

More and more often, the council asks what was discussed with the neighbourhood before it assesses the application. And if an appeal comes anyway, you want to be able to show who you reached, what you heard and what you changed. That takes structure, from the first letter.

After the permit, contact often goes quiet, apart from the sales flyers. Yet the first buyers often live around the corner: a neighbour looking for a flat for a son or daughter, or an extra parking space. People who already know the project page find their way to your sales team.

What neighbours ask

  • Where will the residents and their visitors park?
  • Will my garden get less sun?
  • Which route will the trucks take during construction?
  • Are the trees staying?
  • Will there be affordable homes for young families from the area?

A typical project, step by step

From the first look at a site to the first residents

This is how a housing project usually unfolds, and how HelloStreet helps in each phase. Every step shows what happens, what you hear in the neighbourhood and what you do.

  1. Step 1: Before you buy

    Know the neighbourhood before you buy the land

    You are looking at a site. The numbers work, but who lives around it, what went wrong before and what other works are planned?

    They wanted to build flats there ten years ago too. It never went ahead.
    What you hear in the neighbourhood
    With HelloStreet

    The neighbourhood scan shows the history of the site, earlier objections and the places where the project is most sensitive. That puts the neighbourhood risk into your decision.

  2. Step 2: Design

    Tell the neighbours before the official notice goes up

    The design is not fixed yet. This is when you can still change something.

    We are always the last to hear.
    What you hear in the neighbourhood
    With HelloStreet

    You draw a zone around the site. Every address gets a letter with a QR code, and the project page explains in plain language what is coming and what it means for each street.

  3. Step 3: Pre-application

    Listen, and see where it matters

    An information session, home visits to the nearest neighbours, questions by email and phone. Parking and shade keep coming back.

    Where will all those new residents park? We can’t find a space as it is.
    What you hear in the neighbourhood
    With HelloStreet

    Every question arrives in one inbox, with a draft reply your team checks. Insights show which themes matter and which street they come from.

  4. Step 4: Application

    A file that shows what was discussed

    The council asks what was discussed with the neighbourhood. During the public inquiry, anyone can object.

    They didn’t do anything with our comments, did they?
    What you hear in the neighbourhood
    With HelloStreet

    The participation report shows who you reached, what you heard and what you changed, with every commitment numbered. You add it to the application, and it is ready if an appeal comes.

  5. Step 5: Sales

    The first buyers live around the corner

    After the permit, sales start. Flyers and site boards go up in the street.

    Is there still a flat for my daughter? And do you sell parking spaces separately?
    What you hear in the neighbourhood
    With HelloStreet

    The same project page stays the address, with the QR code on the site board. Anyone who wants to buy says so and, with their consent, goes to your sales team. You design the site hoarding with the QR code in HelloStreet; your printer gets a print-ready file. The project page also shows what is still available.

  6. Step 6: Construction

    No surprises on site

    Demolition, groundworks, deliveries. The contractor takes over; the promises stay.

    What time are those trucks coming tomorrow?
    What you hear in the neighbourhood
    With HelloStreet

    You announce disruption phase by phase, neighbours report issues with a place on the map, and the commitments from the permit phase are ready for the contractor.

  7. Step 7: Handover

    End with something to look forward to

    The structure is complete, the first residents move in, the street gets its pavement back.

    Are the trees along the footpath coming back now?
    What you hear in the neighbourhood
    With HelloStreet

    Progress in pictures shows what is finished and what comes next. You close open commitments where everyone can see it.

Example

Hof ter Linden: 34 homes on the site of an old warehouse

Hoeveld (a fictional town) · 250 m zone · 166 addresses

A developer plans 34 homes around a shared garden. In 2021 an application for 14 flats on the same site was refused after 37 objections. The town will also dig up the next street in 2027.

  1. Week 0A letter with a QR code to all 166 addresses in the zone, and a project page with plans, timeline and questions.
  2. Week 1Home visits to the twelve direct neighbours. Agreed: a condition survey before demolition (commitment T-04).
  3. Week 3Information evening on plans, shade and mobility. Parking turns out to be the main topic, mostly from one street.
  4. Week 6A ‘you said, we did’ update: driveway moved to the other street, eight visitor spaces on site, the lime trees stay.
  5. JanuaryPermit application with the participation report attached: four commitments and one open point.

At the time of the application there is a complete record: who was reached, what people asked, what changed and what is still open (visitor parking, under discussion with the town).

Illustrative example. The place, people and figures are fictional.

Questions and answers

When should a developer start informing the neighbours?

Ideally before the design is fixed and well before the permit application. Then there is still room to change something, and neighbours hear about the project from you rather than from the official notice.

Does this replace our own communication agency?

No. HelloStreet gives your team or agency one place for the letters, the project page, the questions and the log. The tone and the decisions stay yours.

Do we then have to respond to every question from the neighbourhood?

No. You decide how far you go. Questions that keep coming back are answered once, for everyone, on the project page. The rest arrives in one inbox, with a draft reply from your approved documents that your team checks. You do not need to staff a chat line or hire extra people.

Can we use it for several projects at once?

Yes. Each project has its own zone, project page, inbox and report; you see your projects side by side.

How much time does it take our team each week?

That depends on the phase. During pre-application there are more questions; during construction fewer. Because questions arrive in one inbox with draft replies, and recurring questions are answered on the project page, the time goes mainly to the conversations that matter.

Can our project team or our agency work in it too?

Yes. Sales, the architect, the community manager and the agency work from the same project page and the same approved documents, so neighbours hear one story.

What happens to neighbours’ data after the project?

Neighbours choose what they share and can always unsubscribe. Data is stored in the EU. After the project you keep the report and the log, without personal data where it is not needed.

Does it also work for small infill projects?

Yes. A small zone with a few hundred addresses is quick to set up: a letter, a project page and an inbox. The report grows with what happens.

Talk to us about your project

Book a demo to see HelloStreet with a project from your sector, or start with a free neighbourhood scan.

Book a demoRequest a free neighbourhood scan

Early accessWe are starting with a small group of organisations. Book a demo to request a place.

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