Glenn Hotchin, Director
Off the back of our previous article focusing on the individual at the heart of the process, click here, I wanted to touch on an area that is critical to the success of anything involving property — managing expectations of the people at the heart of the process.
As property professionals, it’s our job to guide clients through what is an incredibly complex part of their post-injury journey leading to their forever home. A path that is usually far from linear means ensuring and maintaining a centre point of expectations is followed. It’s an essential part of PLG’s management process.
Now, this isn’t a standalone process by any means. Managing expectations is a team effort throughout the entire journey. Joined-up thinking, consistent messaging, and reinforcement across the board ensure the outcomes remain positive. But it is a fine balance between positively managing expectations and being a negative voice – ultimately, these are our clients’ homes, not ours. So, whilst we need to help steer good decision-making, we aren’t there to dictate or pre-determine what our clients want. We do, however, need to ensure these are balanced with their acute needs, so the ability to truly listen and understand is crucial.
Having alignment across the professional team matters – understanding the needs of the client and their representatives, both legal and clinical, sits at the forefront of creating clear criteria parameters. This, overlaid with individual preference around things like location, are the building blocks that form the picture of what needs to be achieved. It’s then down to all team members to make sure that there’s consistency in the messaging and shared goals. It’s when there’s a discrepancy in the communication or a lack of information around the reasoning why, that clients’ frustrations will build and what should be a positive quickly becomes a negative.
Some things to consider when setting out on any property-related work:
- Having a round-table approach
- Establish clear criteria parameters, with understanding of what’s important
- Wants vs. needs, including the non-compromises
- Strong professional relationships
- Consistent communication
All property work, in any walk of life, is emotive. When you overlay catastrophic injury, some of the property challenges that our clients face might feel insurmountable. Creating clear, achievable pathways to the solution is key to helping clients get back to the best quality of home life they can.
By building strong relationships with ALL stakeholders, understanding criteria from those stakeholders, and the impact decision-making can have on other aspects of the litigation, clients’ clinical needs, or financial position post-settlement can all have significant impacts on the success (or failure) of the property journey. Communicating this concisely, consistently, and effectively throughout will lead to positive outcomes in a process that will always be full of emotion and challenges. Our job is to be clear on the goals, keep everyone focused on those, and help to maintain client hope and optimism.
Glenn Hotchin, Director
PLG Consultants, 30th May 2025
We are a leading firm of disability property finders and architects, working nationwide across the UK. We specialise in the provision of quality, accessible housing solutions for individuals with disabilities resulting from personal injury and medical negligence.
We serve families, litigation solicitors, deputies, case managers, occupational therapists and care teams to develop a clear understanding of an individual’s unique needs.
Our expertise lies in then finding, adapting and transforming properties into homes tailored to accommodate each client, whether temporary or permanent, and delivered with meticulous attention to detail and the utmost care.
