The Stilettos and the Rabbit Hole
There are moments in property sourcing that no amount of professional experience prepares you for.
This is one of them.
Open Ground
Some years ago we were sourcing development sites for the healthcare sector in the North West. The brief was specific, land or derelict buildings suitable for either elderly care home construction or bespoke supported living accommodation.
The model was one we had worked with before. A buyer would develop the site and then lease the completed building to a care company. Clean, straightforward, and on paper entirely unremarkable.
We had arranged to meet the buyer at the site on a specific day to walk the land together and identify the key features the care company had requested.
The site itself was open ground. Derelict land, as anyone experienced in sourcing development sites will know, is never entirely predictable underfoot.
You do not know what is beneath the surface. Hidden dips, uneven ground, debris, and in the countryside, the kind of hazards that no amount of professional optimism can make safe in unsuitable footwear.
We knew this. We dressed accordingly.
The Shoes
The buyer arrived. Both husband and wife, which was not in itself unusual.
What was unusual was what the wife was wearing.
She had come dressed, as best I can describe it, for an evening out. The outfit was lovely. The shoes were spectacular. Five inch stiletto heels, on a derelict development site, on a day when we were about to walk across open uneven ground.
I want to be clear that I have nothing against a good heel. I love mine for a night out. But on a building site, on uncertain ground, with no idea what is lurking beneath the surface?
I think not.
We Did Warn Her
I suggested, as helpfully and as professionally as I could, that it might be safer and wiser for her to remain on the pavement at the side of the site. The land was open and clearly visible from that position. She would see everything without setting foot on ground that was not remotely appropriate for the footwear she had chosen.
She declined.
I tried again. I pointed out that whilst we carried good insurance, I wanted it noted clearly that we had advised her to remain off the site. The ground was uneven, the footwear was not suitable, and the risk of injury was real and obvious.
She declined again. She would be absolutely fine, she said.
We went onto the site.
From Somewhere Behind Us
We walked the land, pointing out the key aspects the care company had specified, discussing the layout and the potential of the site.
And then, from somewhere behind us, came a scream.
I will leave you to imagine the scene.
The wife had stepped into a rabbit hole. The stiletto heel had done exactly what a stiletto heel does when introduced to uneven ground on a derelict site. She had gone down, badly spraining her ankle in the process.
Her husband abandoned the site visit immediately and took her to hospital.
Whether the lesson was learned that day is, I suspect, a question only she can answer.
Site Visit Safety and Your Professional Responsibility
The comedy of that afternoon has stayed with me for years, and I make no apology for sharing it.
But behind the laugh there is a genuinely important point about professional responsibility on site visits.
When you are bringing buyers, investors, or any other party onto a derelict site, a development site, or any piece of land that carries physical risk, you have a duty to assess that risk before anyone sets foot on it.
That means thinking about what you are walking onto, what the ground conditions are likely to be, and whether the people accompanying you are appropriately equipped to be there.
It also means being explicit when someone is not.
We did everything correctly in that situation. We identified the risk, we advised against it, and we made clear that we were formally noting our advice had been given and declined. That record matters. If the outcome had been more serious than a sprained ankle, the paper trail of professional advice given and refused would have been significant.
Site safety is not a bureaucratic formality. It is a genuine responsibility, and one that extends to everyone accompanying you on a visit, whether or not they are willing to take it seriously themselves.
Always advise. Always note it. And always, if you are the one visiting the site, wear the right shoes.
If you are carrying out site visits, please make sure you have appropriate insurance. We are partnered with Insurance-Desk who specialise in Professional Liability insurance, which is an absolute must. You can find out more here if you want to make sure you're covered.
