REGISTERED NUMBER: 11668091 (England and Wales)

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

FOR

A BETTER CHOICE FOR PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT

LIMITED

Page

Company Information

1

Balance Sheet

2

Notes to the Financial Statements

3

DIRECTORS:

Mrs T Kerly

G A Miles

Mrs M Stevens

B J Horton

N A Fenton

SECRETARY:

L M Foreman

REGISTERED OFFICE:

C/o Ashford Borough Council

International House

Dover Place

Ashford

Kent

TN23 1HU

REGISTERED NUMBER:

11668091 (England and Wales)

AUDITORS:

Cassidys Chartered Accountants

And Registered Auditors

South Stour Offices

South Stour Road

Mersham

Ashford

Kent

TN25 7HS

CURRENT ASSETS

Stocks

4

1,974,980

11,540,115

Debtors

5

25,922

21,200

Cash at bank and in hand

54,160

26,727

2,055,062

11,588,042

CREDITORS

Amounts falling due within one year

6

1,212,758

447,205

NET CURRENT ASSETS

842,304

11,140,837

TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES

842,304

11,140,837

CREDITORS

Amounts falling due after more than one year

7

13,383,393

13,261,111

NET LIABILITIES

(12,541,089

)

(2,120,274

)

CAPITAL AND RESERVES

Called up share capital

1

1

Retained earnings

(12,541,090

)

(2,120,275

)

SHAREHOLDERS' FUNDS

(12,541,089

)

(2,120,274

)

The financial statements have been prepared and delivered in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime.

In accordance with Section 444 of the Companies Act 2006, the Income Statement has not been delivered.

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Directors and authorised for issue on 22 December 2025 and were signed on its behalf by:

Mrs M Stevens - Director

1.	STATUTORY INFORMATION

A Better Choice For Property Development Limited is a private company, limited by shares , registered in England and Wales. The company's registered number and registered office address can be found on the Company Information page.

The presentation currency of the financial statements is the Pound Sterling (£).

2.	ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of preparing the financial statements

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Financial Reporting Standard 102 "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland" including the provisions of Section 1A "Small Entities" and the Companies Act 2006. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.

Turnover

Turnover is measured at the fair value of the consideration received or receivable, excluding discounts, rebates, value added tax and other sales taxes.

Stocks

Stocks include work in progress in relation to land and properties under development principally for sale to other parties.

Stocks are valued at the lower of cost and net realisable value. Costs include all direct expenditure and those overheads that have been incurred in bringing the inventories to their present location and condition. Net realisable value represents the estimated selling price less all estimated costs of completion and costs to be incurred in marketing and selling.

Financial instruments

The company classifies financial instruments, or their component parts, on initial recognition as a financial asset, a financial liability or equity instrument in accordance with the substance of the contractual arrangement. Financial instruments are recognised when the company becomes party to the contractual provision of the instrument.

Trade and other debtors

Trade and other debtors are initially measured at fair value and are carried at amortised cost in the financial statements. Consideration will be given to balances throughout the period to determine if any amounts are deemed irrecoverable. Where irrecoverable amounts are identified the impairment is recognised immediately in profit or loss.

Trade and other payables

Trade and other payables are initially measured at fair value and are carried at amortised cost in the financial statements at year end.

Loans payable

Loans payable are initially measured at fair value and carried at their amortised cost. Annual debits are posted to the Income Statement as interest payable, and are based on the carrying amount of the liability or asset multiplied by the effective rate of interest for the instrument. For most of the loans that the Company has received, this means that the amount presented in the Balance Sheet is the outstanding principal payable, and interest debited to the Income Statement is the amount payable for the year in the loan agreement.

Taxation

Taxation for the year comprises current and deferred tax. Tax is recognised in the Income Statement, except to the extent that it relates to items recognised in other comprehensive income or directly in equity.

Current or deferred taxation assets and liabilities are not discounted.

Current tax is recognised at the amount of tax payable using the tax rates and laws that have been enacted or substantively enacted by the balance sheet date.

Deferred tax

Deferred tax is recognised in respect of all timing differences that have originated but not reversed at the balance sheet date.

Timing differences arise from the inclusion of income and expenses in tax assessments in periods different from those in which they are recognised in financial statements. Deferred tax is measured using tax rates and laws that have been enacted or substantively enacted by the year end and that are expected to apply to the reversal of the timing difference.

Unrelieved tax losses and other deferred tax assets are recognised only to the extent that it is probable that they will be recovered against the reversal of deferred tax liabilities or other future taxable profits.

Borrowing costs

Borrowing costs that are directly attributable to the acquisition, construction or production of a qualifying asset are capitalised as part of the cost of the asset. Other borrowing costs are expensed in the period in which they are incurred.

Going concern

The financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis. The directors have considered all available

information about future events and have reviewed cash flows for the 12 months following the date of approval of these accounts. The Company has access to funding to meet its future obligations by way of loans issued by its ultimate parent entity, Ashford Borough Council, and the company has received confirmation from the parent entity of its continued support.

From the above assessment, the directors believe that the company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, they continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.

3.	EMPLOYEES AND DIRECTORS

The average number of employees during the year was NIL (2024 - NIL).

4.

STOCKS

31.3.25

31.3.24

£

£

Work-in-progress

1,974,980

11,540,115

Included in work in progress is interest capitalised of £288,116 (2024 - £202,608) after any write-downs.

During the year the company recognised a £10,400,428 write-down of inventories to their net realisable value. The circumstances that led to the write-down are disclosed in the "Judgements, Key Sources of Estimation Uncertainty and Risks" Note to the financial statements.

5.

DEBTORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

31.3.25

31.3.24

£

£

Trade debtors

1,260

1,260

Other debtors

24,662

19,940

25,922

21,200

6.

CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

31.3.25

31.3.24

£

£

Trade creditors

35,806

21,566

Amounts owed to group undertakings

1,171,368

281,722

Other creditors

5,584

143,917

1,212,758

447,205

7.

CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE AFTER MORE THAN ONE YEAR

31.3.25

31.3.24

£

£

Amounts owed to group undertakings

13,383,393

13,261,111

Amounts falling due in more than one five years repayable by instalments - £12,828,605 (2024 - £12,728,010).

8.	DISCLOSURE UNDER SECTION 444(5B) OF THE COMPANIES ACT 2006

The Report of the Auditors was unqualified.

We draw attention to the "Judgements, Key Sources of Estimation Uncertainty and Risks" Note to the financial statements which describes the estimation uncertainty with regards to the value of development projects of £1,974,980 included in work in progress as at 31 March 2025, upon which the continuing viability of them is fundamental to the accounts. Our opinion is not modified in this respect.

Stuart G Whorlow (Senior Statutory Auditor)

for and on behalf of Cassidys Chartered Accountants

9.	RELATED PARTY DISCLOSURES

The company's immediate parent is A Better Choice for Property Limited and its ultimate parent is Ashford Borough Council, which is a local UK government organisation.

The company and its immediate parent are included in the consolidated financial statements of Ashford Borough Council, which are available from Ashford Borough Council, International House, Dover Place, Ashford, Kent TN23 1HU.

10.	JUDGEMENTS, KEY SOURCES OF ESTIMATION UNCERTAINTY AND RISKS

In applying the company's accounting policies management is required to make judgements and estimates. The critical judgements made by management that are material to the company and key sources of estimation uncertainty that could have a significant effect on the amounts recognised in the financial statements are described below.

Net realisable value of inventories

Inventories include work in progress in relation to land and properties under development principally for sale to other parties. Actual selling prices and costs to complete, which are required to calculate net realisable values of developments, are subject to market conditions. Therefore, actual amounts, when developments are complete, may differ significantly to those estimated. To mitigate some of this risk, the developments are reviewed on an annual basis by management, which includes using information from independent qualified valuers in determining selling prices and costs to complete.

As part of the year end valuation process the company is required to make a judgement on the overall viability of each development estimating through to completion, this provides comfort that the overall development is still viable. Where a development is forecast to make a loss then an impairment would need to be recognised within the accounts.

The company assessed all its ongoing developments for the year ended 31 March 2025 and has recognised a further impairment of £10,400,428 in relation to one of its developments, the Infinity Development. This impairment is in addition to the previous year's impairment of £1,963,927 and now represents full impairment of £12,364,355 of costs incurred to the 31 March 2025.

The Infinity Development site was purchased early in 2019 with development proposals supporting the site acquisition. However, following Natural England's guidance to Local Planning Authorities in July 2020 that new developments in the Stour Catchment needed to demonstrate nutrient neutrality, the planning application had to be halted while mitigation methods were considered. Nutrient Neutrality is only just being resolved where offsite mitigation is needed which has delayed the development significantly. During this period, the development has also been impacted by the economic impacts of the global pandemic, the ongoing war in mainland Europe, high inflation and interest rates, and new building fire regulations as a result of the Grenfell disaster. All the factors above have seen construction costs rise in the region of 30%, while property values have had a more modest rise of circa 5%, which has materially impacted the viability of the proposed scheme. The Company continues to work with cost consultants to value engineer the development and is considering all options to limit losses on the site. This is a strategic gateway into the Town Centre, and the Company is keeping the Council informed as lender and presented a report to the Councils Trading and Enterprise Board in September 2025. If for any reason the Infinity Development was not commenced, then the site could be marketed at £1,500,000.