Free Ravens Gathering by Graeme Cumming

longer than expected, so it was
eighteen months after they moved to the farm before they were granted the
permissions they needed.
    On the plus side, property prices were still racing
upwards.  On the minus side, that meant they had already lost some
potential growth.  At the same time, the major house building firms were
pulling out all the stops, and were throwing up housing estates all over the
place.  Fortunately, none were being built near Ravens Gathering. 
But it did mean that the majors were sub-contracting all the builders, joiners,
plumbers and other assorted tradesmen to work on their projects.  So
finding contractors to work on The Barns development was also harder
than Ian had anticipated.
    Eventually, though, work began, and within six months they
had built and sold three houses.  Buoyed up by this success, Ian ploughed
all of the sale proceeds into starting the next tranche of houses.
    He had sold the first three houses for £50,000 each. 
Within a few months, one of the houses was back on the market for
£65,000.  A part of him wished he’d hung on to them for a few months
longer.  But he knew he’d made a good profit.  More importantly, he
knew the potential profit on the next few would be even greater.  So he
borrowed extra money so he could build some more.  After all, interest
rates were low, and the profits would more than outweigh the costs.
    But then interest rates started to rise.  Within a few
short months, the rate he was paying on the loan had risen from just under 9%
to 16%.  The house that had been on the market for £65,000 was withdrawn. 
The couple who had bought it had clearly hoped to make a quick killing, and
realised that wasn’t going to happen.
    Five of the new houses were completed by the spring of
1989.  Two sold for £45,000 each, a long way short of the £65,000-£70,000
he had been hoping for only six months earlier.  It allowed him to repay a
part of the loan, but the margin wasn’t high enough to make a big dent.
    Then all enquiries dried up.  Interest rates were still
rising and property prices were tumbling, two factors inextricably
linked.  And Ian and Tanya were left with a rising debt and assets they
couldn’t sell.
    It was no wonder Tanya was pissed off with him.  He’d
persuaded her to move up here, away from the attractions of the south. 
London, with its theatres and clubs and restaurants.  Major international
airports – very important to Tanya.  Even the temperature seemed to be
warmer back in Oxford.  That alone was bad enough.  But now he’d
added insult to injury by making such a mess of the housing development. 
He blamed himself unreservedly.  The fact that so many other people had
fallen into similar traps – including the major house builders – was of no
consequence to him.  His decisions had got them into this position, and he
wasn’t going to point the finger at anyone else.  What he needed to do now
was find a way out of it.
    Part of the solution required breathing space, though, which
was why he had been at the bank today.  This bank had advanced the loan
for the development.  They hadn’t yet made any noises to suggest they were
concerned about it.  The chances were that they had other debts that were
more of a worry to them.  From their point of view, at least this was
secured against the farm.  That, of course, was the concern for Ian. 
So he had called the meeting today because he knew it would look better for him
if he was being proactive.  By demonstrating to them that he was working
on a solution, they would be less likely to focus on him, and more likely to
start digging where they were getting no feedback.  Banks liked to know
their money was safe.
    Using his years of experience in the financial services
arena, Ian had presented a very effective case to the bank.  His reason
for being there, he explained, was to reassure them.  He pointed to the
repayments he had made so far, including the fairly