Name: Joshua Bond
Title: Founder and managing director of Bond Land
What I do: Bond Land is a specialist investment and development consultancy based in London, focused on BTR, PBSA, co-living, residential, affordable housing and industrial investment and development opportunities, acting on both the buy side and the sell side. As managing director, I’m responsible for overseeing our strategic direction, as well as our relationships with our clients, which include listed REITs, private equity investors, asset managers, developers and strategic land promoters.
Why I got into the industry: Property has always been my passion since I was a child, so it was always a matter of when, and not if, I got into the industry. I started out brokering small development opportunities in central London. I still remember my first deal, which was for £5.5m in Fitzrovia for a conversion to six apartments. I realised even then that there was a gap in the market for agencies curating off-market deals that matched client requirements through direct negotiation with vendors. These formative experiences very much informed the client-focused approach we have taken with Bond Land.
The early challenges I faced: I founded the company in a challenging economic climate, with Brexit on one side and the pandemic on the other. This meant adapting to changing client demands, but I’d say it’s prepared us well for the current economic situation. To be successful in this industry you need to be prepared to operate in all climates. We live in an unpredictable world and unfortunately, property is often one of the first to be impacted by that.
My greatest achievement/proudest moment to date: Building up the agency from scratch to a significant number of completed transactions in less than five years. I’m especially proud of my team of investment and development consultants who are incredibly good at what they do, and to do it in the climates mentioned above makes it even sweeter.
Why I love my job: I love the satisfaction of completing deals, but I love the process even more and I think that is the key. You have to try and enjoy the process from start to finish.
The biggest misconception about what I do: That finding genuine off market opportunities is easy. A lot of developers often overlook the hard work that goes on behind the scenes, like the number of calls we’re making or the number of letters we’re sending on a daily basis. I often compare sourcing to finding a needle in a haystack. You have to kiss a lot of frogs, but eventually you’ll find the right opportunity.
What I wish was different about the industry: I like it as it is.
My take on the economic outlook: While some investors are keeping their powder dry, strategic land and underutilised buildings remain attractive prospects to institutional capital, and there has been a genuine shift in focus to opportunistic strategies. The need to minimise costs means the sites that appeal will be the ones that reduce expenditure upfront, or in pre-planning.
How I’m dealing with the current market challenges: We’ve seen the ask from investors, land promoters and developers become much more specific, which has really allowed our focus on finding sites that match client-led specifications to thrive.
My key priorities and areas of focus at the moment: It’s fair to say that the site-finding process has changed quite a lot in the time that Bond Land has been around, whether that’s the exponential growth of operational real estate or challenges arising in planning law. Strong environmental credentials are no longer just a nice to have, which means a focus for us at the minute is considering the relationship between sites and the hard infrastructure that will help facilitate the transition to net zero, such as access to EV charging points.
We’re also really focusing on alternative asset classes like co-living, self-storage and life sciences, which are witnessing sustained institutional interest despite the economic climate. I’m particularly keen to use our work to ensure that there is enough high-quality housing to go around and believe the alternative living sector will be instrumental in achieving this.
Where I’d like to be in five years’ time in my career: My plan is to keep growing the agency. We have big dreams and big goals in place to achieve them, which unfortunately I have to keep internal for now!
Who I’d invite, living or dead, to a dinner party: Denzel Washington. He’s delivered many motivational speeches which I’ve found inspiring when thinking about how I approach my work. Having the right mindset is key in this industry.
What I do in my downtime: I play for a couple of my local football clubs which keeps me busy. Bond Land is actually sponsoring a handful of amateur football clubs in the part of London I grew up in. I am also a huge Arsenal fan and I’m hopeful that this is our year. I also “try” and play golf!
The job I’d be doing outside of real estate if I could choose: Like most kids, when I was growing up my dream was to be a professional footballer.
My advice to someone starting out in the industry: It’s all about hard work. Time flies by. Months turn into quarters and quarters turn into years, with hundreds of deals taking place in the industry every day. It’s not easy, so seize the day.
My motto: “Dreams without goals, remain dreams.”
