Setting the right budget – and delivering on it - is paramount for high-net-worth individuals

High-net-worth individuals have always understood the value of money, and that applies to the homes they live in and own. They didn’t get where they are by throwing cash away. So, while they are prepared to invest many millions of pounds into their personal properties, it always comes with the strict condition that the project team – the architects, consultants and contractors – keep to the budget.

A good architect has an equal eye for detail and budget

At Lees Associates, getting the budget right at the front end is one of our biggest challenges. Wealthy and demanding clients want the very best, but once they have agreed the cost, they will not be prepared to pay more.

Getting it right starts with a highly-detailed survey before any work can start. It’s all about eliminating those unknown unknowns and understanding the risks, challenges and potential delays caused by planning issues, especially those that particularly apply to listed buildings. It is vital to get a grip on these from the outset.

It is also crucial to get the right team in place, employing construction professionals who are used to the very particular demands of prime and super-prime projects where delivering the very best product and service –on time, every time – is essential.

Team collaboration and communication keeps projects on track

While their homes are important, the wealthy still need to have confidence that they are getting value for money. In our experience, it is unheard of for a wealthy client to not consider the resale value of their property, no matter how personal its design and execution might be to them. Perhaps surprisingly, in a world where most of us believe that money would be no object, cash is not necessarily king for high-net-worth individuals.

Like most people, the wealthy put emphasis on health and family. It is also interesting to note that, for many top-end earners, making money often comes at the expense of their own health.

But other things inevitably can take priority when you have financial security and freedom. But it seems that having a genuine purpose in life really matters to those with means, with 75% of wealthy Americans saying their life's purpose would not change, even if they were to lose all of their wealth.

Wealth is not only defined as possession

So how do you define wealth? If you use accountancy terms, wealth measures the value of all the assets of worth owned by a person, community, company, or country. Wealth is determined by taking the total market value of all physical and intangible assets owned, and then subtracting all debts.

For those of us that aspire to greater wealth, it is worth noting that those that have already achieved it are consistently found to maintain similar values, including a hatred of debt, an unabated ambition for personal growth, and it seems that most also practice positive thinking techniques such as mindfulness, appreciation and gratitude.

It all boils down to the fact that, no matter how wealthy you are, you still want value for money but, at the same time, some things will always be more important than money.