For the record I am no property developer but I am familiar with the construction industry.
I will admit they may have got more than £1 at auction but nowhere near the pie in the sky £120k they are suggesting. A quick calculation indicates that by the time you have built the 6 houses which will cost around £80-100k each to build inc VAT, plus consultant fees, plus Planning and building control charges of at least 5k, plus site remediation and probable service diversions that would be required the cost of developing the site could easily exceed £650k. The houses would have an end value if sold on the open market of around £800k. If a developer had to pay 120k for the site it would leave just £30k potential profit for what could be years of work and planning etc not to mention a considerable financial risk. None of the developers I have ever encountered in my career would take that kind of risk for that kind of return.
I will admit they may have got more than £1 at auction but nowhere near the pie in the sky £120k they are suggesting. A quick calculation indicates that by the time you have built the 6 houses which will cost around £80-100k each to build inc VAT, plus consultant fees, plus Planning and building control charges of at least 5k, plus site remediation and probable service diversions that would be required the cost of developing the site could easily exceed £650k. The houses would have an end value if sold on the open market of around £800k. If a developer had to pay 120k for the site it would leave just £30k potential profit for what could be years of work and planning etc not to mention a considerable financial risk. None of the developers I have ever encountered in my career would take that kind of risk for that kind of return.