David Halliwell

Why I write

Most of what gets written about estate property is written by people selling something, and most of it is written from a desk. I have spent fifteen years at the properties themselves. I still attend initial inspections and carry out every chattels valuation personally, so the cases I write about are ones I have stood in.

The insights series is where I set down what that experience says about the standards the sector works to. Each piece starts from a real file, anonymised, and ends with a position I am prepared to defend: on contractor liability, on what reasonable steps means for an empty property, on the OPG's supervision changes, on what a valuation file has to show before HMRC asks.

I also keep a close eye on what is changing around the work. HMCTS turnaround times, OPG guidance, court decisions on deputyship, the Renters' Rights Act and the inheritance tax rules all move the standard a property file is judged against, and I write about them when they do. If you disagree with something I have written, I would rather hear it than not. Every piece ends with an invitation for exactly that.

About David

I founded Prospect PS in 2011. Since then my team and I have handled more than 7,000 estates, managing the whole property side from first inspection and securing through to clearance, valuation and sale. I would welcome a conversation about any estate you are dealing with.

My role, as I see it, is to protect the value in the estate, reduce the risk on empty properties and make the property side of estate administration straightforward, so that the executor, the deputy or the charity can concentrate on the people the estate is for. We work nationwide across England and Wales.

How I run the business

The way I run the business commercially is intended to take risk off the executor and the charity. I will send a team to any property to assess what is required, and if the matter comes to nothing, there is no invoice. Every cost is agreed with you in advance, so nothing arrives as a surprise.

All invoicing is deferred and settled from the estate on completion rather than upfront, and where an estate proves insolvent, we write off our fees in full. Clients should not be left carrying a cost for an estate that cannot bear it.

Who enters a family's home

I take a careful view of who enters a family's home, so all sensitive work is carried out in house by our own directly employed, DBS-checked staff. No third-party subcontractors are involved until the property and its contents have been secured and removed. I have written about why that matters in in-house versus franchise on sensitive instructions.

Reporting built to be audited

Our reporting is AI-assisted and built to be audit-ready, with date-of-death valuations and IHT400-aligned documentation, giving you and the beneficiaries a clear, defensible record throughout. I set out the standard I hold a file to in what AI changes on a property case: the evidence gets better, and the judgement stays with the professional.

Chattels

Chattels are a particular focus of ours. Having owned and run an auction house, I have spent years identifying, valuing and selling the contents of estates, from everyday household effects to specialist collections, and it is an area we bring genuine hands-on expertise to.