We4ywe45showhouse june 2015

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WHERE THE HOUSEBUILDING COMMUNITY MEETS

JUNE 2015

MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR LSL PROPERTY PRESS AWARDS 2015

WELL CONNECTED Smart home technology

CONSERVATIVE ESTIMATE Can Cameron get building?

SOFT FURNISHINGS Hard sell

showhouse | June 2015

CELEBRATING 30 YEARS

INTELLIGENCE IN ACTION SINCE 1985 AFagency.co.uk/30years

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CONTENTS

25

37

MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR

55 49 NEWS 09 45 107 113 119 125 129

News

FEATURES

FINANCE

31

79

George Sell chats to David Murphy managing director of Modelworks Media

Sustainability News Affordable Housing News Product News

37

Supplier News

49

Roger Hunt looks at how new homes’ sustainability could be better promoted to consumers

REGULARS 22

One to One Gary Linton, MD of Linton Property Developments

25

Special Agent & Agency News Jamie Lester, head of Haus, Haus Properties

85

Product Portfolio

TECHNOLOGY 55 61

Inside Out Interior design

103 Marketing & Media 132 Squirrel

69

COMMENT 07

Customer Care & Marketing Rupert Bates assesses how technology is transforming the new homes market

Rupert Bates Hard-hat hypocrisy and hard-wired homes

17

Isabel Hardman

Front cover: The Summit, Bournemouth

by Redrow. Inset pic: David Cameron at a Story Homes site For your copy of Show House magazine please call 020 7940 1070 or email at@globespanmedia.com

Looking back at some of the highlights and high jinks of the recent election campaign

19

Stewart Baseley A Conservative government means continuity and that’s good news for housebuilders

Home Automation Kate Hamilton discovers what the latest technology can offer the new home

City with David Smith ...and breathe. How the market has responded to the Conservative victory

The Builders The new homes industry is using cuttting edge technology

Energy efficiency

93

82

Utilities

Sustainability

Finance news The latest from the world of lending

Ginetta Vedrickas discusses how telecommunications are now the fourth must-have utility

Careers Movers and Shakers

Supply Chain

21

Keith Osborne Some new developments make positive first impressions on the Whathouse.com editor

111 Simon Graham A Conservative majority is a mixed blessing for HAs but no sector is better at making do

ISSN 1468–747X PUBLISHED BY Globespan Media Ltd, Fifth Floor, 291-299 Borough High Street, London SE1 1JG. Tel: 020 7940 1070 • EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Rupert Bates rb@globespanmedia.com • CHIEF SUB-EDITOR Suzanne Frost scf@globespanmedia.com • ART EDITOR Kelly Bates kb@globespanmedia.com • GROUP SALES DIRECTOR Adrian Talbot at@globespanmedia.com • ACCOUNT SALES MANAGER Iga Lisowska il@showhouse.co.uk • SUBSCRIPTIONS Adrian Talbot at@globespanmedia.com 020 7940 1070 • PRINTED BY Buxton Press • © Globespan Media 2014.

No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior written permission from the publishers. The greatest care has been taken to ensure accuracy, but the publishers cannot accept responsibility for errors and omissions and the views expressed are not necessarily those of the publishers.

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COMMENT

Rupert Bates T

he political gulf between talking the talk and walking the walk is wider than the Grand Canyon.

During the election campaign David Cameron, now leading a slim Conservative majority government, spent more time in a hi-vis jacket than a suit and the PRs buzzing around him must have fretted about his hair every time he put on and took off a hard hat.

I am not qualified to comment on his trowel technique, but if every brick he ‘laid’ for a photocall was put on top of one another, we would be halfway towards solving the housing crisis.

I often wonder: does the prime minister keep the hard hats as souvenirs? Does he have a collection of branded helmets in his garage? The test of his leadership when it comes to the housing market is whether he still has one hanging in the hall at No 10 to take round all those development sites that need to be up and running if he is serious about building 240,000 new homes a year.

I don’t know if the Queen’s Speech contained a bill of unintended consequences.

Right to Buy was trumpeted by the Conservatives to appeal to our supposed fixation with home ownership, but it will do nothing for housing supply – quite the

During the election campaign David Cameron spent more time in a hi-vis jacket than a suit...

I am not qualified to comment on his trowel technique, but if every brick he ‘laid’ for a photocall was put on top of one another, we would be halfway to solving the housing crisis opposite in fact, as there will be less affordable homes built, not more. The talk of replacing every sold property with the building of a new home is just that – talk.

“The promise to extend Right to Buy to 1.3m housing association tenants is a body blow for the sector. Where to begin about how simplistic this is as a policy, how ill conceived? It is a knee-jerk to the ‘property owning democracy’ ideal and there is a link here to Tory attacks on housing association surpluses,” writes Simon Graham in Show House this month (p111).

The government’s starter home initiative and commitment to brownfield sites are fine in theory, but restrictions, criteria and viability concerns could hamper development and if I had a hard hat for every time a

‘streamlined planning process” had been promised, I’d fill Cameron’s garage.

Agent Stirling Ackroyd reports that one in three potential homes in London alone are still rejected by borough councils. There should be only one housing agenda: build more homes for all.

When it comes to the Housing Bill the devil is not just in the detail, but the delivery. I can give you 275 million reasons why this government, or any other for that matter, will struggle to get to even 200,000 new homes a year.

275 million is the number of pounds a Sussex farmer recently turned down for his 550 acres earmarked as part of a new town.

It is very laudable and community spirited of him – for the community that is already there. There are plenty of valid reasons to object to the proposed development – not least because it is far too close to where I live, although naturally a marvellous idea if those 550 acres were mine. The farmer will get a hero’s welcome every time he walks into his local pub, but £275m buys an awful lot of pints. .............................................................

Our technology supplement this month highlights an amazing range of products and services in the smart homes space, as well as exploding a few myths about housebuilders being slow to engage with the latest gadgets and gizmos.

It may still be a struggle getting the new homes built to meet demand, but what goes on behind closed doors, or at the touch of a tablet, is ever evolving and responding to the demands of both producers and consumers.

I don’t know how revolutionary the kit is when compared to other industries, but all this wizardry certainly impresses me. Talking of wizardry I hear that ‘The UK’s first fully connected WiFi kitchen’ is on its way, courtesy of Hoover.

Its Wizard range means you can control, via an app on a mobile device, all your kitchen appliances remotely, be it oven, fridge or washing machine. The app monitors energy consumption, updates appliance status and can send message alerts.

Maurizio Severgnini, managing director of Hoover’s built-in division, said: “Anyone using the appliances can preheat the oven from their desk, put a wash on while walking the dog, or even wash the dishes from the gym.”

I can see it now. ‘Rupert, your dinner is in the washing machine and will be ready in 15 minutes’. Or a text alert that your dog is in the gym, so no need to take her for a walk. I’m loving the technology already. sh rb@globespanmedia.com twitter.com/rupertbates

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NEWS

Housing sector broadly positive towards Tory election win The housing sector has reacted positively to the Conservatives forming a majority government following May’s general election.

Andrew Richards, group managing director of Linden Homes, said: “We have worked extremely hard over the last five years to engage with all parties, as well as the Conservative-led coalition, to advise how policy and initiatives work in practice in the housebuilding industry. That consultation work has enabled us to understand government priorities and be fully immersed in the NPPF reform, which is now starting to make headway. What the housebuilding industry now needs from the new government is stability. Stability translates into certainty around planning reform, ‘homebuyer enablers’ on offer and the wider economy to help keep Britain building. We hope that this majority government will command that level of guarantee and solidarity in the planning process to spur the delivery of much-needed homes across the country.

“We recently issued ‘Housing our Nation – a Manifesto’ in a bid to inform the debate with our suggested actions to help ease the housing crisis.

This six-stage manifesto lays out our recommended way forward to boost the UK’s housing supply. They are plans that our years of experience show will provide much-needed new homes but also new jobs, investment, economic growth and local facilities. We look forward to discussing these ideas with the newly elected government and will be inviting the new political figures to our sites to see for themselves how our homes are meeting housing needs on a local and national scale.”

Steve Hicks, managing director of Gentoo’s Genie home purchase plan said: “The fact that there is a clear winner in the UK general election rather than the predicted coalition and subsequent power struggle is good news. The Conservative government has a clear, and welcome, focus on homeownership and in helping people to achieve this.”

Melanie Leech, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said: “We worked successfully with the Conservatives as part of the coalition and look forward to continuing that relationship to tackle the key issues impacting on our sector.

We would like to see the government prioritise a coherent plan to deliver increased housing supply, follow through on the commitment to

fundamentally review business rates, and take action to put in place the right infrastructure – including real estate – that will allow our country to thrive. The prospect of an EU referendum will inject uncertainty into the equation, and it is important to have clarity about its parameters and timetable as soon as possible. Our industry has the potential to significantly increase the amount of housing in the UK, regenerate our towns and cities, and contribute significantly to the economy if it is provided with the right legislative framework, and we look forward to working with the next government to achieve this.”

Julie Hirigoyen, chief executive of the UK Green Building Council, said: “Now that the longanticipated 2015 general election result is known, it is high time for us to get on with the important work of building a greener economy. Green jobs, skills and businesses are vital components of a strong and prosperous UK. Buildings themselves provide excellent opportunities to improve people’s lives and stimulate growth in the economy, as well as curbing our environmental impact. The Conservative party’s continued

support for the Climate Change Act and appetite for a strong global deal in Paris are encouraging.

UK-GBC and its members hope to build on the foundations laid in the previous parliament, such as the groundbreaking minimum energy-efficiency standards legislation, and raise ambitions around home energy-efficiency and zero carbon standards for new buildings.”

David Orr, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said of Brandon Lewis retaining his role as minister of state for communities and local government with responsibility for housing and planning: “We look forward to continuing our work with Brandon Lewis MP as housing and planning minister. Housing is one of the biggest issues facing the country right now and we will further our discussions with Mr Lewis on the areas where housing associations can and do play a vital role.

We need our new government to deliver a longterm plan to end the housing crisis within a generation. To achieve that it must include an ambitious housebuilding programme that will build the 245,000 new homes we need each year, including 80,000 affordable homes.”

David Cameron on a Story Homes site

Parker leaves Telford Homes in management shake-up Telford Homes has made its joint group managing director Mark Parker redundant in a shake-up of its management team.

Parker, who had been with the company for more than 10 years, was the highest profile departure among several senior staff redundancies at the London housebuilder.

John Fitzgerald, the other joint group managing director, is now responsible for production across the entire group with “an extended management structure supporting him in this role”.

Jon Di-Stefano, Telford Homes chief executive, said: “In order to ensure the management team is set up to accommodate further growth, the group has recently undertaken a restructuring of its operational teams and sadly this has resulted in a very small number of redundancies at a senior level. The board is confident that this restructure is necessary to ensure Telford Homes can step up to the next level.”

Announcing year-end profits up to £25m, Di-Stefano said the company is on course to

deliver further growth: “Telford Homes is growing and by the end of 2015 will have over 2,200 homes under construction across 16 developments compared to just under 1,700 across 22 developments two years ago. As the group increases in size, economies of scale become more evident and the average development size has also increased.”

Telford Homes has a development pipeline worth £1.07bn of future revenue, of which more than £550m has already been secured by forward sales.

showhouse June 2015 |

09

NEWS

Better Renting for Britain campaign offers £30bn PRS funding A group of developers, pension funds and housing associations has launched a campaign to promote the private rented sector (PRS) with a potential war chest of £30bn of new, private finance – enough to build more than 150,000 homes.

The Better Renting for Britain campaign has written an open letter to the new government, claiming the build-to-rent sector could “play a crucial role in solving the housing crisis, improving the quality of housing and financing more development through additional, institutional capital”.

The campaign includes organisations such as the British Property Federation, JLL, Fizzy Living, Grainger, Essential Living and Savills.

The group has warned that housing targets will go unmet without additional private sector funding, and believes an American-style rental market – where single companies own large portfolios of homes – could bolster standards, offering better value and greater transparency.

This approach will enable individuals and families to rent for years, not months, if they wish. The offer of longer-term tenancies, inflation-linked rents and shared amenity spaces would be made possible because the investors are in the sector for the long-term, to earn

income – rather than speculating on house prices going up.

The letter said: “We want to create more professionally managed rented housing, purposefully designed and built with the longterm occupier in mind. We need genuine acceptance that build to rent differs from traditional housebuilding.”

This is a reference to the fact that schemes built for rent are currently treated by planning policy in the same way as those built for sale. The campaign wants the government to make councils set out the quantity of rental housing needed locally and then partner with developers to build some of it on public land.

This could create income for local authorities.

It also wants planning rules modernised to reflect the fact that building for rent is different from building to sell.

Harry Downes, managing director of Fizzy Living, said: “Because we’re backed by long-term capital we can make a cast-iron commitment to not sell-off the homes we build. It means we can do so much more in offering hassle-free, high-quality urban living that’s priced fairly and available for years, not months, offering a genuine alternative for Britain’s growing army of renters.”

Help to Buy purchases make up 42% of MJ Gleeson’s completions MJ Gleeson plc says its residential sales continue to be driven by the Help to Buy initiative, with 42% of purchasers in the year to date taking advantage of the scheme.

The company issued a trading update for the period from 1 January 2015 to 30 April 2015 for its two divisions, Gleeson Strategic Land, a land promotion business mainly focused in the south of England, and Gleeson Homes, an urban regeneration specialist that builds affordable homes in the north.

Gleeson Homes reported sales for the year to date up by 12% on last year, and expects to record at least 730 completions in the year to 30 June, a 30% increase on the previous year’s 561 units. It has 41 active sites, compared with 37 at the same stage last year, with a total of 5,801 plots either owned or conditionally purchased.

The business is in active discussions regarding the acquisition of a further 13 sites, which, if purchased, will add 1,855 plots to the regeneration land pipeline, taking the total number of plots to in excess of 7,750.

The board said it is “encouraged by the performance of both Gleeson Homes and Gleeson Strategic Land in the period under review and remains confident that there will be further substantial improvements in the group’s trading performance in both the current year and beyond”.

10| June 2015 showhouse

Melanie Leech, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said: “Supporting the buildto-rent sector will help the next government meet the housebuilding targets that all the main political parties pledged to voters during the election. It will help reinvigorate our city centres and support local authorities that want to help retain their young people who need homes. And most importantly, for renters, it will revolutionise the sector, providing greater choice of tenure length, rent certainty and high levels of customer service.”

Andrew Brentnall, head of funding and development, residential capital markets, at Savills, said: “Build to rent could offer a large quantum of capital for additional homes across the UK, which will further help to service the needs of an increasing number of renters in the locations that we need it most. Private renting has increased by 79% since 2003 and institutional investment is vital for its continued growth. If the considerable demand from new tenants is not met by new stock, rents will rise due to lack of supply. It is therefore very important to attract, and retain, new investment into the sector. Our forecast is that rental demand will rise by a further 1.2 million households by the end of 2019.”

Devolved cities to get more planning powers Chancellor George Osborne has announced plans to allow England’s major cities to join Manchester in bidding for devolved powers, as long as they agree to be governed by a directly elected mayor.

New powers for combined authorities with an elected mayor will cover transport, housing, planning, policing and public health Speaking in Manchester after the election, Osborne (pictured) said: “The old model of trying to run everything in our country from the centre of London is broken. It’s led to an unbalanced economy. It’s made people feel remote from the decisions that affect their lives.

It’s not good for our prosperity or our democracy.

It’s right people have a single point of accountability. Someone they elect, who takes the decisions and carries the can. So with these new powers for cities must come new city-wide elected mayors who work with local councils. I will not impose this model on anyone. But nor will I settle for less. London has a mayor.

Greater Manchester has agreed to have a mayor as part of our northern powerhouse – and this new law will make that happen. My door now is

open to any other major city that wants to take this bold step into the future.”

Simon Nunn, assistant director of external affairs at the National Housing Federation, responded to Osborne’s speech, saying: “Wider devolution is a great opportunity for cities across the country. Strong local leadership will be vital if we are to solve the housing crisis, which plays out differently in different areas.

Housing associations are ready and well placed to work with cities and elected mayors to ensure good quality housing is available. They also have a crucial role to play in providing skills, jobs and health and social care for local communities. In partnership, cities and housing associations across England can help grow local economies, regenerate communities, create jobs and help end the housing crisis within a generation.”

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NEWS

St James gets green light for 1,465 homes in west London St James, a division of the Berkeley Group, has been granted planning permission from the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham for a development of up to 1,465 homes in White City, west London, following a nine-month public consultation.

Currently occupied by a Marks & Spencer warehouse, the 4.2-hectare (10 acre) brownfield site will be transformed into a residential neighbourhood set in a new fouracre public park.

As well as residential units, the scheme will contain commercial, office, community and leisure space.

It will bring £615m of investment, create 620 jobs in construction, 350

permanent jobs on completion, and deliver just over 30% affordable housing on- and off-site.

Patel Taylor has been appointed as the architect, masterplanner and landscape architect to develop proposals for the site following a design competition.

A new bridge and pedestrian deck across the Central Line will improve connectivity from Wood Lane and provide direct access to Westfield London to the south.

The Marks & Spencer warehouse is due to be vacated in July 2016 and construction is planned to start shortly afterwards. The scheme will be delivered in a number of phases over a 15-year period.

Crest Nicholson and M&G form PRS partnership M&G Real Estate has signed a £25.2m deal with Crest Nicholson to purchase 97 PRS units under construction in Bath. The homes will be managed by a third party.

Alex Greaves, head of residential investment at M&G Real Estate, said: “We very much welcome this initial transaction with Crest Nicholson and look forward to working with them on other schemes. We believe this to be the first transaction of its kind between an institutional investor and a listed housebuilder, marking a major opportunity for institutional investors seeking access to the UK residential sector.”

Chris Tinker, executive board member for Crest Nicholson, added: “This type of partnership agreement could mark a step change and acceleration in the PRS model, which will ultimately help unlock land, create jobs and bring wider economic benefit as well as bringing forward the delivery of much-needed new homes and mixed-tenure communities.”

12| June 2015 showhouse

Obituary: Bob Barlow Bob Barlow, a legendary figure in the world of property PR, has died just eight weeks after being diagnosed with liver cancer. He was 64.

Barlow was synonymous with Barratt for many years, working closely with former CEO David Pretty as PR agent.

He was senior partner in the RBC Media Relations Partnership until winding down in 2007. He and his long-time friend and colleague Paul Davies also looked after retirement builders McCarthy & Stone and various housing associations.

The son of a Smithfield meat porter and half-gipsy barmaid, Barlow grew up in London’s east end before moving to rural Ongar when his father’s fortunes changed. His English teacher, spotting Barlow’s talent as a writer, encouraged him to apply for a job on the local paper, the West Essex Gazette. This led to a journalistic career on the Walthamstow Guardian then the Sheffield Morning Telegraph, followed by a change of direction into advertising and PR. “Bob was known for his gregarious nature, enormous sense of humour and genuine enthusiasm for the products he promoted.

Property writers liked him for his honesty and reliability coupled with his exceptional skills as a journalist,” said Paul Davies.

In semi-retirement Barlow published and edited two glossy magazines on railway modelling, a lifelong hobby. He was also a talented artist and vocalist who sang with Davies’s show chorus, Cambridge Chord Company, winning the Pavarotti Choir of the World.

David Pretty said: “I knew Bob Barlow for over 20 years. We had a long and very successful working relationship and became very close personally. I owe much of the success I enjoyed at Barratt to Bob’s support and loyalty.

“We first met in 1991 when I was then chairman of Barratt’s giant Southern region. I’d been doing all the press relations personally and it had become too much to handle on my own.

We gelled immediately and it was the start of something really special, him staying with me as external PR agent when I later became Group CEO. “He was always able to put my ideas into words in double quick time and in a sharp punchy style. We had good products to sell and good stories to tell. Bob kept himself fit and active and hadn’t drunk alcohol for decades, so it was a great shock when he told me he had advanced liver cancer and not much time to live.

When we met up soon after, he was remarkably sanguine. He’d had a happy and successful life and lovely family, so he was at peace. I will miss this very special man.”

David Hoppit, property journalist and great friend, recalled: “When I stumbled into journalism, back in the swinging ‘60s, I became chief reporter of the local paper in Epping, with a staff of one, sometimes two. Bob arrived a few years later and quickly established himself as one of the best ‘assistants’ I ever had. ‘Little Bob’ as he became known, was both keen and competent, a rare combination.”

“Quite a few years later Bob reappeared in my life when I was property editor of The Daily Telegraph. Bob, meanwhile, had moved into PR. We had many a trip to view properties, always in comfort and sometimes even by helicopter. Bob did all the work and we just feasted and drank the wine. If a quote was required, Bob was your man, replying with speed and accuracy.

He was a good reporter, an even better PR, and a very good and dependable chum.”

Bob Barlow leaves his wife Rowena and their two daughters, as well as two older daughters by his first marriage to Diana.

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NEWS

news in brief

Galliford Try buys Shepherd Group’s Yorkshire housing business

I Salford City Council has approved Knight Knox International and Fortis Developments’ plans for a £75m 580-unit PRS scheme on the banks of the River Irwell in Salford. The threeblock, 450,000ft² development, known as Adelphi Wharf, will include an on-site gymnasium and underground parking. Fortis Developments will deliver the project in three phases with its letting arm managing the blocks. Director of Fortis, Kieran Moore, said: “Fortis Developments has worked closely with Salford City Council and Urban Vision to ensure that the design and visual impact of Adelphi Wharf complements the area, while incorporating modern architecture along the city’s waterfront. A riverside walkway will be created to offer easy access to the waterfront, allowing residents to enjoy Salford’s surroundings with ease.

I Hill has started work on a £40m 95-home joint venture development with the University of Cambridge’s Homerton College. The Magna development is located close to the housebuilder’s Ceres and Vesta developments in central Cambridge. Deborah Griffin, bursar of Homerton College, said: “We chose to partner with Hill on this development as we wanted to create an exceptional residential development. As the College will be the freeholder and neighbours it was important that we could be proud of the design and quality of the construction. Rob Hall, deputy managing director of Hill, said: “While we are currently working alongside the University on the North West Cambridge Development, this is a rare opportunity to collaborate directly with the University’s largest college, and we are thrilled to have been chosen on such an important project.”

I Three Rivers District Council has selected Countryside and Home Group as the preferred bidders for the redevelopment of central South Oxhey, near Watford. The council will now work with the chosen developers to refine their proposals before a public consultation in the autumn. Subject to further drafting, a formal contract with the developer will be signed in September 2015 and Countryside and Home Group will aim to submit the planning application in December 2015. The South Oxhey Initiative will deliver around 500 new homes for sale and rent, retail and public spaces. Richard Cherry, chief executive of Countryside’s Partnerships division, said “We are delighted to have been selected by Three Rivers District Council to regenerate central South Oxhey. Our strong focus on working in partnership also extends towards residents and all stakeholders involved in the process.

Countryside and Home Group will deliver firstclass housing for South Oxhey’s local residents as well as help to serve as a catalyst for the revitalisation of the whole neighbourhood.”

Galliford Try’s housebuilding division Linden Homes has acquired Shepherd Homes, the housebuilding division of Shepherd Group.

The deal includes six current sites and five sites in planning, totalling 515 plots. Around 60 Shepherd Homes staff are to transfer to Linden Homes.

The sale is the first disposal by Shepherd Group after its board reviewed the options for its seven main operating businesses.

Last year Shepherd Homes trebled pre-tax profits to £3.5m on 234 completions and turnover of £47m.

Greg Fitzgerald, executive chairman at Galliford Try, said that both Linden Homes and Galliford Try’s Partnerships arm were actively pursuing land opportunities. The division now boasts a record land bank of 15,000 plots. Linden Homes has plots for all its 2016 output, and has secured 75% of the plots it needs for 2017.

MBO for Hillcrest Homes North-west luxury housebuilder Hillcrest Homes has undergone a management buyout backed by Nikal Group. Hillcrest has been “brought under the Nikal umbrella although it will continue to trade as a limited company”.

Michael Kennedy, managing director of Hillcrest Homes, remains at the helm alongside his existing management team.

Hillcrest Homes was established in 1985 as part of Warrington-based construction group Cruden. Kennedy joined in 2002 as sales director, becoming managing director in 2003.

The company builds luxury homes in areas such as Prestbury, Alderley Edge, Hale, Knutsford, Didsbury and Chorlton.

As part of the Nikal Group, Hillcrest “will continue to deliver premium residential schemes but will expand its areas of operation to include regeneration projects and the development of brownfield sites within Manchester city centre, the wider north-west region and other areas of the UK”.

It will also build bespoke private homes and seek joint venture and partner developer

opportunities with private and commercial landowners and investors.

Alan Murphy, who co-founded Nikal in 2003 with Nick Payne, said: “Nick and I have wanted to broaden our development base for some time and the housebuilding sector has been a key target. This is a strategic purchase to take advantage of the shortage of housing in the UK. With cross-party political support, the housing sector is an exciting opportunity for us. We have put in place a strategy for the business that identifies routes for substantial and sustainable growth and expansion, and already have a number of prime development sites and joint venture opportunities in advanced discussions.

Our future together will be very exciting.”

Kennedy said: “Nikal is a dynamic, progressive and forward-thinking company with an outstanding reputation and excellent contacts.

The opportunities and resources afforded Hillcrest from this new association are phenomenal and will allow us to undertake more development and escalate brand awareness on a regional and national scale.”

Confidence in Scottish market continues to grow The Scottish Building Federation says that confidence in the construction sector north of the border has grown for the seventh straight quarter, while a survey from the Scottish Construction Monitor reveals that its “confidence score” increased to plus 29 – up by three points compared to the figure for the last quarter of 2014. Responses are provided by members of the Scottish Building Federation and the report also asked them about their views on what effect the 2015 Construction Design and Management regulations, which affect health and safety regulations on residential building projects, may have.

The CDM rules were implemented on 6 April, and 59% of respondents believe these regulations will have a minor effect whereas 11% of respondents feel they will have a major impact on businesses.

Vaughan Hart, managing director of the Scottish Building Federation, said: “In order to be sustainable, it’s important that the industry’s recovery is suitably balanced across all sectors. CDM 2015 regulations will have important implications for the responsible management of health and safety on domestic projects. That being the case, it’s more important than ever that customers choose a reputable, properly qualified contractor to carry out building works on their home.”

A spokesperson for construction products retailer The Site Book said: “It is reassuring to hear how confidence levels in the Scottish construction industry have continued to rise for a seventh consecutive time. This is a considerable achievement with the economic challenges the UK has faced and hopefully the good feeling carries on throughout 2015.”

showhouse June 2015 |

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HOUSING POLITICS

Sticks & Stones ISABEL HARDMAN looks back on an unpredictable election that saw the country stick Cameron back in number 10 and Clegg and co sink like Ed’s stone

I

f there was one image that sums up the strange general election, one thing we’ll all remember long after the event, it’s that Ed Stone, the huge memorial to a failed Labour campaign that the party’s leader launched days out from the polls opening to show his commitment to his promises. Or perhaps it’ll be Ed Balls, being as gracious as anyone possibly could be after losing his seat in the biggest surprise of a shocking night.

For me, it’ll be the endless line-ups of stonyfaced politicians throughout the night, trying to keep their upper lips stiff as they lost to the SNP, to incumbent MPs they thought they’d beat, or to marauding outsiders. Most of them gave extraordinarily generous speeches. A handful struck rather the wrong tone, but, in the main, election night was as sad and poignant a night as it was unpredictable and exciting.

It was the only time I had any sympathy for a politician trying to keep a lid on things, after a campaign that mostly involved the parties trying to keep a lid on things in the most tiresome way possible.

At least the Ed Stone was an amusing piece of theatre from a political party. The rest of the campaign involved smoke and mirrors: ‘rallies’ that were really just activists who had been bussed in from elsewhere with their T-shirts and placards to a location disclosed only to the media and kept quiet from ‘real people’, and ‘launches’ that just involved the media and the parties’ press teams catching the train together to another part of the country. At the Tory manifesto launch in Swindon, I thought I recognised a couple of the excited ‘young people’ outside the college that we’d been summoned to. I did: I’d spoken at a dinner for young Conservatives in London a few weeks previously, and there, in Swindon, were those young Tories, brought in along with the rest of the campaign paraphernalia, then whisked away again just as quickly.

In the main I stayed away from the official campaign trail. Battle buses don’t tell you much about what’s going on, and indeed though the hacks who followed Nick Clegg around on his battle bus had fun at hedgehog sanctuaries and high ropes courses, they also ended up thinking, like him, that everything was tickety-boo. In fact, no one in the Lib Dems noticed how bad things really were. When the exit poll landed, I asked a party strategist what he thought of it: “Either it’s right, in which case we all missed an elephant wandering around the living room, or it’s wrong, in which case it’s a bit of a scandal of a poll.”

It was wrong, but in the sense that it was too generous: it predicted 10 seats and the Lib Dems ended up with just eight.

But away from the campaign trail, things still didn’t look as bad for Labour and the Lib Dems as they seemed. People seemed rather receptive on the doorstep to the politicians I followed around, and a little more nervous of the Tories.

And then there were the downright rude voters:

really take away from this campaign is my own admiration for some of the quiet public service that some politicians perform. Not all of them, granted.

And the other thing I’ll remember is that fixing the drains doesn’t make a blind bit of difference when the SNP are sweeping across Scotland, or when nationally your party is regarded as just not quite up to it. But the housing problems and the drains – so many problems with drains – and the bus consultations are the bread and butter of politics, the thing that takes up the most time but which garners the fewest column inches.

Looking back, I now wonder how many of those voters who seemed friendly enough on the doorstep just couldn’t quite admit that they were voting Conservative. Perhaps the Tories don’t need to worry about whether someone votes for them through gritted teeth or with joy in their heart, but my suspicion is that you can only use a trick like scaring people to the polls with threats of a Labour-SNP government once.

Next time round, the Tories will need to have inspired people, and chipped away at their ‘nasty party’ image.

The prescription for healing the ‘nasty party’ problem from sensible Tories involves housing, Show House readers will be pleased to learn. It involves solving the housing crisis by building enough homes that young people can afford to own their own property where they can raise their children and feel secure and proud that every brick is paid for with their own salary, not a deposit from kind and fortunately well-off parents. And that involves setting a target for the number of homes that will be built each year, something the Tories have shied away from in the campaign. And that involves a confrontation between ministers and small ‘c’ conservative voters who currently think it acceptable to block new development. You know the score. The Tories know the score. Now they just need to follow the score. sh Isabel Hardman is assistant editor of The Spectator

One MP I know is now on the 5:2 diet after a woman he was trying to canvass stretched out and poked his belly pointedly. He decided to mark her down as undecided one MP I know is now on the 5:2 diet after a woman he was trying to canvass stretched out and poked his belly pointedly. He decided to mark her down as undecided.

On other doorsteps, I was impressed by how active some MPs had been in their constituencies, with voter after voter congratulating them on sorting out some problem that had been troubling them for a while. Politicians aren’t popular, but really, above the Ed Stone and the battle buses and the silly photo opportunities, the one thing I’ll

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COMMENT

Under certain circumstances With a degree of continuity guaranteed with the election of a Conservative government, housebuilders have reason to feel positive about the next few years, but, says STEWART BASELEY, only if particular conditions are met

F

ew predicted the drama and results that propelled David Cameron and the Conservatives back into Number 10, this time without their vanquished former Lib Dem allies.

But as the dust settles on what was a fascinating election campaign, our thoughts turn to what it all means for housebuilders – and what the new government needs to do to deliver on its commitments to increase supply.

During the campaign, housing featured prominently on the agendas of all the main parties, with spokesmen stressing that their plans would deliver more homes than their rivals’.

HBF is of course apolitical and we worked hard to build relations with all parties. Our role is to try to influence the thinking and emerging housing polices of whoever is in power to ensure that any future initiatives or reforms are practical.

I think the worst possible result for our industry would have been a weak coalition, unable to govern effectively, with the prospect of another potentially disruptive election on the horizon.

You only need to see the City’s reaction to the outright Conservative victory in terms of the jump in share prices of housebuilders, estate agents and property companies more generally to appreciate that, from a sector business perspective, what emerged was the ‘safest’ result.

Of course this can be put down in part to some of Labour’s headline policy announcements during the campaign, such as ‘use it or lose it’, rent controls and the proposed mansion tax. But I think the sector’s wider positive reaction was more to do with the certainty provided by a government with a majority – albeit a relatively narrow one – that should enable it to implement housing policy that, in turn, allows us to deliver. The fact that we also have a virtual continuation of the previous regime provides further certainty in terms of the policy agenda.

We worked closely with the Coalition over the past five years, a relationship that helped introduce a number of very positive policies that have, over the past two years, led to a significant increase in housebuilding.

Clearly we would have looked to develop a similar relationship with whichever party or parties that had been elected. But as the recovery continues, what was not required was the

uncertainty caused by a policy ‘revolution’ that could have resulted from a change of government.

This is of course a message we will be taking to the new government, and I was thus extremely pleased when Brandon Lewis (below) contacted me to say he was to continue in his role as housing and planning minister. Meanwhile, the prime minister’s appointment of Greg Clark as the new secretary of state in DCLG is another very encouraging sign. As an architect of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) we found him to be a very good person to work with during his previous spell at the department covering the planning and decentralisation brief.

If we are to continue to increase output in a sustainable way in the coming years, such that we can closer meet the housing needs of the country, we need to nurture and develop the policies put in place in recent years that are starting to bear fruit. Brandon Lewis knows this as it is a message we have been giving him for some time. As the government looks to introduce new policies, such as the Starter Home initiative, the relationship we already have with Lewis will help as we look to develop something workable for government, homebuyers and homebuilders.

He appreciates the reasons behind our thinking and is up to speed with the detail of the policies that impact on our businesses.

Help to Buy is the most significant example of the successful policies introduced during the last parliament. Since its launch just over two years ago it has helped over 50,000 people buy a home.

The confidence that an extension of this certainty of demand gives our industry to invest in people, land and materials cannot be underestimated.

The scheme has been absolutely central to the increases in volume we have seen and any threat to its continuation would undoubtedly have resulted in an immediate slowdown in growth.

Similarly with the planning system. The introduction of the NPPF was a hard-won battle – especially for a Conservative-led administration.

It is now though starting to deliver an increase in the supply of permissioned residential land for the first time in two decades. A hiatus that widespread change to the NPPF would bring – similar to the one caused as it was introduced following the last election – could have totally snuffed out increases in build rates.

However, it is absolutely critical that the time it takes to process a planning application through the system – particularly the period from outline permissions stage to site start – is reduced dramatically. This would help release the 150,000 plots we estimate are stuck in the system awaiting clearance of planning conditions or approval of reserved matters before we can start building them. It needs addressing as a matter of urgency.

We are also calling on new ministers to develop more effective incentives to encourage local authorities to adopt a more positive, supportive attitude to housing supply and the plan-led system; and we need to see the government delivering on previous commitments to increase the release of public land for housing. It is clearly a tough nut to crack, but the rewards for doing so could be considerable. In addition, the new government needs to look at the Community Infrastructure Levy. As implemented, CIL has achieved few of its objectives.

More assistance for smaller builders also needs to be a priority. The number of SME builders has fallen 80% in the past 26 years, and if we are to increase build rate to match demand, quite simply, we need more players on the pitch.

Speeding up the planning system – and requiring local authorities to include a mix of site sizes in their five-year land supplies – and cutting red tape generally would help SMEs in particular. But an effective Builders Finance Fund and further work to encourage custom build also need prioritising.

So it is clear that while the continuity and certainty the election result provides is a positive, there is much to be done. We have, of course, set all this out to the relevant ministers and outlined how we feel they can support us to build more homes. Provided there is a period of economic stability and a policy environment that allows us to, the private sector can deliver the increases the new government desires. sh

showhouse June 2015 |

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First class Whathouse.com editor KEITH OSBORNE heads out to see a number of developer debuts With the general election out of the way, and with a majority government in place, our industry can now get back to the job in hand.

We’ll learn more about how the Tories will fulfil their election housing pledges in the coming months but I’m sure, whatever our political hue, that certainty is far preferable to the prospect of drawn-out coalition horse-trading.

The housebuilding world carries on spinning and I was able to get away from my desk a few times in the last month to take a first-hand look at some developments that, coincidentally, all shared a ‘first time’ theme in their own way.

Just a pork chop’s throw from WhatHouse?’s former HQ above Smithfield Market, Barts Square is the first residential scheme from Helical Bar, better known for its commercial redevelopment projects.

This mixed-use scheme in the shadow of St Bart’s hospital is will retain some historic facades while providing over 200 new apartments – a resi rarity within the tightly controlled borders of the City of London – and a number of new commercial

Barts Square, the first resi scheme from Helical Bar

premises right in the heart of the capital.

Development executive Nikki Gibbard took me around the site and her passion for a project that she has been involved with for a number of years already, without a brick being laid, is very evident.

Off-plan sales have been very strong, with over two-thirds of those already released now reserved.

The marketing suite shows a strong design ethic being applied inside and out across a number of different buildings, with the new and old elements blending very well. It’s an interesting area, bordering the traditional Square Mile and the hipster-infused creative quarter of Clerkenwell, and it seems at this stage that demand has come from all directions.

Onwards to Dartford, and what I was shocked to hear is Barratt’s first development in Kent in its own name. Of course, the Barratt Group has had a substantial presence in the county since 2007, when it acquired Wilson Bowden developments, including Kent-based Ward Homes. Now, the Group is phasing out the Ward name and the land bank is being divided between its Barratt and David Wilson brands.

The site in Dartford is an important one for the town, formerly the site of major employer GlaxoSmithKline, so its fate is being carefully watched. The town is undergoing significant regeneration and despite a setback a few months ago, when Tesco pulled its plans for a large store and new homes, the town centre is being given a welcome injection of cash to bring it up to date.

By the end of this year, Dartford’s busy station with be brought into the Oyster travelcard network, increasing its appeal to commuters.

The show home at Ashlin Quarter, Michael Shwartz Homes' scheme in Aylesford

This part of north Kent is undergoing a wider redevelopment, a process which arguably started with the construction of Ebbsfleet International station and the introduction of Eurostar and High Speed rail services. Bluewater shopping centre in Greenhithe is also a big draw for shoppers within a wide radius and Ebbsfleet has been earmarked for 15,000 new homes and ‘Garden City’ status.

Barratt’s 636 homes at Phoenix Quarter will provide a wide range of property types, superbly demonstrated by two show homes and an additional show apartment that has been incorporated into the marketing suite. Initial sales have been very strong (including the show homes, much to the chagrin of one of my colleagues, who fancied one as an investment property) and it seems the company can’t build it fast enough.

Councillor Avtar Sandhu, the mayor of Dartford, could hardly have been more pleased that the site is being used to provide new homes, including a large number of affordable properties that are in the charge of Hyde New Homes. His praise for Barratt’s vision was matched by the company’s admiration of the council’s attitude to development and planning and it would be a surprise if Barratt wasn’t back in another Dartford site soon.

A week later I was back in Kent, deeper into the Garden of England along the Medway Valley in Aylesford, to catch up with progress at Ashlin Quarter and the Michael Shwartz Group team.

Just a few minutes from the village’s station, this mix of family homes in a pleasing weather-boarded finish is well located and also benefits from an impressive show home, styled by a local designer in close collaboration with the marketing team of Ameeta and Shahleena.

It’s this developer’s first project in the county and the new homes have been a big hit with local people. This historic village – which is also the location for Weston Homes’ refurbishment of Preston Hall – has bags of appeal to families in particular and these three-storey homes in their New England/Kent vernacular style, are just the ticket. A buyer open day just a couple of weeks before my visit had generated a wealth of enquiries, so this housebuilder’s debut in the county has certainly been well received.

With a number of site visits and some big changes to the Whathouse.com site already in the bag for June, it looks like the start of another busy summer. sh

showhouse June 2015 |

21

ONE TO ONE

with

Gary Linton MICHAEL DINEEN meets the managing director of Linton Property Developments, a man taking a shortcut to housebuilding success

H

e’s a young man in a hurry is Gary Linton of Linton Property Developments. And the race began in earnest when his grandfather left him enough money to buy, refurbish and sell a two-bedroom flat in Gloucester Road, London.

He was still a student, swotting like mad for a masters degree while holding down a job with DTZ, when he first experienced this hands-on thrill of property development.

And it was not all youthfully light-hearted fun either: “I bought at near the top of the market and just managed to get the refurbishment finished as the market began to decline. It was cliffhanging. I made a profit, but it taught me how important timing is in this business.”

Disarmingly enthusiastic about life and work, Linton is a quick learner and at the beginning of his career he was basing that learning on a family background in the commercial property market.

In fact, it was this family connection that made him change his mind about what to read at university. His first choice was Economics because that was one of his three A levels.

However, he was already impatient to get on with a life in the world of business, and it was clearly a streak of mature common sense that prompted him to change to a course of Business Studies.

Being busy – either negotiating the details of property deals or dealing with design concepts – is what makes him work very long hours.

I’m emphasising the sense of a fast tempo because Linton is, to paraphrase Philip Marlowe, pushing 30 hard enough to break a wrist. At 29 he is impatient to see what’s round the next corner. He has been running his own business for about six years, and in that brief spell he has clocked up £55m sales.

The post-grad cliffhanger period, while he was soaking up everything DTZ could teach him as fast as they could explain it, produced the first of these sales following rapidly on granddad’s legacy.

22 | June 2015 showhouse

After that Linton had a brief spell in the family firm, dealing exclusively in commercial property, but impatient to be firmly in the homebuilding field he rented a desk in a small consultancy and it was from here that he put together a multi-use scheme in Chelsea based on his acquisition of a disused pub, the Fulham Tup, in Fulham Road.

Linton describes this as his breakthrough project, a mixed use of the former pub involving a ground floor shop for Sainsbury’s and six flats, some of them on two levels.

The raw material, the bricks and mortar, of this scheme were constructed in 1865, a purposebuilt pub then called the Redcliffe Arms in rural Chelsea. Like many pubs it has had name changes and makeovers, but the façade has remained as it was 150 years ago.

He is impatient to see what’s around the next corner. He’s been running his own business for six years and has already clocked up £55m in sales It’s the interior that has undergone a radical design enhancement. This is thanks largely to Gemma Gordon-Duff, whose expanding design consultancy is now in partnership with Linton’s outfit and trading as Gordon-Duff and Linton.

After a mere five years operating at what seemed to me to be breakneck speed as Linton Property Developments, Linton is preoccupied with a new flagship operation, larger and more ambitious than the elegant Chelsea scheme. It involves the transformation of a Victorian factory

building into a mixed-use enterprise in the more modest surroundings of Kentish Town – now, he believes, a rapidly improving residential area of London.

Here Linton’s plans involve a ground floor with commercial use while the rest of the building is devoted to residential units, no fewer than 57 of them, apartments on four floors, topped by seven penthouses.

All this is in progress while Linton, the young man in a hurry, is beginning delicate negotiations with planners to demolish some unpleasant 1960s housing in north London before embarking on his first major new build scheme.

Linton is optimistic about the progress of this planning application because the planning officers would be very pleased if someone with good taste did remove the eye-offending 1960s houses and replace them with more elegant dwellings.

He would not reveal where this latest land acquisition is located until his plans have been approved, but when they are the site will be the company’s largest undertaking to date.

Meanwhile, though, Linton’s five-year plan is to grow what he sees as the very important interior design company’s operations, continue to develop houses in batches of between 10 and 60 units and also to pursue joint ventures.

He also wants to expand Linton Property Development’s commercial portfolio, to develop a property management wing.

Linton enjoys talking to many people.

He’s an ardent networker. His days are long and filled with potential. And it all seemed happier, altogether much brighter, he told me, after pre-election political confusions and uncertainties were cleanly erased by David Cameron’s achievement of regaining a one-party government.

It all seemed to me like a heavy programme of very hard work, but he’s old enough at 29 to know he’s young enough to handle it. sh

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NEW HOMES AGENTS

Special Agent

by Bridget Cordy

This month: JAMIE LESTER Head of Haus Haus Properties, London Walking into a branch of Haus Properties is unlike visiting any ordinary agency. The focal point is a big kitchen table with a coffee machine nearby and not a suit in sight. “I wanted to remove barriers so we have a warm, homely feel,” says founder Jamie Lester. “I’m fanatical that people are welcomed immediately with a smile so they want to do business with us.”

Lester has always had an enthusiasm for property from his Saturday job in an estate agents at the age of 14, but it wasn’t until he’d appeared on The Apprentice that Haus Properties took shape.

“I’d been looking for a new direction when I saw Lord Sugar barking down the television at me,” recalls Lester who was selected from among 60,000 applications for the 2010 series. After three months of filming he took third place. “It was really, really hard but I learnt two things: number one, how to deal with moronic individuals; and, number two, it’s never anyone else’s fault apart from your own.”

By then he was 29 and married with a baby on the way, but when he was offered the opportunity to run an estate agency by a London businessman who had spotted him on television, Lester turned it down

after deciding the existing firm was ‘nothing special’. The pair finally came to an agreement that gave Lester the chance to make more impact.

The first thing he did was to close the agency down.

“I wanted Haus to be fresh and new so the only thing we kept was the database. The world just didn’t need another estate agent in Fulham or Chiswick. They all look basically the same whatever end of the market they handle.

“Apple retail changed the world of computer buying with young, enthusiastic and well-trained staff,” he enthuses. “Look at Innocent drinks; it’s just apple juice but it’s how they communicate with their customers that makes them different. I wanted people to say ‘I love your brand’.”

Lester set out to create a company that people would also be proud to work for. “We have some of the most amazing people to make a difference to the industry and I really enjoy mentoring everyone. We’re friendly, cool, nice people you just want to do business with and the team are all hungry, focused and deliver results.

We still work to targets but not for whipping. Everyone has gone through a detailed interview process with me, the directors and the team,

so by the time they start, they’re already part of the team.”

Adding to its Fulham and Chiswick branches, Haus Properties has just opened a third office in Askew Road, Shepherds Bush, where the 2,000ft² premises features a swing and a tunnel of leaves. Naturally, it launched with a ‘Haus Party’ hosting some 120 guests including developers, clients and customers, entertained by a DJ. “We’ve already had developer meetings at our new office. New homes specifically have given us some amazing business, from Bellway to a housebuilder doing 50 properties a year,” says Lester, who handles advice and strategy while local offices handle sales. “I really enjoy working with developers at planning stages and we have sites going live in the next six weeks that we’ve been working on for two or three years.

“With new developments, I’m constantly up against the corporations. My developers have a business plan to meet so they expect something strong from us as an agent and we’re always strong performers.”

Haus Properties has also introduced ‘Open Book’, whereby clients can go online to read all the notes for their properties including details of viewings and feedback.

“It’s a very open approach where they’re seeing what we’re seeing, including the portals’ journals. But it’s not replacing our communication of a quick text message after viewings or what the next step might be in marketing.”

His 18 years of property experience includes both independent agency

and corporate agency at Countrywide before he left Essex for London.

Lester then spent three years in estate agency recruitment with Rob Montalto, still a mentor of his.

“In hindsight, recruitment was the best thing I did. It means I know my competitors, why people join or leave each firm, and I still kept in the estate agency journey.”

At 20 he bought and renovated his first flat, which he rented back to the council before buying another. Shortly afterwards he met Julie who became his wife, and they moved to Fulham and they now have two young children and a dog.

Keen to return from recruitment to agency, Lester joined Andrew Reeves, travelling to Spain and Cyprus selling overseas developments to UK buyers. After selling his two London properties, he bought a Porsche, built a website and started his own property agency, Lester International, from scratch, selling new homes overseas.

“Then the tap turned off with the credit crunch and every phone call was a challenge. Fortunately, we saw every sale through to the last completion. It was such a difficult time but you’ve got to be fully accountable.”

No stranger to a challenge, Lester is now trying to change how people view estate agency.

“I see Haus Properties as a massive opportunity,” he says. “Our enthusiasm and vision is infectious.

I’m still only 34. From 6am until whatever time I finish, I wouldn’t change it for the world.” sh

showhouse June 2015 |

25

Agency News

Beresfords widens apprenticeship scheme Beresfords is expanding its successful apprenticeship scheme, creating more opportunities to join the company this year. Beresfords has been offering the government-backed scheme since 2010, training apprentices for 12 months after which they are awarded an NVQ Level 2 as well as a Certificate and Diploma in either Residential Property or Residential Property Lettings & Management and a full-time employment contract.

Brandon Crouchman (right) was put off university by the tuition fees and chose a Beresfords’ apprenticeship instead. “The apprenticeship scheme was particularly appealing because it offered me the freedom to explore

a variety of roles. You can’t beat the life experience training schemes provide, and they also allow you to get ahead of the game with experience on the job.”

Paul Beresford, managing director and chairman of Beresfords, added: “We have a very clear expansion strategy and part of being able to achieve this is hiring the right staff. Our apprenticeship scheme has been hugely successful in attracting bright, young, talented people to the profession who would have previously never thought of choosing estate agency as a career.

We are delighted to be expanding the programme this year and currently have three roles available across the company.”

Hamptons acquires Greene & Co London estate agency Greene & Co has been acquired

by Hamptons International, part of Countrywide PLC. The agency has seven offices across the capital providing sales, lettings, financial services, new homes and investments services. The acquisition also takes in sister company Urban Spaces, which specialises in residential loft spaces across London.

David W Pollock steps down as managing director after 20 years at the helm.

Phil Tennant (left), COO of Hamptons International, said: “Greene & Co represents one of London’s most successful estate agency brands, with a clear identity and strong market share. The organisation provides a fantastic geographic fit, with strong offices in key

London locations that will provide a natural link with Hamptons offices in north and central London.”

Meanwhile, Hamptons International has been appointed as the sole lettings agent for two private rented schemes in the capital.

The Hyde Group has instructed the agency on its Spark Apartments scheme, which will provide 54 oneand two-bedroom apartments in New Cross, offered on a furnished and unfurnished basis. The units will be fully managed by Hamptons International’s residential portfolio management team.

The second scheme is for canalside apartments at City Wharf, Islington by A2Dominion. The 53 apartments available for private rental form part of a larger scheme of private sales that were recently launched through Hamptons’s residential development and investment team.

PSL launches online part-exchange service The land, new homes and investment business of spicerhaart’s North Region has moved to new premises in Chapeltown, Sheffield, along with its investment arm, Invest in New, and its National Assisted Move and Part Exchange Centre team. The move is part of wider plans to expand this sector of the Group’s business.

With improved facilities for client meetings and team training, the business centre premises will also be housing an expanding team following a recruitment drive for the Assisted Move/PX Centre, which provides a full range of management services for this sector.

The team, led by national manager for AM/PX, Jan Biggens, is planning to significantly expand its existing client base of regional and national housebuilders.

“We are already a leading player in the ‘assisted’ sector but are in the process of recruiting a further three negotiators to cover increased volumes of business from existing clients, as well as new accounts already in the pipeline or identified,” said Biggens.

26| June 2015 showhouse

A new service has been launched by part-exchange specialist PSL that will offer PX properties out to a panel of property traders and investors via ComparethePX.com.

Housebuilders can upload details of a potential part exchange, which PSL Homes will then assess and value before it is offered on ComparethePX.com either on the basis of ‘first bid wins’ or a ‘best bid wins’. The successful bidder is charged a fee for the service, which is free to housebuilders.

“This new initiative turns our business on its head by creating a marketplace for PX properties,” said Edward Seyfried, director at PSL Homes.

“All users of the site agree to standard terms and conditions of business so there should be no nasty surprises.

“Ultimately, builders want value and traders want deal flow. ComparethePX provides both.”

Agency News

Three Grade II listed townhouses near Hyde Park are being offered by Colliers International with a price tag of £25m. The three five-storey residential properties come to the open market as a single development opportunity with detailed planning permission for 15 apartments.

“It is not every day you come across a property like this,” said Andrew White, Colliers International residential associate director.

“It’s an exciting opportunity for a redevelopment of a period building within Zone One, which will shortly benefit from a wider regeneration programme. We know the scheme is quite a gem, which is why we are launching it both within the UK and selected international markets.”

White underlined the value of the property, revealing that nearby developments, Lenister Inn and The Lancasters, achieved values of £2,255 per square foot and £3,162 per square foot respectively.

In response to the growth of private rented sector investment, JLL has developed a specialist PRS letting and management service combining letting, assured shorthold tenancy management and block management.

As a result, JLL has been appointed by Aberdeen Asset Management as managing agent and letting agent of One Eighty, a PRS scheme of 166 units in a 26-storey tower overlooking the Olympic Park in Stratford.

JLL’s on-site team will include 24-hour concierge and fulltime cleaners, and additional services planned include cold store for food deliveries, laundry service and private function room for hire.

“This is a significant step forward in the PRS cycle, which enables us to offer our clients a one-stop shop for PRS investment,” said residential director at JLL, Sam Winnard. “With full management of the scheme JLL has total oversight of the operational expenditure, and working with Aberdeen Asset Management has already been able to provide cost reductions through the benefit of procurement agreements with suppliers.”

After nearly 38 years in the industry, all spent at one company, Stuart Flavell has retired from his position as CEO of Connells Residential.

His career started in the 1970s with an agency subsequently acquired by Connells in 1987, where he rose through the ranks to become chief executive of Connells Residential in 2008. Under his leadership Connells has doubled the size of its mortgage services, acquired Burchell Edwards and expanded lettings from six branches in 2008 to what will be 139 by the end of this year.

David Plumtree, Connells Group Estate Agency chief executive, now takes direct responsibility of Connells Residential.

Stephen Shipperley, Connells Group executive chairman, said of Flavell’s retirement: “Stuart has been a strong leader, managing the company through challenging times and market transitions. We are grateful for his many contributions to the company over almost 38 years and his distinguished tenure as chief executive. We wish him a very long, healthy and happy retirement.”

Savills to strengthen rural business with acquisition of Smiths Gore Savills has announced the proposed acquisition of Smiths Gore, the rural and residential property services agency that specialises in the management of rural property for private clients, institutions and the public sector.

Smiths Gore has 532 staff across its 31 UK offices and 14 estate offices, all of whom will transfer into Savills rural energy and projects (REP) division or its country residential agency business.

Smiths Gore senior partner Andrew Harle, who will join the Savills UK Board, said: “Merging with

L-R Philip Gready (Savills), Mark Ridley (CEO Savills) and Andrew Harle (Smiths Gore)

Savills is entirely consistent with our objectives of enhancing our offering in the rural market and developing our range of complementary agency and consultancy services.”

Philip Gready, executive director of Savills UK, said: “Founded on a rural management business, both Savills and Smiths Gore have similar roots at the heart of our businesses. Our existing clients will reap the benefits of specialist knowledge of the sector, a wider talent pool, our investment in training, systems and research, and access to a full range of services.”

Bridget Cordy can be contacted at bridgetcordy@live.co.uk showhouse June 2015 |

27

NEW BUILD INDEX

LSL New Build Index – powered by e.surv Chartered Surveyors Despite recent encouraging news that the number of homes built over the last 12 months was at its highest level since the end of 2009, house prices have continued to rise, LSL Land & New Homes reports, as demand continues to outstrip supply.

Shaun Peart, managing director for LSL Land and New Homes comments: “In the year to the end of April 2015 the year-on-year growth in new build prices is 7.3% – slightly up on last month’s figure and nearly double last year’s figure.

“For the third month in a row, however, growth in Greater London new build prices is slowing, with the main growth area now being in the Southern regions (based on a line from the Wash to the Humber and excluding Greater London), which, at 6.6%, is more than three times the figure of April 2014. Growth in the Northern regions has, in contrast, tailed off over the past two months.

“In terms of the future, many believe that the combination of changes in the pension system, continuing low interest rates and greater political certainty following the election will have a positive impact on the housing market. Add this to talks of a Northern Powerhouse and the continuation of government schemes to help buyers of new property, it also appears to be good news for the new build market, in particular.”

However, with the closure of the Help to Buy scheme in Scotland, not all areas of the country may benefit from the stability. Peart questions the potential impact on the Scottish market, while Keith Osborne, editor of Whathouse.com, says that the Scottish government “has a big decision to make regarding the future of the scheme” adding that “it would be a brave one to leave the market suddenly without some support”.

Osborne agrees that a period of stability should follow the unpredictable election but warns of rising prices locking out potential purchasers. “The outcome of the election will provide stability for the market nationwide over the next few months, which will be welcome for everyone,” says Osborne. “Some agents, particularly in central London, have been gleefully predicting a surge in prices in certain micro-markets as a result. While these surges might be good news for homeowners – and the agents themselves – they will be less avidly welcomed by homebuyers, particularly those trying to get on the property ladder.”

Peart adds: “Affordability, of course, will be a contributing factor to future house price growth and, as our table illustrates, there are vast differences across the country.

“The table shows the weighted average price of a typical 70ft² (two bed) new build property in each region of the country (the weighting reflects the proportions of terraced to flats being built) divided by the average full-time earnings in each region to get to a house price to earnings ratio.

“Yet again it appears that new build property in the East Midlands and the North East – as well as Yorkshire and the Humber – are more affordable to buyers, with Greater London setting itself apart from the rest of the country. How this will change over the course of the next few months will be interesting to see but, for now, it is hoped that the new government will support the industry in continuing to meet the clear demand there is for new builds and, as part of this, make new builds affordable for all – wherever in the country they may be.” sh

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Data sources: LSL New Build House Price Index ONS, EARN05 – Average weekly gross earnings of full time employees, by region.

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SUPPLY CHAIN

with

David Murphy GEORGE SELL talks to the managing director of Modelworks Media about building a successful company and the shape of things to come for architectural presentation

David Murphy, managing director of Modelworks Media began his professional career as an architect: “I studied in Dublin and qualified in 1978, and then worked for various practices for the next five years, most notably in the US for a firm called Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates – Kevin Roche is a Pritzker Prizewinning architect of some note.

“It was there that I really got into architectural models and the whole area of presentation of architecture through visual aids, in particular photography and models. In those days, which pre-dated the digital revolution, we were working with scale models, photographing the models, then dropping in background skies and site photography, all manually.

That firm would present all of its schemes to clients with slides of what the scheme would look like, and had a huge studio purely dedicated to architectural

L

presentation. I was heavily involved in that part of the business while I was there.”

Murphy was keen to apply his new-found knowledge on returning home to Ireland: “I came back to Dublin and worked for a couple of practices there, during which time I specialised more and more in architectural presentation. I set up my own practice in model building and architectural photography in 1984. That grew from mostly model making and photography in the early years, then we got in to filming of models and set up a film studio.

We were one of the first to offer what’s currently called ‘verified view’ work – photomontage work, which involves blending in a photograph of the proposed building into a site photograph to show what it will look like when it’s built. At the moment it’s used a huge amount in the planning process.

“As time moved on we moved into all the other areas of architectural presentation – we were early adopters of CNC computer-aided cutting machinery for model making. Now it has moved on to laser cutting or 3D printing – and were one of the earliest to embrace the digital revolution.

“Around 20 years ago we started in CGI work. If I’m honest, when it started we thought 3D models would eventually be a thing of the past so we diversified into CGI. Happily, scale models are as much in demand now as they ever were. In fact, when people ask me what the digital revolution has done for our business I tell them it’s removed the need for fancy photographs of scale models, and our models have become very interactive, using all sorts of digital interfaces. The models themselves are essentially made of the same materials, they’re painted in the same way, but we use laser cutters, which allow us to add a lot of fine detail. So apart from the interactivity they haven’t changed much in 30-odd years.”

The name of Murphy’s company has changed over the years to reflect its evolution. “It began as David Murphy Model Makers in 1984. As we got bigger we became Modelworks Ltd in the early 1990s. In more recent years, as we moved in to more multimedia products four years ago we adopted the name Modelworks Media – it’s been a natural evolution.

We have offices in London and Dublin – we’ve always done work in London, mainly for developers

showhouse June 2015 |

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SUPPLY CHAIN

with Irish links – and then when the property market crashed in 2008 we decided to expand and offer our services to markets such as the Middle East, UK and Scandinavia. In 2011 we took a big stand at MIPIM in Cannes, and we got some interesting work in these new markets as a result.

“The London studio formally opened three years ago and has gone from strength to strength since then. In London we have around 30 employees – 12 in the model-making studio, 13 in the CGI studio and five in the interactive studio. There is quite a bit of overlap between them on projects. We have a huge variety of clients. We’re working in London with most of the major residential developers, on high-profile London schemes by the likes of Ballymore, Taylor Wimpey and the Berkeley Group. Outside of London we’re working on a variety of housing schemes.”

One of the interesting facets of Murphy’s business is the contrast between the fast-evolving world of computer-generated images and animation, and the traditional skills involved in model making. He says: “Model making is still a craft industry. Although the small parts are now made with a laser cutter or a 3D printer, they still have to be assembled, glued together and painted by hand. Our model makers are primarily crafts people – we pride ourselves on the fact that they all know about architecture, whether they learn it from us through the job or whether they are architects themselves. In fact, we have five architects now employed as model makers. I don’t know if that’s a reflection on employment prospects for architects! It’s an interesting contrast with the digital and CGI side, which is all done by people sitting in front of screens, although we do like to get them out on-site too, getting to know the project they’re working on.”

Being at the cutting edge of marketing means always trying to get a glance over the horizon at what might be coming next. Murphy says: “We are always looking for new and creative ways to do our job, and our high-profile clients are always pressuring us to do something new and innovative.

They want to be at the head of the posse in terms of competition. So we like developing new things and keeping an eye on what’s out there.”

Murphy picks out two technologies that he thinks will have a big effect on property marketing: “Augmented reality is finally becoming a useful tool, for everything from marketing housing schemes to

32| June 2015 showhouse

getting planning permission. Up until now it has been a bit of a gimmick. However, we are developing an app at the moment that really is a useful tool for developers. We’re talking with clients about using it for planning applications – you can literally stand at strategic points looking at a prospective site, hold up a tablet, press a button and you will see what’s being proposed. The natural evolution of verified views photography is not just to have a static photograph in your hand but to be able to hold up a tablet or a smartphone and be able to see a moving image in real time.”

The other technology is 3D printing. Murphy says: “It has some huge claims made for it – there is still hype surrounding it. But in model making it is very useful. For example we recently did some work for the Battersea Power Station development. One of the buildings was designed by Foster & Partners, the other was designed by Frank Gehry. The model for the Foster scheme was all cut out from flat material with a laser cutter and then assembled.

The Frank Gehry scheme, of course, was an extremely interesting but complex shape with multiple curves – nothing was flat. So we cut all the parts out with a 3D printer. It would never have made economic sense to cut the Foster model with a 3D printer, but the Gehry model had shapes that just couldn’t be done with a laser cutter.”

Murphy is optimistic for the housing sector’s future, and that of Modelworks Media, but tempers his enthusiasm with a dose of realism acquired by surviving through more than one recession: “We’re always thinking of things we can do to make our work more interesting and more attractive to developers. There is a lot of competition between developers, which is very good news for us. It’s an international market with Middle Eastern and Asian buyers investing in European cities. Much of our work goes overseas. On a typical scheme, it will be marketed in London, and overseas simultaneously, and the overseas element will travel – it will go from Singapore to Hong Kong, to Kuala Lumpur, and on to China. Happily, we are very busy. Now, this is the property market and I’ve been in this business for nearly 40 years, and property always goes up and down. We are concentrating on diversifying into other geographical markets, so we are not reliant on just one or two markets. But we anticipate being very busy for the next few years.” sh

If you would like to feature in Supply Chain, please contact George Sell at georgesell@me.com, with a brief description of your company and the name of the potential interviewee

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UTILITIES

Connect

FOUR

Maple House, Emerald Gardens, North West Village in Wembley Park

Forget the constraints of the Monopoly board; for today’s utilities there’s a new game in town, discovers GINETTA VEDRICKAS showhouse June 2015 |

37

UTILITIES right throughout the build process to ensure connectivity at the exact point needed. The company is on the Connectivity Advisory Group, set up by Boris Johnson, to redress the capital’s ‘white spots’. “There is an infrastructure problem,” Walker admits.

“There are large tracts of land which have no broadband but we’re part of the solution.”

And some parts of London are increasingly well connected. Wembley may be synonymous with the beautiful game but it’s fast becoming known as the UK’s broadband capital.

At Quintain’s Wembley Park, 475 homes have upload and download speeds of up to 1Gbps – making digital communication, downloading web pages and HD films almost instantaneous and creating the fastest domestically connected new homes in the UK. From a neglected landscape, the area now attracts high-tech businesses and financial companies dealing in large volumes of data that want to take advantage of fast speeds and cheaper rents.

Velocity1 is behind the dedicated high-speed broadband, offering faster speeds over greater distances and symmetrical services, same speed upload and download, through fibre optic solutions. Velocity1’s Phillip Clapperton says Wembley Park is ideal for tech companies but there are major benefits domestically. “How many homes in the UK can get 1Gb broadband?” Clapperton asks.

Cabling for superfast connections is laid as part of the infrastructure at the 5,000 homes at Wembley Park, built in

TV and broadband services are now central to modern living, falling into the essential rather than desirable category

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Utilities aren’t the sexiest of subjects, but you can’t deny that they are a crucial part of the housebuilding jigsaw. Today’s housebuilders want more than ever from providers, whose products and services need to meet the demands of our fast-paced industry. Gone are the days when utilities were confined to ‘the essential services’ of gas, electricity and water; communications are up there as the fourth utility and a vital amenity in today’s new homes.

Market leader Hyperoptic provides internet for broadband and telephony and the company has been a game changer in ensuring developments have the fastest broadband speeds and services. But head of property David Walker says it is buyers – not housebuilders – who are driving demand. “They move in and want to order a pizza. With no mobile signal they see a BT socket but it can be up to eight weeks before they get a landline. We provide connectivity on moving-in day.”

Recent media reports revealed some large London developments where protesting residents have suffered months without any internet. “They’re angry,” says Walker, who’s currently talking to developers hoping to avert further PR disasters. “But we could have fixed it for them and we still can.”

And getting the message across to housebuilders is key. Hyperoptic’s marketing strategy – new homes form a major chunk of business – relies on a highly responsive service.

Walker’s team work individually with developers from the planning stage

TOP LEFT St George is working in partnership with Sky TOP David Walker, head of property, Hyperoptic ABOVE Bellway Homes’ Kings Mead in Reading; GTC will provide gas, electricity and fibre-to-the-home infrastructure networks at the 192-unit site right from moving-in day LEFT Maple House, Emerald Gardens, North West Village in Wembley Park

38| June 2015 showhouse

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UTILITIES And it may also be an incentive to rent. Sky is working with Get Living London at East Village, on the site of the former 2012 Athletes’ Village, which won ‘Best New Place to Live’ at the London Planning Awards. All properties come ‘Sky-ready’ with a communal TV system for instant Sky access. Residents receive discounted subscriptions plus free high-speed broadband and phone services from Hyperoptic. Get Living London’s chief executive, Derek Gorman, believes the ready-to-go technology is crucial for today’s renters. “With great savings on Sky TV and free high-speed broadband with Hyperoptic, East Village is the perfect new neighbourhood for techsavvy renters.”

Last year, GTC and Sky reached an agreement to team up to provide customers on GTC’s new-build fibre optic networks so that they can benefit from a package of premium TV services, fixed-line home phone and broadband speeds of up to 300Mbps.

At Bellway Homes’ Kings Mead in Reading, GTC will provide gas, electricity and fibre-to-the-home infrastructure networks at the 192-unit site right from moving-in day. Bellway’s area sales manager, Claire McGoldrick, says: “The provision of utilities such as gas and electricity, along with premium broadband and TV services,

L

as a basic utility like, water, electricity or gas. Velocity1’s Wembley HQ means engineers can be on-site in 30 minutes if there’s a problem. James Saunders, Quintain’s chief operating officer, says: “From the outset we built a world-class fibre optic network into the infrastructure. It’s fast becoming an essential utility for a wide range of businesses and residents. It powers high-speed office internet, free Wi-Fi across the site, broadband for our growing student population and even connectivity for mass online gaming events at the SSE Arena.”

TV and broadband services are now central to modern living, falling into the essential rather than desirable category says Paul Dickinson, director of Sky Homes: “Forward-thinking developers are keen to invest in the latest technology to ensure their properties keep pace with current and future demands in order to meet these new customer expectations.”

Dickinson believes the way forward is to work with housebuilders from the planning stages through to move-in date. “We ensure that installation is hassle-free, and that residents can fully enjoy their new home from day one. In addition, the partnership discounts we can offer are attractive to potential residents and provide an added incentive to buy,” he adds.

The way forward is to work with housebuilders from the planning stages through to move-in date. “We ensure that installation is hassle-free, and that residents can fully enjoy their new home from day one. In addition, the partnership discounts we can offer are attractive to potential residents and provide an added incentive to buy,” TOP LEFT Paul Dickinson, director of Sky Homes TOP James Saunders, Quintain’s chief operating officer THIS PIC: Sky is working with Get Living London at East Village

showhouse June 2015 |

41

UTILITIES THIS PIC Metropolitan at GMVL BELOW LEFT Andrew Robinson, GTC commercial operations director BELOW E.ON’s head of community energy, Jeremy Bungey

plays an essential role in creating a high standard of modern living.”

Set up in 1995, GTC recently celebrated 20 years in the business.

Originally a gas transportation company, today it is a market-leading independent utilities infrastructure provider, having strengthened and broadened its offering to meet market developments and demand.

Commercial operations director Andrew Robinson hopes the partnership gives UK housebuilders confidence that the service will stand the test of time. “GTC has led the way in providing new gas and electricity networks to housebuilders for many years and this agreement affirms our commitment to providing new telecommunications networks,” he adds.

St George is also working in partnership with Sky to offer residents free premium TV and broadband services at several developments across the capital. Buyers get a year’s free subscription to Sky TV and access to high-speed broadband.

It’s not all about telecommunications; traditional utilities (water and energy), and variants thereof, must also be supplied. Metropolitan and E.ON have been selected to provide the district heating system powering the next phase of the Greenwich Millennium Village (GMVL) development. The Metropolitan energy and utility infrastructure will be supplied by a new energy centre owned and operated by E.ON, which will serve

42| June 2015 showhouse

1,743 new houses to be built over the next eight years. Metropolitan already provides electricity, water, sewerage and fibre networks but the district heat network will help GMVL to achieve carbon-reduction compliance, now a key planning requirement.

Metropolitan will be a single partner, delivering a complete site multi-utility package with site connections to the upstream utility grids, a package which includes one of the UK’s fastest broadband networks. John Marsh, Metropolitan’s director, sees growing

interest in heat networks for new developments to help deliver the 2016 zero-carbon target. “It is exciting when we integrate the heat network with all of the utility networks to deliver a onestop-shop,” he says.

E.ON’s head of community energy, Jeremy Bungey, says energy efficiency is being built into the very foundations at GMVL. “Through our on-site energy centre and the district heating network, we’ll be able to deliver reliable, lowcarbon heating to customers for years to come.” sh

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SUSTAINABILITY NEWS edited by George Sell (georgesell@mac.com)

Bourne appointed energy efficiency minister after post-election reshuffle Conservative life peer Nicholas Bourne has been appointed energy efficiency minister at the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC). A former leader of the Welsh Conservative Party, he has been made parliamentary under secretary of state jointly for the department and for the Wales Office.

His responsibilities as minister at DECC include the Green Deal and the energy company obligation (ECO) within the energy-efficiency and fuel-poverty policy brief. He is also responsible for the Renewable Heat Incentive, climate science and innovation, as well as supporting secretary of state Amber Rudd on matters involving international climate change.

Bourne was leader of the opposition in the Welsh Assembly between 2007 and 2011, and was made a life peer in September 2013, taking the title Baron Bourne of Aberystwyth.

Energy and climate change secretary Amber Rudd’s post has been confirmed – she also served as the minister for energy and climate change in the previous coalition government.

Julie Hirigoyen, chief executive at the UK Green Building

Council, said: “Through her previous role as climate change minister, Amber Rudd clearly demonstrated that she understands the business case for energy efficiency and the low-carbon economy, and has a strong commitment to tackling climate change.

Her appointment is important as it not only represents much-needed continuity between the previous and new regimes on environmental issues, but hopefully indicates the direction of travel of this Conservative government on the green economy and climate change. We look forward to continuing our close collaboration with her.”

Salix Homes wins Energy Efficiency Best Practice Award Salix Homes, a Salford-based RSL with 8,500 homes, has won an Energy Efficiency Best Practice Award. The awards are organised by UK fuel poverty charity National Energy Action (NEA), and British Gas, and “celebrate and recognise projects which help communities save energy by insulating their homes and learning about energy waste; as well as those which offer training in the community, free home energy checks and support for people in fuel poverty”.

Luke Smith, energy and sustainability manager at Salix Homes, said: “Tackling fuel poverty is a priority for Salix Homes and our successful energy-saving initiatives have helped our tenants save thousands of pounds on their fuel bills. We have implemented a number of energy projects, including supporting tenants to switch

energy suppliers and providing advice and warmth packs to our elderly tenants during the winter months, so we are thrilled to win this award and be recognised for our efforts on a national scale.”

The awards are part of the Community Action Partnership, a national programme delivered by NEA and British Gas in partnership with local authorities. Maria Wardrobe, director of external affairs at NEA, said “Improving the energy efficiency of the homes we live in so that people do not have to use as much energy is the only sustainable way to make energy bills affordable. I’m delighted that Salix Homes has won an Energy Efficiency Best Practice award and would like to thank British Gas for supporting the awards as part of the wider Community Action Partnership.”

Solar panels top RSL sustainability measures A recent report from the NHBC Foundation shows that solar panels are the most widely installed sustainable technology by housing associations.

The report, called Sustainable technologies – the experience of housing associations, says the social housing sector has been at the forefront of the adoption of energy-efficiency technologies and water-saving features as it has generally been building new homes to higher levels of the Code for Sustainable Homes than private developers.

The research found that almost two thirds of housing associations surveyed said they had experience of at least one type of sustainable technology. Asked whether they would use the technologies again, the most popular option is solar PV (75%), while between 50% and 60% of RSLs say that they would expect to use MVHR (mechanical ventilation and heat recovery) and solar thermal hot water in the future.

Water-saving technologies such as lowflush toilets and low-flow taps and showers are becoming standard specification in new homes; around 75% of housing associations expect to install these in the future.

On the negative side, ground source heat pumps, exhaust air heat pumps, grey-water recycling and rainwater harvesting delivered the lowest levels of satisfaction, with at least one third of RSLs saying they would avoid these products in future.

Two-thirds of housing associations said the main reason for choosing which specific technology to install was the upfront cost of installation, while maintenance costs were also high on the priority list.

Ease of resident use was cited as an important factor by half of respondents, while just 19% considered the technology’s payback term to be a key influencing factor. Two-thirds of housing associations experienced installation problems due to a lack of skilled or experienced trades, but 81% felt that residents had benefited from reduced energy bills.

Neil Smith, head of research and innovation at NHBC, said: “Much progress has been made by the housebuilding industry to address environmental issues, particularly in relation to improving energy and water efficiency. The social housing sector has led the way in the use of sustainable technologies. Because of their ownership and management of significant portfolios of high-Code-level sustainable homes, housing associations have been in a position to gain experience of the installation, performance and resident satisfaction with the various technologies.

This research is aimed at helping the wider housebuilding industry and others to make better-informed choices.”

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SUSTAINABILITY NEWS

“Flood-resistant” homes completed in Boston Waterloo Housing Trust has taken delivery of the first of 41 homes from building firm D Brown Building Contractors Ltd, which have been built to “a new floodresistant design”.

The homes are designed specifically for high-risk flood areas and have no living accommodation on the ground floor.

They are built with timber frames to Level 3 of the Code for Sustainable Homes. Boston and surrounding east coast areas were badly affected by flooding in December 2013.

Peter Pitt, senior contracts manager for D Brown, said: “With staggered, pitched roofing, Juliet balconies and garages with doors and metal gates, the development

looks very attractive. We have designed the homes to have no living space on the ground floor due to the flooding issues associated with Boston and the surrounding low-lying area. This is the biggest housing site we have undertaken to date – we started in July 2014 and needed to have first phase complete for the end of March.”

Christine Turner, project manager for Waterloo Housing Group, said: “We are delighted that the first phase of this exciting development was completed on schedule. The buildings have been finished to a very high standard by D Brown and the design gives our residents both flexibility and peace of mind.”

Peter Pitt, senior contracts manager for D. Brown, handing over the first keys for the Blue Street development in Boston to Christine Turner of Waterloo Housing Group

Energy efficiency is a low priority in house buying decision says Keepmoat Recent research from construction and regeneration company Keepmoat says that just one in 10 people consider the energy-efficiency rating of a property important when moving house.

The independent poll of more than 2,000 adults found that factors considered more important than a good energy-efficiency rating were being close to local amenities (35.9%) parking (30%), good transport links (35.9%) and green space (26%). The only factor on the poll considered less important was investment potential (10%).

Nigel Banks, sustainability director at Keepmoat, said: “For many households, energy bills are one of the biggest expenses and understanding how much energy a new house or flat will use, as well as what they can do to reduce these bills, can go a long way to reducing their outgoings.

“However, the results of our survey clearly show many people are not prioritising the energy efficiency rating of a property when moving home and this could well be a decision they regret when they get their first winter energy bills. People should try to consider the total cost of living in home, including mortgage repayments or rents as well as bills. Buying a new home with a leading housebuilder such as Keepmoat can also mean a huge reduction in household bills – they are generally six times more energy efficient than older homes – and living in a new home can reduce gas and electricity bills by more than £500 per year.”

Havebury to install solar PV in 2,000 Suffolk homes Suffolk RSL Havebury Housing Partnership has launched a solar photovoltaic panel programme that could cut energy bills for tenants in up to 2,000 of its homes.

The programme is a partnership between Havebury, Macquarie Lending and Keepmoat.

Roll-out of the first phase of 622 potential installations is under way, fully funded by Macquarie Lending.

Havebury operations director Philip Sullivan said: “This is a very exciting initiative and could potentially offer our residents’ great savings on their energy costs. Our aim is to ensure that we tackle fuel poverty and keep our residents warm in their homes. Not only can we now generate free solar energy, but we can also put energy back into the National Grid for others in the area to utilise.”

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SUSTAINABILITY

Made to measure

Peter White/BRE

The sustainable credentials of new homes have not, historically, always been clear to the consumer, but, says ROGER HUNT, new performance labelling and quality marks could be the answer

Wienerberger e4 brick house

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Peter White/BRE

Peter White/BRE

SUSTAINABILITY

ABOVE Wienerberger e4 brick house under construction on the BRE Innovation Park. The inner leaf is Porotherm blockwork with an outer brick leaf. The roof has an integrated PV array ABOVE RIGHT Wienerberger e4 brick house: Cavity insulation between the inner leaf of Porotherm blockwork and outer leaf of brick THIS PIC Hill zero carbon concept home

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What does the average homebuyer understand by sustainability? How do they feel about the ideas of green and eco practices in connection to their homes? How do they see these concepts playing into architectural design? These are just some of the questions addressed in research undertaken by Key, a property marketing company, in partnership with the Good Homes Alliance.

The research, published in the report ‘What is sustainability? Who does it matter to? ...and why?’, reveals that, when asked what it means to be green, eco or sustainable, ‘eco’ was the word people spontaneously used in relation to homes and houses.

Many viewed this term positively, connecting it with cost saving. Sustainability was a concept that the members of the focus groups were less familiar with.

Participants indicated that there is a lack of information about sustainable materials and practices in relation to homebuilding. They were not aware of general industry standards or policies. There is no mark like the red tractor used on British-sourced food by which locally sourced building materials can be identified.

These findings are worth noting, coming as they do in the wake of the housing standards review and the subsequent new set of national technical standards aimed at, among other things, streamlining the planning system and protecting the environment. At the same time, the Code for Sustainable Homes is no more, although it will clearly take some years to work out of the system.

Andy Von Bradsky, chairman of PRP architects and a member of the Housing Standards Review Challenge Panel, believes the Code did not really connect with consumers. “It was intended to be a consumer-friendly standard but it never became so.

The challenge for the industry now is to come up with something that is consumer-friendly and does connect with the consumer.”

Along with others, Von Bradsky thinks some form of labelling, which provides information being produced by the industry in a consistent format, is the right way to go. “Consumers are primarily concerned with

SUSTAINABILITY LEFT Wienerberger e4 brick house: Floor insulation being installed BOTTOM Wienerberger e4 brick house: Between the upper windows are brick relief panels MIDDLE ‘What is sustainability?

Who does it matter to? ...and why?’ report cover

Peter White/BRE

providing there isn’t a wildly different cost differential, will go for the one with the higher ratings in whatever metric the rating is so, with housing, we think it will exercise a slow but inexorable push for better quality in all dimensions.”

For Peter Mayer, research and development manager, BLP Insurance, an important aspect of the Home Performance Labelling pilot is that it addresses much of the information that is currently missing for homebuyers, such as the volume of the property and storage space. “Perhaps more importantly it will also outline the potential maintenance and operational costs relating to the property. In the future the criteria considered could include additional sustainability factors such as air quality and noise levels associated with the location.”

Bergin believes that an important aspect of labelling is that it is more to do with comparison than data so people are pushed in the direction that is best for them. “If people are looking for more space for their money they can see which home gives them more space for their money; if they’re looking for something that’s cheaper to run, and they don’t care so much about the space, they can choose that too. We’re being neutral about the data itself.”

Another aid for buyers comes in the form of the BRE’s new Home Quality Mark, which it claims will “transform the way consumers choose the homes they buy and rent” and allow housebuilders to differentiate themselves by providing independent benchmarking of new homes. There are signs are that consumers have an appetite for this. A survey of 500 users of web comparison portal moneysupermarket.com found that 97% of respondents would welcome a quality mark for housing. Housebuilders have also supported its introduction, with over 30 signed up to pilot it.

Using a simple star rating the mark will give a householder clear indications of the home’s overall running costs, how it will protect their health and wellbeing, its resilience to flooding and overheating and its environmental footprint. According to the BRE, it is designed to demonstrate how digitally connected

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issues such as the running cost of their home, how much water they might consume, what the savings might be and, for those who are well informed, their environmental footprint.”

The case for labelling has been explored by the Housing Forum, and its partners BLP Insurance and HTA Design, through a Home Performance Labelling pilot that examines how to improve the information available to consumers about the performance of their home.

Members of the Housing Forum and their collaborators were invited to submit designs for single dwellings, houses or apartments, of any size, using building information modelling (BIM) software. All dwellings were compared against the same metrics and then benchmarked. The data was presented in the format of a comparison website, a traffic light system revealing performance in relation to defined standards with ‘hover over’ explainers to convey the means of calculation and parameters of compliance.

“For once we’ve got a very strong link between the as-built quality and the expectation of performance,” explains Shelagh Grant, chief executive of the Housing Forum. “It enables people to make choices that are based realistically on the long-term cost of occupation. The good thing about it is that it’s limited to a relatively small number of characteristics so it doesn’t overload people’s analysis. People will still make choices based on location, price and schooling and that kind of thing, but it will also enable decisions to do with daylight, energy costs and performance with regard to space standards; all of that has a knock-on effect in terms of sustainability.”

Home performance labelling is similar to the labelling system used with fridges and other appliances in that homes are compared on a like-for-like basis. Rory Bergin, partner, sustainable futures at HTA, believes that, from a sustainability perspective, this will be a natural ‘push’ in the right direction. “When fridges, freezers and TVs were first labelled A, B and C, the Bs and Cs pretty quickly fell off and we now have A, A+ and A++. That’s because most consumers, when given a choice and

Peter White/BRE

Peter White/BRE

BELOW Wienerberger e4 brick house: Between the upper windows are brick relief panels

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ABOVE Wienerberger e4 brick house ABOVE RIGHT Wienerberger e4 brick house: Bricklaying BELOW Lorna and Dave Rayner with their children Harry and Ebony who will live in the Hill zero carbon concept home for a year

a home is to support people over their lifetime and will help consumers understand the long-term quality and performance of a new build home.

One of the benefits of the Home Quality Mark is that it will enable developers to differentiate their product, explains Gwyn Roberts, Home Quality Mark team leader. “It’s changing the language that we communicate to householders to move it away from a very technical language, that’s often spoken within the industry, to something that people can understand.”

The first house to pilot the new standard is the Wienerberger e4 brick house, which has been designed in conjunction with Arup and has been constructed on the BRE Innovation Park at Watford. The three-bedroom detached home focuses on the four ‘pillars’ of Wienerberger’s global e4 concept: energy, economy, environment and emotion. It utilises a fabric-first approach using a clay building envelope to deliver a house with reduced energy needs.

Understanding what those living in new homes want is vital. Hill launched a competition to find Cambridge’s ‘family of the future’ to live in a zero carbon concept home for a year at its Virido

Peter White/BRE

Peter White/BRE

SUSTAINABILITY

development, with the winning family moving into the home at the start of 2015.

“The family will provide us with vital information on how people interact and use this technology on an everyday basis and this will help us to hone the properties we’re building,” says Rob Hall, deputy managing director at Hill. “Our recent consumer survey found 52% of those questioned would be more likely to buy a home if it incorporated green or sustainable features but, at the same time, 45% indicated this would make no difference to their decision.

“The key to achieving consumer buy-in is to make things as easy and hassle-free as possible.

According to our survey, the top three sustainable features consumers would like in their home are triple glazing, enhanced insulation and solar panels; these technologies are all passive for the homeowner. By creating high-quality, sustainable, family-friendly homes, comfort and ease of use will eventually become synonymous with sustainability and, when this happens, we expect an environmentally friendly home to increasingly be a ‘must have’ rather than a ‘nice to have’.” sh

FURTHER READING The ‘What is sustainability? Who does it matter to? ...and why?’ report may be downloaded free: www.marketingiskey.co.uk/sustainability/

CONTACTS BLP Insurance www.blpinsurance.com Good Homes Alliance www.goodhomes.org.uk Home Performance Labelling www.homeperformancelabelling.co.uk Home Quality Mark www.homequalitymark.com Housing Forum www.housingforum.org.uk HTA www.hta.co.uk PRP www.prparchitects.co.uk Wienerberger www.wienerberger.co.uk Read Roger Hunt’s blog www.huntwriter.com and follow him on Twitter @huntwriter

52| June 2015 showhouse

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NEW HOMES TECHNOLOGY – THE BUILDERS

Digital dinosaurs

evolving fast

The Summit, Bournemouth by Redrow

Technology is moving at great pace, but, asks RUPERT BATES are the housebuilders keeping up?

Many years ago in an interview with industry giant David Wilson of David Wilson Homes it was boldly suggested that referring to housebuilders as ‘traditional’ or ‘old school’ were just polite ways of calling them dinosaurs.

Wilson paused for a moment, not sure whether to take offence or not, before replying: “I prefer to call myself a hands-on stegosaurus.”

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(L-R) Tom Grimshaw, Les Grimshaw and Ross Wilkins of Finesse Homes

It is a cliché to refer to housebuilding as behind the times when compared to more fast-moving industries, especially with the pace of the digital revolution.

Other features within this technology supplement highlight the suite of innovative products and services feeding new homes across both construction and customer journeys.

But it would be wrong to assume builders are all slow to adopt, reluctant to change and only accepting it because the consumer is increasingly demanding it.

Finesse Homes is a young company – under four years old – building bespoke properties in the Surrey housebuilding heartlands around Cobham, focusing on areas such as Fetcham and Bookham.

The target market is affordable luxury, rather than going head-to-head with some of the gin and jaguar palaces that pepper the stockbroker belt.

Finesse adheres to the maxims of good architecture, design and build, but a fourth plank of its business is technology – not technology for the sake of it or to gild the asking price lily, but to ensure its homes are wired to the wishes of today’s buyers; future-proofed and connected for what is to come.

The company was started by father and son partnership Les and Tom Grimshaw. Les Grimshaw is a wellknown Surrey developer with 50 years in the industry, having started out as

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SIGN

HERE

:

NEW HOMES TECHNOLOGY – THE BUILDERS entry company, and affordable solutions from the likes of Control4 and Legrand all, says Wilkins, highlight the range of innovative products out there, making home automation technology a ‘must have’ in the house, rather than a ‘nice to have’.

With so many connected devices to support in and around the home, bandwidths and broadband speeds will also become increasingly important in the technology mix.

The same applies to digital marketing solutions for housebuilders, using the latest technology to enhance the customer experience, as well as the build and sales process.

Neil Simpson, sales and marketing director of Bewley Homes, says: “We have witnessed a dramatic change in the way in which technology can now be used when selling our developments. It helps provide a streamline buying process for all our potential customers.”

However, Simpson says establishing trusted, personal relationships between staff and customers remains integral to the selling process and will always outweigh the latest software and technology.

“Buying a home is an intensely emotional and personal experience.

But technologies such as CGI flythroughs and scale models for off-

plan developments are incredibly important when it comes to purchaser choices and selections,” says Simpson. “These technological advances allow us as a developer to successfully demonstrate our finished products – from the plot location within the development to the tiles used in the future kitchen.

“We feel strongly about providing our buyers with the best tools so they feel as informed about their future property as possible. If providing a 360° view of their off-plan home and mobile apps for our developments help this notion, then we will continue to explore the latest advances.”

James Barnes, sales director at Redrow Homes Southern Counties, says most housebuilders now have a CRM system to manage the sales and build process, be it storage of personal data on potential purchasers, recording of transaction stages, sending information to relevant parties and updating of build progress linked to sales.

“More housebuilders are embracing marketing related technology, especially those who have developed schemes in London and have therefore been exposed to some of the technology available. An increasing level of investment is on models, often forming the

James Barnes, sales director, Redrow Southern Counties

Steven Pepper, sales manager, Barratt London

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a slater and tiler and still active on site at 66, there to man the forklift truck if pallets need unloading.

Tom Grimshaw started working with his father’s previous housebuilding business aged 18, with dad’s passion for service, detail and architectural integrity instilled from the start.

Father and son have now been joined as Finesse directors by Ross Wilkins and as well as adding sales and marketing value, Wilkins comes with a background and expert knowledge in new homes technology.

Wilkins previously worked for Crestron, the home automation and multimedia distribution business, with housebuilders, seeking technology solutions, among his clients. Wilkins has also worked for Samsung, so understands the digital revolution and what it can do for the new homes industry.

“There is an awful lot already in the home, with the potential for so much more. We already have, for example, smart fridges, washing machines and TVs, controlled from mobile or wearable devices,” says Wilkins, son of former England, Chelsea and Manchester United footballer Ray Wilkins.

There is Nest, owned by Google and with the Revolv home automation system also now in its stable, and Hive, a British Gas product, already making heating cool, while Philips Hue offers wireless lighting.

“And in terms of sound you have Sonos, which has made multi-room audio affordable,” says Wilkins.

Apple, says Wilkins, is shaking up the home automation market, driven by iOS 8 technology. iBeacons can trigger smartphones and tablets to find the user’s exact location and, for instance, adjust the room temperature, while Siri is Apple technology commanded by your voice.

Wireless streaming from Chromecast, a digital media player developed by Google, smart home control systems from Comelit, best known as a door

Byways, Ascot by Bewley Homes

Neil Simpson, sales and marketing director, Bewley Homes

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NEW HOMES TECHNOLOGY – THE BUILDERS centrepiece of a marketing suite,” says Barnes.

3D technology and virtual reality are increasingly prevalent, while the My Redrow online system allows customers to create personal accounts in terms of search, purchase options and upgrades, booking and managing appointments with sales teams and updates on build stages.

“Redrow uses an iPad app, which photographs, logs and tracks snagging items within new plots as part of the customer care process,” says Barnes.

“The vast majority of home searches are now carried out online and purchasers, particularly the younger generation, expect state-of-the-art tools and information to be readily and easily available,” adds Barnes.

“Ultimately, though, it still comes down to human contact and touching and feeling the product. Visiting the development and experiencing show units at first hand is the most important element of the sales journey for most purchasers. Once that human contact has been made, it must be seamlessly maintained through to completion and beyond.”

Steven Pepper, sales manager at Barratt London, says there is the perception that housebuilders are slow adopters. “But nothing could be further from the truth. We have pushed computer-generated imagery and animation to new levels and

Living areas at Barratt London's Great Minster House

are already employing augmented reality,” says Pepper.

“We are now close to using holographic technology. Barratt London has one of the most advanced, responsive and adaptable websites out there. Our customers are well informed about the latest technology advances, so we know it is important to incorporate it into the sales experience but with one strong caveat – it must add benefit and value.

Technology for technology’s sake simply does not benefit our business, staff, stakeholders or customers.”

Pepper says technology is there “to help bring the development to life” with an expectation among visitors to Barratt marketing suites.

“Technology has changed the way we work, shop and play. Our customers expect to see photo realistic images of their property before it has even started coming out of the ground. We can show them the view they will get from their new home before it even exists,” says Pepper.

Barratt London has commissioned an interactive media table at its Catford Green development, allowing the customers to take a virtual walk around the scheme years before it is finished.

“These are all incredible tools to have in our armoury. But they are only a small element at the start of the homebuying journey. A valuable longterm relationship with our customers requires skilled, experienced and motivated people,” concludes Pepper. sh

CGI of Barratt London's Catford Green

Model of The Summit, Bournemouth by Redrow

Finesse Homes – The Glade

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NEW HOMES TECHNOLOGY – AUTOMATION

ABOVE Aurora offers a full range of lighting across the home LEFT Crestron’s advanced control and automation systems are designed to simplify and enhance modern lifestyles ABOVE RIGHT WyreStorm’s Enado Control solution puts all home AV in the palm of your hand RIGHT Sync-box is the world’s only covered and recessed power and AV socket, designed specifically for wall-mounted flatscreen televisions BELOW RIGHT Crestron specialises in whole-home automation, rather than focusing on just one area

good under-cabinet lighting can add flair to the space. Meanwhile, for the bathroom, indirect mood lighting and dimming options provide the most flexibility for lighting. Simplicity of scene settings in these two spaces means we think we’ll see more automation based on occupancy, time of day and mood. Colour tuning, strip and dimming in these spaces presents the biggest opportunity for home automation.”

Sensio also provides a range of lighting options for the kitchen that can be switched on and off and dimmed by one simple lighting control. What’s more, there is no limit on the number of receivers that can be controlled with one remote, providing that they are located within a 15-metre range of the remote control.

And, speaking of remote controls, the Crestron Pyng is a home automation app that can be tailored to the owner’s lifestyle. Lights, blinds, heating and even the security system all work together intelligently. Once installed, Crestron Pyng allows the owner to create lifestyle scenes for each room, schedule events, and much more.

A compact Pyng Hub connects accessories with the app and

continuously backs up all home settings to the cloud, making changes easy and secure.

“Home automation is becoming the norm, rather than a luxury, within new build homes,” says Petra van Meeuwen, EMEA PR manager at Crestron. “By having a property wired for a home automation system, it is possible to add another level of value as you remove the need to retrofit a system at a later date, which could be disruptive to new owners.”

Crestron’s advanced control and automation systems are designed to simplify and enhance modern lifestyles. Crestron gives homeowners the possibility to control any aspect of their home with just the touch of a

button from a touchscreen or iOS or Android device. Users can adjust lights, music, room temperature or alarm system without getting out of bed – all from the same interface.

Armour Home is currently promoting Systemline S7, a comprehensive installed multi-room hi-fi music system, which is compatible with Crestron’s interface, among others. It supports a wide range of streaming music services, and is a safe and secure method of storing the client’s own digital music library.

“Multi-room music systems used to be quite niche, but now they are mainstream and highly valued,” explains Bob Abraham, Armour Home’s S7 brand director.

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It goes without saying that a newbuild house is more thermally efficient than an older property, but today’s buyers expect their home to be efficient in other areas too. From the moment that they walk in the door or, in some instances, even before, modern homeowners expect their home to work for them.

Enter new homes technology and the benefits that it can bring in terms of comfort, cost savings and entertainment – and even mood enhancement.

“Lighting is key in any environment, but none more so than within the residential market,” says Melissa J Dixon, content and communications specialist of Aurora Group. “Welldesigned lighting can transform a room’s appearance and give a perfect ambience, turning a cold, impersonal space into a warm, inviting environment.”

Aurora offers a full range of lighting across the home. Open-plan living designs can be managed with creative lighting solutions, and the kitchen and bathroom are prime areas for creativity.

“The kitchen is often the centre of the home, used for tasks, both functional and social,” adds Dixon. “Low level,

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debt | prs | property management

NEW HOMES TECHNOLOGY – AUTOMATION

“All technology is leaning toward space-saving, healthier lifestyles, renewable fuels and, obviously, communication” ABOVE The 4K Way – WyreStorm’s Ultra HD range of matrix switchers, extenders, converters and more are future-proof THIS PIC Low-level, good under-cabinet kitchen lighting from Aurora can add flair to the space

“Built-in music systems command an even higher perceived value, so fitting one of these as standard will enhance the profile of your home, and will also act as a very memorable reminder of their visit to your show home. Other show homes will by comparison seem quite cold and sterile. Furthermore, customers expectations are increasing all the time, so for some properties in some locations such a feature will be anticipated and its absence noted as a negative.”

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One absence that isn’t missed, however, is wires and bulky plug sockets. Sync-box is the world’s only covered and recessed power and AV socket, designed by Eyestones specifically for wall-mounted flatscreen televisions.

“It is our vision to make Sync-box the new TV point, fitted as standard, worldwide,” says Duncan Summers, director of Eyestones. “We have been installing home cinema, multi-room music systems and intelligent lighting systems for many years. However, most recently we have seen the most significant change to TV screens.

The quality of viewing has evolved to HD and 3D very quickly and, with this, physical changes have also developed. The screens are predominantly slimmer and indeed lighter, with flatscreen brackets also now slimmer and lighter in weight.

Therefore we recognised very quickly that there was a fundamental problem – the physical plug top and AV connections are now thicker than the products they are connecting.”

Around two years ago, Eyestones quickly looked into the options of recessing the power and AV terminals into the wall and, as a result, Sync-box was born.

“We have also designed a stylish cover plate, which comes in various different styles and finishes to help match existing electrical furniture,” adds Summers. “Bearing in mind that these TV points are all eye level in a room, these plates look great even if a television is not mounted.”

So, this all sounds pretty impressive as it is, but just what does the future hold? According to Adrian Ickeringill, EMEA general manager of WyreStorm, whole-house video and audio management is where technology – and the industry – is heading. “While the added bandwidth required for the 4K evolution means that Cat6 will still be a requirement for video distribution around the home, audio going wireless with Sonos means that traditional cabling audio solutions will be no longer required,” he says. “If the housing market continues its recovery, I see no reason why the trend for

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NEW HOMES TECHNOLOGY – AUTOMATION

ABOVE WyreStorm’s MX-0404-PP-KIT matrix and receiver set offers the best in AV function, flexibility and affordability BELOW Eyestones aims to make Sync-box the new TV point, fitted as standard, throughout the world BOTTOM Amina has recently launched the AIW750i full-range totally invisible loudspeaker

technology in the home won’t follow the same growth for some exciting times ahead.”

A prime example is in the audio department. Amina Technologies has recently launched the AIW750i – a totally invisible loudspeaker. The flagship model from the Evolution range is ideal for those who enjoy hearing the highest quality hi-fi performance without having their interior design impacted by the presence of freestanding or visible in-wall or in-ceiling speakers. The Vibrational Panel Technology used provides a far larger sweet spot then is normally experienced and fills a room with high clarity sound without being too loud in one area and too quiet in another.

The whole Evolution range, which covers all requirements from background music in bedrooms to powerful speakers for surround sound and home cinema applications, has been updated over the past few months, including the addition of the new Excelsior Class Exciter for even better acoustic performance. But, where it is likely to prove a huge hit is when 3D sound becomes mainstream.

66| June 2015 showhouse

“We are seeing an increasing interest in 3D sound from both Aura and Dolby, which will need an increased amount of speakers (from 13 to 21) and no one wants to see that number of speakers in a room,” explains Babs Moore, director of Amina Technologies. “We see this development as being ideal for invisible loudspeakers, which add an aura of mystery and wonderment to new homes, differentiating them from competition without adding excessive cost.”

But what else is on the horizon? “ All technology is leaning toward space-saving, healthier lifestyles, renewable fuels and, obviously, communication,” concludes Summers.

“Many of these innovations are almost here already but will be expanding into more residential homes. Fingerprint recognition door entry, rainwater showers heated by solar power and a single hub to control heating, lighting, music and blinds are all out there. We have a few ideas which we would like to bring to market in the next couple of years.”

So watch this space – on all of your televisions that have been simultaneously streamed throughout your home… sh

CONTACTS Amina Technologies www.amina.co.uk Armour Home www.armourhome.co.uk Aurora Lighting auroralighting.com Crestron www.crestron.eu/showroom Eyestones www.sync-box.com Sensio www.sensio.co.uk WyreStorm Technologies www.wyrestorm.com

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NEW HOMES TECHNOLOGY – MARKETING & CUSTOMER CARE

Let’s get digital Technology is now available to help housebuilders before, during and after the sales process, and while early adopters are reaping the benefits, some are not yet switched on. RUPERT BATES explores the latest marketing and customer care tools available to the industry

Classic Folios

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NEW HOMES TECHNOLOGY – MARKETING & CUSTOMER CARE

ABOVE & BELOW: Clixifix

James Farrell of Clixifix

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It may be a world where human interaction is still worth a thousand apps, but digital technology and a host of innovations from a supply chain forever pushing the boundaries are slowly transforming the new homes space.

Whether it is employees and sub-contractors being given new tools to help track defects and improve accountability and delivery, or the advance of marketing technology to engage and inform consumers, the housebuilding industry is slowly evolving.

‘The customer journey’ may have become a marketing cliché, but in the construction sector hotwired to think primarily in terms of bricks and mortar, the customer journey, says James Farrell, co-founder and managing director of Clixifix, is where the focus should lie.

“In some companies we have visited, the customer care or complaints file is still passed around the office like a poisoned chalice,” says Farrell.

“There are some very capable software solutions that were designed initially as accounting tools, which later added a customer care module to their product offering. These onpremise products were very expensive, complex to get up and running, charged per user licence and lacked that true collaboration between all parties.

“So a lot of housebuilders who couldn’t afford or didn’t rate the on-premise software have defaulted to creating Excel spread sheets to log all reported issues. I often wonder if Bill Gates realised that when Microsoft designed Excel, that the product would be the industry leader in storing customer care data for UK housebuilders!”

Clixifix is a customer care management application developed by people with many years of experience in new homes sales and marketing and customer care departments.

It is a cloud-based application – there’s no software to install or download – designed to issue unique

ticket numbers for every defect or repair reported.

“Every defect is either an emergency, or a high, medium or low priority repair.

Depending on the company, which can set its own internal KPIs [key performance indicators], the response times could range from four hours to 28 or 60 days,” says Farrell.

“Once you create the ticket, there is a chronological countdown until the ticket is closed or resolved. Every one of the team has a unique user name and password to log-in and they can see the dashboard, which shows them how many tickets are open; it’s all in front of them and very transparent.

The sub-contractors are nominated on the ticket so they know how long they have to respond, and the process goes from there,” says Farrell, with the ability to upload support documents from a mobile, or create appointments on the move.

“There is a clear audit trail from the very first contact from the purchaser or resident, which can’t be deleted. It brings transparency and accountability to the process.”

Housebuilding is a very traditional industry – a polite way of describing the sector’s use of out-dated systems and practices and failing to embrace or keep pace with technology.

“I do feel the industry is slowly coming round to the idea that you don’t need to have all your software in the office. Just because your business is not in the technology sector doesn’t mean that innovation isn’t important to facilitate improvement,” says Farrell.

“With improved IT infrastructure and instant application deployment among your remote workforce, clients and sub-contractors, SaaS [Software as a Service] is something to consider as it becomes more prominent in the construction industry.”

Farrell says a collaborative platform to work together on defects and repairs, sharing documents, encouraging teamwork and creating efficiencies ensures your subcontractors and supply chain feel valued and trusted.

He stresses the need to work on aftersales care too, as a poor customer experience can end up online and dispersed across social channels and blogs, damaging your brand.

“Empowering your consumers with the resources and functionality to find answers and report issues quickly through online platforms is the present accepted norm for aftercare in numerous other sectors but not in our construction Industry.

NEW HOMES TECHONOLOGY – MARKETING & CUSTOMER CARE David Cameron at ThinkBDW’s offices

Pedja Guzvica of Axeo

Simon Mead of ThinkBDW

“By selecting a plot, a computergenerated image of the property appears, along with details including its current build status, specification and price. The viewer can then view individual floorplans and take an animated tour around the house or apartment,” says Mead.

A digital 3D kitchen selector gives purchasers an idea of what finishes they can select for their new home.

The options are shown as swatches, so the user can choose between different types of flooring or worktops.

“When selecting a swatch, the 3D model is updated instantly with the chosen finish displayed in situ. This is a great tool for selling granite worktop upgrades or higher specification appliances. Information on preferred choices can be saved and emailed to the customer,” adds Mead.

The latest CGI technology allows housebuilders to visualise all aspects of the project prior to construction, while touch tables and video walls are available in marketing suites or at exhibitions. Prime minister David Cameron is a fan, having tried out the digital technology when opening ThinkBDW’s new head offices earlier this year.

“Housebuilders are extremely engaged with new technology. They

ThinkBDW

Axeo

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“Enabling owners and clients to log in to their personalised dashboard for updates on reported defects and repairs, view support documents, product information and even help videos instantly can be invaluable.

This omni-channel approach is consistent with their pre-sales experience and could cement your company’s reputation for excellent customer care,” says Farrell.

ThinkBDW is a full-service property marketing agency, providing brochures, websites, signage, bespoke marketing suites, advertising design and media bookings, PR and the latest CGI and digital marketing tools such as touchscreen technology and iPad apps.

Simon Mead, digital director of ThinkBDW, says: “It’s not enough simply to produce a site plan of a new development and expect potential customers to visualise themselves at home there. So we offer our clients digital marketing technology to help deliver leads and sales and enhance customer care.”

ThinkBDW creates interactive 3D site plans, allowing the user to navigate around a site and explore in detail, with the information accessed via touchscreen tables in a marketing suite, or anywhere via a mobile device.

know that a large proportion of customers have a smartphone or tablet and that touchscreen technology is therefore becoming more and more vital in the marketing process,” says Mead. “They’re aware that, by investing in such modern tools, they are showing faith in their product, at the same time as highlighting an understanding of their customers’ needs and likely preferences.”

Mead says prospective purchasers do their homework prior to visiting a development and there they expect the marketing suite and the sales staff to be at least as connected as they are.

“It opens up new opportunities for negotiators because buyers are looking for confidence and reassurance that what they look at online is as good in reality. It gives the sales person more time to build a relationship,” says Mead.

“A recent retail survey showed that some 63% of people, even with the technology available, would still want that reassurance that only a good negotiator can bring. So the two go hand in hand and can be very effective when used together.

“People buy from people and buyerseller relationships are incredibly important. At the same time, consumers are extremely savvy when it comes to interactive digital technology, and frustration can easily arise through a non-responsive website, or when an app is substandard.”

Axeo Systems produces what its managing director, Pedja Guzvica, describes as “an entire ecosystem of interactive sales and marketing tools specifically designed to help off-plan sales of new homes”.

“My goal was to achieve the transition in functionality from being ‘nice to have’ interactive marketing gimmicks to truly useful sales tools,” says Guzvica, stressing the importance of talking to sales staff on new developments, finding out their experiences and ideas and how technology can help them and their customers. “The construction side of the business is on our radar too and we already have some

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NEW HOMES TECHNOLOGY – MARKETING & CUSTOMER CARE

David Graydon of Classic Folios

Tony Nicol of Pelican Media

Richard Williams of Veritii

exchange and completion and beyond, when many customers feel communication starts to drop off, myHomefiles is an essential online tool to enable housebuilders to communicate easily and efficiently with their whole database as well as providing a host of smart features to help make the buying process as personal and straightforward as possible.”

“There is a real opportunity for developers to gain market share by embracing the technology solutions that customers are already using in their everyday lives – a massive prequalified, lead-generating marketing opportunity, particularly for national builders,” says Graydon.

Pelican Media provides interactive property marketing apps, CGIs, animations and development films, with its new software focusing on the customer journey.

“The majority of our clients are London based and we find that their marketing teams are the earliest adopters of new technology. Over the last five years we have gone from trying to convince clients of the benefits of new technologies, to them actively seeking the latest advancements,” says Tony Nicol, managing director of Pelican Media.

“Technology has changed the way we do business beyond recognition since the launch of smart devices, and using these devices as a platform to reach customers has

become the norm for the industry.

Being part of the digital age is now a necessity, not a luxury.”

He believes that in the future buying a house will become more like buying a car, with unmanned, on-site marketing suites housing all the latest technology, where a customer can leave their information before being contacted by the housebuilder.

Veritii is an interactive 3D property sales tool, with its tablet-based platform used by the sales team either in their site office or remotely to cross-sell developments, allowing potential buyers to view all house types across all developments in 3D before they are built.

“We work closely with the suppliers to create a 3D real-time environment that allows the homebuyer to specify every element of their new home.

We are also working with furniture manufacturers to host their products in 3D, which gives the customer the ability to judge space and scale more effectively than the alternative 2D plans or CGIs,” says Richard Williams, founder and CEO of Veritii.

The customers are then prompted to email their newly configured homes to themselves and forwarded to the sales team for further sales enquiries, also acting as a warm lead generator.

Williams says housebuilders are increasingly adopting the latest technology to engage with buyers, although the latest virtual and

L

interesting ideas how to streamline the communication flow between the technical and the sales and marketing teams.”

While acknowledging that housebuilders are slow adopters, with notable exceptions, Guzvica says the UK is more proactive in this space than the United States.

“My top three questions I have heard in the last 15 years are: ‘Why do we need CGIs when we have watercolours?’ Then: ‘Why do we need a website when we have a brochure?’ and now: ‘Why do we need an app system when we have a website?’”

Classic Folios has developed its homeowner portal, myHomefiles, which has been taken up by seven of the top 10 housebuilders, as well as 200 other developers.

“It empowers developers to improve delivery and reduce buyer stress levels. Consumers expect access to the information they want immediately and in context, often on their smartphone or tablet. Our system is geared to create that brand experience,” says David Graydon, joint managing director of Classic Folios. myHomefiles can be engineered to help at the pre-sales stage too, by integrating and synching with a client’s existing CRM system and allowing potential purchasers to review the developments and properties they’re interested in.

“From reservation, when customers are hungry for information, through to

Pelican Media

Pelican Media

Classic Folios

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NEW HOMES TECHNOLOGY – MARKETING & CUSTOMER CARE Veritii

Modelworks

Peter Rogers of Modelworks

Joanna Swash of Moneypenny

74| June 2015 showhouse

augmented reality products need to add genuine value to convince developers, especially those outside London, and overcomplicated 3D models and tools can frustrate the user.

“While sales and marketing software can’t speed up the building process, it can be used to create an immersive environment that the housebuilders can use to keep the homebuyer informed, and happy that the process is running smoothly,” says Williams.

Modelworks Media offers augmented reality applications, 3D apartment finder apps, media tables and real-time 3D walkthroughs.

“It’s important that as products they are visually attractive, but also drive the marketing and sales of property in a practical sense that the industry is familiar with. We also look to drive the longevity of our products in the market to ensure our clients get the most from allocated budgets,” says Peter Rogers, business director of Modelworks.

“For example, we will build an augmented reality app to aid the visualisation of a scheme at planning and reuse assets in the 3D apartment finder system to aid marketing and drive sales. This same app can then be used over the duration of the development as a customer care tool to push notifications through the various app stores, informing customers of new phases to be launched, or new restaurants and local amenities.”

A bespoke content management system then communicates updates of sales and reservations to all platforms globally.

Rogers says London developers and international projects are well engaged with new technology.

“Traditionally we have seen the building industry slightly behind other sectors, such as retail, but the gap is shortening. Our challenge is to ensure we are at the forefront of this curve and able to offer the very latest in technology solutions.”

Rogers says client interaction at point of sale is “a deeply personal service” that can’t be replaced.

“Technology mainly aids the presentation and helps people to make more informed decisions while also offering the ability to drive new marketing streams.”

Even the art of answering the phone is proving more sophisticated and a marketing as well as sales function.

Moneypenny has property receptionists who specialise in the needs of the property sector, using clever technology built in-house to guarantee housebuilders never miss a telephone call, while delivering the high levels of service customers expect.

“A missed call can be a missed sale and very probably a customer care fail, so housebuilders engage Moneypenny to handle any overflow calls they are struggling to reach themselves,” says Joanna Swash, commercial director of Moneypenny. “Providing a consistent telephone response can be an issue for housebuilders with traditional opening hours not necessarily matching the needs of the buyer who is looking to call at a time to fit in with their busy lifestyle.”

Moneypenny’s bespoke technology recognises previous callers, providing receptionists with all the caller history they need to handle the call as though based in the client’s own office.

“In a highly competitive arena, a stand-out new-build is not simply measured on the property itself, but

the service that lies behind it. It is pointless housebuilders spending money on advertising and on-line marketing if they aren’t supporting the activity by getting their response right when the phone rings. Those who are delivering well at every touch point, will be gathering more leads, delivering a first-rate customer experience and ultimately boosting sales,” says Swash.

Technology is ever evolving, but key suppliers of marketing, customer care and trade tools to the industry crucially understand that however well connected builders and buyers are digitally, there must always be human connection too. That remains the most sophisticated and valuable technology of all. sh

CONTACTS Axeo Systems axeo.co.uk Classic Folios classicfolios.com Clixifix clixifix.com Modelworks Media modelworksmedia.com Moneypenny moneypenny.co.uk Pelican Media pelican.gb.com ThinkBDW thinkbdw.co.uk Veritii veritii.com

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FINANCE NEWS edited by Suzanne Frost (scf@globespanmedia.com)

Aldermore provides £3.7m development loan for Grade II listed building in Birmingham Aldermore has provided Gethar Ventures with a development finance loan of £3.7m for an 18-apartment complex in Birmingham.

Gethar Ventures bought the Grade II listed Sutton Coldfield Council House from the council in July 2014 and drew down the loan facility in February 2015. Over 50% of the 18apartment development has already been sold.

Gethar used broker ACDS Consultants to source funding for the project.

Ajeet Karandikar, director at ACDS Consultants, commented: “The deal was fairly complex as Gethar was buying the property from the council, which meant there were certain caveats, such as the property needing

to retain the historic façade. Aldermore was very accommodating of requests and variations that came through during the process.”

Anthony McCourt, director of Gethar Ventures, added: “It has become easier to get funding in the past two years but the price of the funding can be varied. Getting the right cost of money from the right sort of provider remains challenging.

“Aldermore’s team have been very quick to deal with any issues and it’s nice that they have been as excited as us about the development. I can honestly say Aldermore has been a pleasure to work with and I could definitely use them for future projects.”

P2P lending “an accident waiting to happen” A panel discussion at the recent UKPP London Property Finance Conference has questioned the impact of nonregulated peer-to-peer lending on the property market.

Panellist Joshua Elash, director of MT Finance, commented: “I think there are a number of very reputable P2P platforms who are now operating in the UK but, speaking with people in the banking industry on the regulatory side of matters, there is a common concern that they are acting as unlicenced firms and are not obtaining the capital adequacy required. Their incentive is to just do deals, and there is no real emphasis on underwriting and there is a danger that lenders are just pushing deals out of the door.

“The danger is that if you fail to obtain funding with a high street bank, you fail to get anything from an alternative lender and therefore the only option is the peer to peer sector; there’s a danger that it becomes the garbage men of the lending industry.”

James Bloom, chief executive of Regentsmead, added that it was “an absolute accident waiting to happen”.

He said: “First of all, it is only working as well as it is at the moment because you can’t get any yield anywhere else.

“If and when we see an organisation of real returns, those returns then won’t be as attractive but there is absolutely no way that the average investor understands what they are investing in especially with the underwriting concerns.

“I was talking to a crowdfunder who was looking to move into property lending who said, ‘5-10% of our loans may go wrong if the market collapses’. It’s such comments that show some of these guys don’t have a clue what they’re talking about.”

Moda Living and Apache Capital in £1bn PRS joint venture

£80m funding secured for Meridian Water scheme London’s Enfield Council has secured £80m funding from the European Investment Bank to kick-start the first phase of the £1.5bn eco-mixed-use development Meridian Water. The cash will also help the council deliver several major other projects, including the Lee Valley Heat Network, and wider regeneration Meridian Water, a proposed location for one of the mayor of London’s Housing Zones, will deliver up to 8,000 new homes and create 3,000 jobs as well as schools, shops, restaurants and a health centre in a waterfront setting in Edmonton.

Jonathan Taylor, European Investment Bank vice-president said: “The European

Investment Bank is pleased to support new investment to construct and upgrade family homes, cut energy bills, and improve schools across Enfield and develop brownfield sites across the borough.

“The new investment outlined today is part of an EIB-backed £1bn urban renewal programme that will improve the quality of life and health of Londoners, as well as creating jobs where they are most needed.”

Enfield Council recently purchased three plots of land to house 1,500 homes on the site, enabling the project to forge ahead, and is looking to buy three more sites which would enable a further 2,500 homes to be built.

West Yorkshire-based Moda Living and Bahrain-based investor Apache Capital Partners have joined forces to build private rental schemes in the UK’s major cities.

Moda Living – a joint venture between Yorkshire developer Caddick Group and Harrogate’s Generate Land – will work with Apache Capital to deliver more than 5,000 flats worth £1bn.

Its first scheme will be Moda’s 458-home 36-storey tower at Angel Gardens in Manchester, located in the centre of the Co-operative Group and Hermes’ 20-acre NOMA masterplan. Further schemes will also be developed in Birmingham, Liverpool, and the south-east.

Richard Jackson, co-founder and managing director of Apache Capital Partners, said: “Following two years of intensive due diligence, we, at Apache Capital, are very pleased to be forming this strategic joint venture with Moda Living, our development and operating partner.

“The 5,000-unit secured portfolio provides us immediate scale and Apache Capital and Moda Living will currently be the largest owner of regional purpose-built PRS and the second largest owner overall in the UK. “This strategy builds on the success of Apache Capital’s Social Infrastructure investment platform, where we have aggregated an institutional grade portfolio of assets in the student accommodation and healthcare sectors.“ Johnny Caddick, director of Moda Living, added: “We’re really pleased Apache Capital acknowledge and understand the vision Moda Living has to deliver a best-in-class PRS product and we are looking forward to delivering our portfolio with them as our strategic partners.”

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FINANCE NEWS Government RTB investment plans revealed Councils will have to use the income generated from Right to Buy (RTB) sales to fund more affordable housing and will be required to sell off their most expensive housing when it falls vacant, the government has revealed.

Under the terms of the Housing Bill announced in the Queen’s speech, councils will also have to use any surplus to fund the RTB for housing association tenants as well as investing any remainder in a new Brownfield Regeneration Fund to increase the supply of new housing.

Communities secretary Greg Clark insisted that the new RTB policy would increase housebuilding and reduce social housing waiting lists.

“The sales receipts will be put toward new affordable homes, which along with government funding will allow one-for-one replacement in the same area,” he explained. “Rather than one rented property there will be two properties: an old one with a new homeowner, and a new one available for those in need on the waiting list.”

However, housing charity Shelter warned that the one-for-one policy would lead to a shortage of new homes, citing figures for Greater Manchester where 863 social rented homes have been sold since 2012 but only two have been built.

In a blog on Shelter’s website, John Bibby said: “The reason for this failure to replace can’t be pinned on the councils themselves, as some have suggested. This isn’t simply a question of local government not playing ball, it stems from the way the replacement scheme has been designed.

“To put it bluntly, the government has tried to squeeze too much out of too small an amount of money.”

“In much of the country, Right to Buy property prices (after the discount) aren’t big enough to cover the cost of building a new home once the Treasury has taken its cut. In Manchester this has meant that the City Council has received barely any money to build replacement council homes. In fact, for the first 112 Right to Buy sales in the City, the council received precisely zero pounds and pence to build replacement homes.”

The Housing Bill also outlined plans for a Right to Build policy, where people would be given the right to be allocated land with planning permission for them to self-build or commission a local builder to build a home, with the dual purpose of increasing housing supply and boosting small and medium-size builders.

Scottish Help to Buy scheme closes to new applications The Help to Buy scheme in Scotland has closed to new applications, less than two months into this year’s round of funding, after demand far outstripped supply.

The Scottish government set aside £100m to fund the main Help to Buy shared equity scheme for larger homebuilders this financial year, but announced that the scheme would close to new applications on 26 May, with sales taking place until February 2016.

According to Scottish housing minister Margaret Burgess, “sales have far exceeded the industry’s original target of 4,500” and she confirmed that the government would “continue to engage with the housebuilding industry to consider what further support might be required in the future”. The Help to Buy Small Developers scheme, which offers assistance to those buying homes from SMEs and has £30m of funding available, will continue to take applications.

Philip Hogg, chief executive of industry body Homes for Scotland, commented: “The Help to Buy (Scotland) scheme has been a real game-changer for our industry, stimulating the construction of much-needed new housing following the 40% plus drop in building witnessed

since the downturn and creating vital jobs. However, it has been clear for many months that the budget was insufficient to meet demand.

“With no details or firm commitment on any future support forthcoming, buyers and builders here are now at significant disadvantage to those south of the border and face months of uncertainty while the Scottish government decides whether or not to launch a successor scheme.

“This is the worst possible outcome, threatening any industry recovery that may be underway with the implications for jobs that this brings. We therefore call on the Scottish government to follow the lead of the Welsh government, which has pledged to extend its Help to Buy scheme without committing a budget and make its intentions clear in order that people have the confidence they need to buy a new home and businesses have the predictability they require to invest in skills and resources.”

Construction SMEs suffering ‘Significant’ distress due to lack of bank finance The number of construction SMEs suffering ‘Significant’ financial distress is continuing to rise as traditional lenders tighten their purse strings, business recovery specialist Begbies Traynor has warned According to the latest Begbies Traynor Red Flag Alert for Q1 2015, which monitors the financial health of UK companies, the UK’s construction industry has experienced a 45% increase in ‘Significant’ financial distress over the past 12 months, rising to 20,770 struggling businesses compared to 14,337 in the same quarter last year.

While distress levels among larger construction companies have

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remained largely flat over the period, SMEs in the sector have struggled in the hostile lending environment. The research revealed that 97% of the sector’s struggling businesses are SMEs; with ‘Significant’ distress levels increasing dramatically over the past year, from 13,727 companies in Q1 2014 to 20,163 Q1 2015, a rise of 46%.

Julie Palmer, partner and property expert at Begbies Traynor, said: “While small housebuilders, developers and construction firms contribute a huge amount to the UK’s housing and construction output, in recent years these smaller companies have declined

in number and have missed out on the growth opportunities that their larger peers have enjoyed. At the heart of the problem is a general reluctance to lend to this important group, which is seriously obstructing their growth and contributing to the rising levels of financial distress that we are seeing today.

“The construction sector has always proved difficult to lend to, as many elements of their contracts are complex, subject to dispute and suffer from lengthy payment terms, making them high risk investments for the cautious banks, who had their fingers burnt during the last financial crisis. Unfortunately, the

Prompt Payment Code has had a negligible effect on late payments so far and under intensified financial regulations, the banks have become even more risk averse.

With insufficient alternative lenders to plug the gap, construction SMEs are being left without the capital they need to move forward.

“The outlook for the construction industry remains positive; however, many of the proposed policies are too focused on the end consumer and do not go far enough to support construction firms at the bottom end. Ultimately there need to be more avenues for SMEs to access funding, and no sector needs it more than construction.”

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SHOWHOUSE

IN THE

CITY with David Smith

The election is now a long way behind us but the sighs of relief from many in the property sector have not quite stopped reverberating. The mansion tax, which was a risk even if the Conservatives had continued in government with the Liberal Democrats – and was a certainty if Labour had won – has now been kicked into the very long grass.

It remains possible at some stage in the future, and it is possible the new Tory government will institute a reform of council tax bands as a partial alternative. I suspect, however, we have seen the last of the mansion tax. The Liberal Democrats have become a mini minor party and Labour has identified the mansion tax as one of the factors in its defeat. Not many people live in £2m-plus properties, but plenty aspire to do so.

The death of the mansion tax is not the only reason why the champagne corks have been popping in the offices of central London estate agents. We will never now know what the effects would have been of the abolition of non-domicile tax status. There would have been exceptions, mainly affecting people staying in Britain for years rather than decades, but ending non-dom status would have sent out a powerful signal to the world. Wealthy foreigners could have felt unwelcome. When last in office Labour knew this was sensitive territory and reformed rather than abolished non-dom status. As I say, we will never know for sure but I think we had a narrow escape.

Away from the stratosphere, what does the election mean for the wider market? I wrote last month that the market had decent momentum leading up to polling day, though some detected the impact of election uncertainty. I know people who pulled out of purchases because they

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feared a prolonged period of political uncertainty or because they wanted to wait to see which of the parties’ campaign offers – on stamp duty and other issues – might be available to them.

As it is, the challenge for the housing and planning minister Brandon Lewis, who remains in his job when for a while it seemed he would not, is partly business as usual, partly bringing more a new energy to housing priorities. I am not sure that offering housing association tenants generous right-to-buy discounts should be one of those priorities. The promised lifting

of the inheritance tax threshold to £1m on main residences, which we may see action on in George Osborne’s July budget, may make older people less willing to downsize and free up larger properties, but we shall see.

I predicted a few months ago that housing would feature heavily in the election campaign.

It did, but in a rather disappointing way. Rent controls (Labour) and right-to-buy (Conservatives) seemed more like a rerun of All Our Yesterdays rather than an attempt to address the pressing need for more new housing. Though the parties traded numbers for how many new homes would be built on their watch, there was a lot less than there should have been on how those numbers would be delivered.

So what’s happening at the moment? We are in one of those periods when there is a lot of post-election anecdote but not a lot of hard data. The last NHBC figures for new housing registrations, released after the election, look back to the first quarter. They were encouraging – registrations across the UK were 18% up on a year earlier – with most regions reporting strong increases. The only two that did not were the north-east and, perhaps surprisingly, Greater London. Mike Quinton, NHBC’s chief executive, described the figures as “encouraging” but added that he looked forward to working with the new government to rectify a situation in which Britain was “still building way below the volumes of homes that we need”.

Bovis, in its AGM trading statement, provided an update for the period to 8 May – so covering the election, if not much beyond it – and was upbeat. Forward sales on 8 May stood at 3,049 homes, 8% ahead of a year earlier.

David Ritchie, Bovis’s chief executive, said: “We have traded well in a positive UK housing market, building a strong forward sales position on an increased number of sales outlets. We are on track to deliver our expected growth for 2015 and a further increase in shareholder returns.

We are planning to step up the 2015 full-year dividend to 40 pence per share compared to our previously stated commitment to pay at least 35 pence per share.”

There was a similar strong message from Barratt and Mark Clare, its outgoing chief executive. Its update covered the period since the start of the year to 10 May. According to Clare: “Our sales performance has remained strong, with net private reservations per week increasing to 289 (2014: 280) for the period, resulting in average net private reservations per active site per week of 0.74 (2014: 0.77). The strong consumer demand we are seeing for new build properties is supported by an improved mortgage market, with the range of mortgage products available to our customers increasing and borrowing rates remaining at very competitive levels. The Help to Buy (Equity Loan) scheme continues to be a very attractive opportunity for our customers.”

So early days, but it looks like so far, so good.

The housing market hates uncertainty, and uncertainty is what was feared. The new homes market remains on an upward trajectory. The challenge now is to steepen it. sh David Smith is the economics editor of The Sunday Times

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There’s just one problem when it comes to energy efficiency – and that’s the fact that it applies to every inch of a new-build home. KATE HAMILTON reports

R&D and training, equipping our employees to produce innovative products that meet the sustainable agenda that all are looking for today.”

Over the last decade Oregon Timber Frame has developed and brought to market various incarnations of its energy-efficient, insulated panel (Oregon IP) system.

“Currently we are working to increase the thermal values without structural compromise and, at the same time, are improving the psi-values of non-repeating junctions,” continues Dodyk. “The continual ‘step change improvements’ introduced by legislation in respect of building fabric performance, plus the reduction in air leakage will ensure that homeowners see a reduction in running costs.

The highly insulated, energy-efficient performance Oregon IP delivers ensures that homes keep their warmth longer, reducing the running time and costs of domestic heating systems.”

Oregon works on a ‘partnering’ basis with customers, ensuring that it is

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The warmest areas seen here in red show where heat is being lost from the building from first generation PVC-U windows.

Courtesy of VEKA

From the very moment you consider building a new home, energy efficiency has to be at the forefront of your mind. A necessity as far as government regulations are concerned, energy conservation is also a major selling point to today’s buyers.

But where do you start? One of the biggest energy savers is, of course, the fabric-first approach – whereby you use the most sustainable building methods possible in the first instance.

By manufacturing an energy-efficient product made from sustainably sourced timber, which delivers ahead of current regulations, Oregon Timber Frame routinely helps housebuilders meet their sustainability agenda.

“By encouraging innovation throughout all parts of the business, we are able to optimise the design of all elements while, at the same time, reducing waste and improving the manufacturing process in our own factories,” explains technical director Robin Dodyk. “We invest significantly in

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PRODUCT PORTFOLIO

Innovation has always been at the very heart of VEKA

Beko has a range of energy-efficient appliances

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together. The comprehensive testing methods include both the hotbox and in situ schemes so, installed as a full system, the Hybrid range gives the specifier peace of mind that the performance is guaranteed on-site, ultimately negating the performance gap related issues.”

The Actis Hybrid range offers excellent U-values without having to dramatically increase the construction depth, meaning that housebuilders can maximise the useable footprint of a building and still have outstanding thermal performance. In fact, depending on the combination of products used and the thickness of the insulation element, Hybrid U-values can reach 0.09W/m²K. And, since improved U-values will inevitably see reductions in fuel bills, this is great news as far as buyers are concerned.

“Quite often, increased energy bills due to a lack of fabric performance can be caused by something as simple as a small break in the thermal envelope – or, in layman’s terms, a draught,” adds Rhodes. “The science behind the Hybrid range is incredibly sophisticated, but the on-site installation is not. Quite the contrary; the products have been designed to

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In 2013 Grundig relaunched in the UK with a range of quality, stylish, energy-efficient home appliances

involved at an early stage of design, seeding innovation and cost saving into projects, and therefore delivering best outcomes for both partners.

Not only can the manufacturer advise on possible solutions to relevant new Building Regulations but, where necessary, help deliver cost-effective, technically correct detailing for elemental interfaces.

Pioneering pan-European insulation manufacturer Actis has also been determined to design a system that addressed the performance gap – and was the first to create a dual-tested insulation range that performs as well in real life as the calculations and tests predicted. The Actis Hybrid range offers impressive U-values even where space is at a premium and complies with revised Part L regulations, helping eliminate thermal bridging.

“With ever-increasing responsibility being placed on the manufacturer to help reduce the performance gap, more attention is being paid to developing systems that work as well in reality as they do in theory at design stage. This is where the Hybrid range is unrivalled,” comments Matt Rhodes, Actis specification manager. “The products are developed together, manufactured accordingly and tested

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PRODUCT PORTFOLIO Miller Homes’ Braehead, Glasgow, a dense development where Oregon’s good airtight detailing is essential

“With ever-increasing responsibility being placed on the manufacturer to help reduce the performance gap, more attention is being paid to developing systems that work as well in reality as they do in theory at design stage”

level through higher output than any other UK company, this means that our customers lower their carbon footprint just from using products from The VEKA UK Group.”

Halo (a VEKA Group subsidiary) impressed the industry with its pioneering TwinSash system, which can achieve a U-value of just 0.38W/m²K using triple-glazed, krypton-filled units and foam-filled sections. It can even achieve extremely low U-values using what is considered to be the industry’s most cost-effective combination of components; using two 28mm double glazed IGUs (air filled,

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be more forgiving than more traditional means of insulation, thus maintaining the energy performance calculated at design stage. In fact, a Hybrid range install is quite difficult to get wrong.”

Window manufacturer VEKA UK’s commitment to energy efficiency is also widely recognised. The firm was quick off the mark when it came to meeting the WER requirements, and was the first supplier in the industry to gain an ‘A’ rating on one of its window systems.

“It has always been of great benefit to us and our customers to remain ahead of the curve when addressing energy-efficiency practices,” says Richard Garland, head of commercial sales. “When the Building Regulations were updated to include WERs as a route to compliance, fabricators of The VEKA UK Group’s brands were better placed than most.”

Innovation has been at the very heart of VEKA since it became a part of Burnley’s manufacturing heritage almost 30 years ago. It continually reviews its manufacturing processes in order to ensure that it is working in the most efficient ways possible. Most recently, this has included the building of a new £5m mixing plant, a £1m powder feed system, and a new £450,000 quality lab.

“The mixing plant is currently the most technically advanced mixing plant in the UK and has a 64,000-tonne capacity, which means we have complete control of product quality and consistency – using our new quality laboratory to test and control the materials we produce,” continues Garland. “And, as our PVC-U compound is mixed at a lower energy

The Actis Hybrid range is quick, clean and easy to install and gives impressive U-values

Actis Hybris is a totally new form of insulation and forms part of the CE-marked Actis Hybrid range

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PRODUCT PORTFOLIO Grundig offers a fiveyear warranty across its entire range

float glass and aluminium spacer bar) the TwinSash can still achieve an impressive U-value of just 1.2W/m?K. “Having energy-efficient windows installed will not only keep the elements out but also the warmth in, meaning homeowners will save on their heating bills, as well as helping to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases homes produce,” adds Garland.

Of course, the other area that buyers enquire about in terms of energyefficiency is white goods and integrated appliances. Beko is just one manufacturer that offers a range of energy-efficient appliances that are ideal for housebuilders that need to meet sustainability regulations.

Independent consumer champions (including the Energy Saving Trust) verify its product energy-efficiency claims – which say it provides some of the best energy-efficiency solutions on the market.

“Appliances with lower energy and water usage can allow housebuilders to add value to other parts of the property and yet still meet the latest water consumption per person per day targets,” explains Murat Sapci, head of built-in and leisure at Beko.

“For example, our Grundig GNV41810 dishwasher is A+ rated and uses just six litres of water to wash a familysized load of dishes. This means housebuilders can then choose to

90| June 2015 showhouse

A well-insulated interior from Oregon Timber Frame for Miller Homes apartment development at Braehead

specify a shower with greater volume or a more luxurious bath.”

Meanwhile the GEBM34001 from Grundig (a Beko brand) is one of the world’s most energy-efficient and silent ovens. It has an energy usage that is 45% more efficient than standard Arated ovens. This appliance not only saves the homeowner a significant amount of money on energy bills, it also means that housebuilders can take advantage of the energy saving and use it to add other appliances to the property while keeping the

home within required sustainability regulations, therefore increasing the property’s overall value.

And manufacturers are improving the energy efficiency of their products and services constantly. This means that it’s relatively easy for housebuilders to stay ahead of the sustainable regulations game – provided that they keep up to date on the products and installation techniques currently on offer. Because what was the most energy-efficient product this time last year may well have been pipped to the post today. sh

CONTACTS Actis Insulation www.insulation-actis.com Beko www.beko.co.uk Oregon Timber Frame www.oregon.co.uk VEKA UK www.vekauk.com

Cost savings have been made through SIG360’s value engineering of projects which have seen us actually reduce cavity sizes, saving money on insulation, lintels and other materials.

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Providing impartial product advice Support and services include: • Design and “As built” SAP • U-Value Calculations • Condensation risk analysis • Guidance on Building Regulation compliance • Energy Performance Certificates • Predicted energy assessments • Energy statements • Thermal modelling • Impartial product advice

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INSIDE OUT Bright splashes of vibrant colour in this Grade II listed convent conversion for Linden Homes

by Jane Clayton and Company

Driving a hard bargain If you thought that show home design was all about soft furnishings, then think again.

Because, as KATE HAMILTON discovers, clever interior design is actually all about the hard sell

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INSIDE OUT THIS IMAGE Shanly Homes’ Downs Reach in Epsom Downs, Surrey, by Andrew Henry Interiors BELOW Alexander James Interiors has been creating show home interiors for the past 20 years

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building. It’s important to make sure a show home is memorable so that potential purchasers walk away remembering your brand rather than the competitors.”

And getting this balance of design and budget right is no mean feat.

As Tristan Evans, sales director of Show Business Interiors, explains: “The challenge to constantly produce a standard of work that is both a commercial and creative success is a rare opportunity. But, if you are passionate about what you do, this is something you thrive on.”

Andrew Henry Interiors is also commercially aware; in fact, the company sees its primary role as providing the single largest marketing tool to its clients.

“We believe that our team of designers are highly creative and imaginative and produce designs that exceed our clients’ brief,” explains Andrew Henry. “This is achieved by providing schemes that are full of interesting ideas and also address any possible buying objections or negatives. Our starting point with any design is how do we make the target market really want to live in this house?”

The answer is often to be as realistic as you can. “Most people who go

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In a nutshell, a show home is a marketing tool – and a vital one at that. It is therefore essential that it is dressed its best in order to get buyers to sign on the dotted line.

However, when you are appealing to a wide variety of people, this isn’t quite as easy as it sounds.

“The presence of a show home assists the marketing team in a number of ways,” explains Ben Axton, sales manager of Alexander James Interior Design. “Primarily, faster sales are achieved, and almost invariably at a higher price when a show home is opened. In fact, we have clients who always produce a second pricelist for the show house ‘complete’ with all furnishings and accessories, which is a good source of extra profit.”

In fact, budget is key when it comes to the show home.

“The show home is a developer’s main selling tool, so it’s essential that each property is appealing to the right market and that we stay on brief and on budget to ensure maximum return on investment,” says Peter Kelsey, managing director at Designer Contracts – the UK’s leading supplier of floor coverings to the new build sector. “This is particularly relevant on mixed developments, where more than one developer is

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www.aji.co.uk Creating beautiful interiors from concept to completion

INSIDE OUT BOTTOM An elegant CGI image of Barratt London’s Great Minster House development in Westminster.

Interior design by Suna Interior Design; CGI by Pelican for Barratt London BELOW Duchy Homes’ exclusive Treeneuk Gardens development in Chesterfield, by Designer Contracts THIS PIC At the moment, gold and bronze hues are working really well in the show homes for Story Homes RIGHT TOP Story Homes’ The Beeches in Kendal, Cumbria RIGHT BOTTOM Cala Homes’ Chiltern Grange development in Chesham was designed by Claude Hooper Interiors

home provides internal images of the properties that help to engage with potential customers in advertising and brochures,” he says. “We work closely with our customers to understand both their brand and their target market on each development so that design of the show homes reinforces the marketing communication and is attractive to the correct target market.”

Of course, in a strong housing market, it is always tempting to forget the show home altogether and sell as much as you can off-plan.

But not only does this mean that your marketing material won’t be up to scratch, there is also a risk that you won’t realise your scheme’s full potential in financial terms.

“We sometimes worry that a housing market boom will kill our show home business as developers start selling off-plan,” says Richard Clayton, managing director of Jane Clayton and Company. “But in marketing terms, selling off-plan represents a failure to maximise market potential – essentially, you’re selling too cheap!

Our job, as ever, is to help push our clients’ sales and margins as far as they will go. We’ve done it for nearly 40 years, so I think it works.”

Jane Clayton and Company is actually one of the bigger show home specialists, but it has stuck to a small-business model of personal

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looking for a new house want something aspirational, but also something that they can achieve themselves, which I always bear in mind,” says Suzanne Webster, Story Homes’ interior stylist. “Getting the look right really supports homes sales and I always give the sales team cards with a list of everything that is in their houses so they can tell people where to buy items from.”

Kim Hayman, from Applemoon Design, agrees. “We believe that show home design should be about helping the developer to sell the houses. That is the bottom line,” she says. “We work closely with developers to meet their expectations from the outset. We provide comprehensive moodboards and aim to have a final product that is as close to this initial concept as possible. We are on hand before, during and after installation to hold the client’s hand as much or as little as they need us to be.”

In addition, the marketing material that can be produced as a result of opening a show home is far superior, as showing the property dressed and ready for the new owners to move in can attract more interest for the developer in both traditional and social media.

Jonathon Hooper of Claude Hooper Interiors agrees. “The show

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We emphasise the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Homeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in your showhome.

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INSIDE OUT have been in business, DAPA has intentionally remained concise in size, with a team of just over 20 key people.

This means that we are the right size to ensure each client and project is personal and has the full focus of the entire team.”

Another service that interior designers can provide is visuals for CGIs – meaning you can get your marketing on track before the show home is even completed. “We recently launched Design for CGI, which is where we create unique interior designs for the CGI companies to have bespoke designs that reflect their market well before the need for the show homes,” explains Helen Fewster, co-director, co-owner and interior designer at Suna Interior Design.

“With the growth in the housing market many developers are able to sell future developments off-plan and, in order to do this, they are using CGIs. This is where we step into the process, by using our extensive experience in the design industry to bridge the gap

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one-to-one service. Clients work with one dedicated designer for their project, seeing things through from first conversation to last decoration. Relationships develop, with a deep understanding of what the client needs.

Designs for all Occasions also offers developers a personal service, meeting with their purchasers to design and style their new homes for them so that their property is furnished and ready to move into. “This service is particularly important with an international clientele,” explains founder Esther Bond. “If language is a barrier, we can even offer the services of an interpreter.”

Another firm that believes in personal service is DAPA. “When DAPA creates an interior it is more than just work to showcase in our portfolio; we work in a partnership with our clients to engage potential customers through the whole of the customer journey,” says sales director Rob Burton. “During the six years that we

“In marketing terms, selling off-plan represents a failure to maximise market potential – essentially, you’re selling too cheap” TOP Prints are back, for both fabrics and wallpapers. It’s fun to use papers such as ‘Picture Gallery’ from Sanderson, by Jane Clayton and Company ABOVE DAPA designed the 21st floor of Redrow London’s One Commercial Street development THIS PIC A touch of opulence by Claude Hooper Interiors at Linden Homes’ Ashlar Court development in Hammersmith

showhouse June 2015 |

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INSIDE OUT

between developers who want up-todate design and CGI companies with their technical prowess. We create visual packages for both external and internal interiors.”

So it seems that in an industry where it is easy to over-promise and underdeliver, there are plenty of interior designers that are able to use their skills to help you make sales. And there’s nothing soft about that. sh

CONTACTS TOP A stylish, contemporary, open-plan living space in Rydon Construction’s Mettle & Poise development in East London. Interior design by Suna Interior Design; CGI by me&dave for Rydon Construction ABOVE LEFT Applemoon Design specialises in made-to-measure soft furnishings ABOVE Designs for all Occasions is offering quality show home interior design at realistic prices THIS PIC Linden Homes’ Ashlar Court, by Claude Hooper Interiors

Alexander James Interior Design www.aji.co.uk Applemoon Design www.applemooninteriors.co.uk Andrew Henry Interiors www.andrewhenry.co.uk Claude Hooper Interiors www.claudehooper.co.uk DAPA www.interiorsbydapa.co.uk Designer Contracts www.designercontracts.com Designs for all Occasions www.dfao.co.uk Jane Clayton and Company www.janeclayton.co.uk Show Business Interiors www.sbinteriors.co.uk Story Homes www.storyhomes.co.uk Suna Interior Design www.sunainteriordesign.com

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MARKETING & MEDIA by Ginetta Vedrickas

Every trick in the book Getting new clients through the door is always a challenge, especially as a build progresses, but an unusual marketing initiative by London Square has achieved just that. In just three days 75 highnet-worth individuals (HNWIs) visited The Pembridge show house at London Square Fulham thanks to the housebuilder’s partnership with publishers of the world’s finest books, TASCHEN. London Square’s sales manager Sandra Bruce (right top) set up the partnership after selling the show home: “It was a bit of a family tie-in as the purchaser bought it on a sale and leaseback and they had connections to the publishing company.”

TASCHEN typically hosts a stand at Olympia’s annual Book Fair but this year it sought a more luxurious, intimate venue where it could showcase its collection of high-end books.

“From a PR perspective it’s very much our kind of clientele,” explains Bruce. “They asked us to host events for their HNWIs who were all invited personally, which was the ideal scenario.”

London Square Fulham’s The Pembridge won gold for Best House at the 2014 WhatHouse?

Awards and the development’s centrepiece is a magnificent garden square. Bruce was keen to maximise the marketing potential of a venue that she says many locals are unaware of. “Unless they are already buying or have seen our ads, a lot of people don’t even know that it exists, yet it’s such an amazing square with 40 houses set around it. This was one way of getting people in to see it but, more importantly, they are the kinds of people who, even if they don’t turn out to be purchasers, will now know our brand, what we have in the pipeline and will recommend us to family, friends or colleagues who may be looking; it’s a very good option.”

London Square Fulham’s houses range from

£3.9m up to £4.15m. Elegant townhouse The Pembridge has four bedrooms and spans five storeys, providing the ideal venue for TASCHEN’s three days of events, which included an evening attended by 40 guests. “We spent the night chatting to guests about London Square developments; it raised our profile with exactly the right clientele,” adds Bruce.

TASCHEN’s sales director Matthew Fry (below) describes the collaboration as a “total success” and a great alternative to the usual trade fair: “We wanted to do something close by but not in a hotel so were looking for private space and this worked very well.”

Matching brands can be problematic but Fry says London Square Fulham was the perfect fit: “It is a beautiful space with exactly the right kind of ambience for our visitors, who came from all over the world. The mix with this high-end development was perfectly aligned.”

Investing in a new marketing strategy can be risky – and costly – but the tie in had no cost implications, says Bruce. “It was a win-win situation and an easy job for me!”

Four Communications’ head of property PR Marion Hardman (right) says introducing clients to aligned brands is an effective way to reach buyers. “A garden at the Chelsea Flower Show, an artisan food market, specialist drinks tastings and supporting local events are just some of the ideas we have delivered for London Square since we started working with the company when it launched five years ago.” Four has worked with Hampstead Theatre and design festivals for other clients and has award-winning arts, culture and food and drink teams. “We are always keen to introduce clients to other clients across the agency,” says Hardman.

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MARKETING & MEDIA

Consulting the Oracle Property PR and marketing specialist Oracle Group is growing from strength to strength, adding a new account, Buy2Let.com, to a burgeoning client list. A new marketing portal exclusively for listing and searching for investment properties, Buy2Let.com aims to revolutionise the way investors find and compare opportunities and the way estate agents, developers and corporate landlords market buyto-let properties. Oracle’s founder and managing director Caroline Coskry (middle) is excited about the new account: “Many companies claim to be unique, but when I came across Buy2Let.com I thought why has nobody thought of this before? It’s a great idea.”

Oracle’s client stable includes housebuilders Millgate and Asprey Homes and housing associations Genesis and Octavia but a dedicated investment portal is a timely addition.

With pension reform and council licensing changes, many anticipate a boom in buy-to-let.

The £1tn sector grew from £15.7bn in lending in 2012 to £27.4bn last year, and shows no signs of stopping. Buy2Let.com’s founder Martin Wilkinson (far right) says investors are driven by two things: appetite for risk and annual yield.

“We have made both of these key features of our portal, to make it easier for investors to see exactly what they are getting. Working with estate agents, developers, and corporate landlords, we source and list only genuine buy-

to-let investment properties, providing estate agents with a direct marketing outlet, and investors with a dedicated source of opportunities and analysis of the market.”

Coskry says devising a marketing strategy for the company will differ from more typical initiatives.

“It will be more digital than our standard marketing strategy. The first element was to launch the website to encourage agents and developers to list; we intend carrying out very targeted PR to get the message across to the right people.”

Ginetta Vedrickas can be contacted at Ginetta.V@ntlworld.com

SHOWHOUSE AD OF THE MONTH: Redrow’s ‘Very Redrow’ campaign The brief?

The campaign wanted to draw on the features that Redrow believe make it stand out from the competition.

The characteristics it chose to focus on included its carefully chosen locations, distinctive architecture and innovative and intuitive interiors designed around the dynamics of modern family living. The housebuilder says this is complemented by high specification and attention to detail that ultimately deliver ‘real kerb appeal’.

Who’s behind it?

Redrow’s own in-house marketing team created the ad.

The team’s marketing mission is to create content rich and sharable campaigns, while developing a tone of voice that feels warm, personal and friendly, helping to build communication with its existing customer database as well as attracting a new audience across a multiplatform approach.

Who’s seen it?

Publications so far include The Redditch Standard, The Northants Evening Telegraph and The Gloucestershire

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Citizen. The ads have also been adapted for use as banner ads on various property portal websites and in email campaigns.

What do they say?

Kim Peters, Redrow group brand director, says: “Our current Very Redrow campaign draws on the unique features of our homes that make Redrow stand out from our competition. By placing ownership on each characteristic as being something that is ‘Very Redrow’ – that is to say these qualities are exactly what you would expect from Redrow – we not only establish the individual features in the mind of potential buyers but also create an overall message that such features are typical of Redrow’s high standards.”

How successful has it been?

Redrow describes its campaign results so far as ‘very positive’. Since the launch of the Very Redrow campaign in January, the housebuilder has noted a 56% increase in web traffic and a 37% increase in visitors to its developments.

N O 15 SO 20 G R IN BE M EM CO PT SE

The Future of Digital Property Marketing: A discussion on the rise and rise of multimedia sales in the property industry

Show House Round Table in association with Pelican Media A morning of conversation, with breakfast at 9am

VENUE – AQUA SHARD, THE SHARD, LONDON How is the public buying property in 2015?

What are the purchasing trends?

What opportunities does digital property marketing offer?

To register your interest please contact Phillipa at Pelican on phillipa.smith@pelican.gb.com or Iga at Show House on il@showhouse.co.uk

Pelican’s forecast for the future, covering: • Interactive software • Marketing suites • Overseas sales • Quality of leads- how digital property marketing helps define and refine this

EVERYONE NEEDS A LITTLE FRIENDLY COMPETITION! Enjoy 2 days* of sailing and networking 11th – 13th September Cowes, Isle of Wight Raise a sail, raise money, raise your profile or just raise a glass among the best sailors in the construction and property world.

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AFFORDABLE HOUSING NEWS edited by George Sell (georgesell@mac.com)

Notting Hill Housing secures £28m Japanese loan to build shared ownership homes Notting Hill Housing (NHH) has received a £28m loan from a Japanese lender to support its programme for providing shared ownership homes in London.

NHH says the 12-year loan is “both low-risk and has an unusually low rate of interest of 2.975%, reflecting the financial strength of NHH’s shared ownership arm, which received a strong AA (stable) credit rating by Standard & Poor’s rating agency in January 2015”.

Notting Hill Housing’s group finance director, Paul Phillips said: “We are delighted that we have been able to obtain this new loan. We also have the largest funding allocation from the GLA and together these will help finance our ambitious programme of buying and building 1,200 new shared ownership homes over the next three years. Although the 12-year loan term is shorter than is usual for housing associations, it matches very well to our forecasts, given the shared ownership product delivers a faster return on investment as customers buy more shares in their homes.”

NHH says the unsecured loan is low-risk as no properties are mortgaged against it. Repayment sums are fixed so there are no surprise increases if exchange or interest rates change.

Antoine Pesenti, managing director of TradeRisks, the finance and investment firm that coordinated the loan, said: “We are pleased to have helped Notting Hill Housing to open up a new source of capital at a very low interest rate.”

Welsh government to invest £108m in social housing stock The Welsh government has announced it is to spend £108m on improving the country’s social housing stock. The funding, announced by communities and tackling poverty minister Lesley Griffiths, will be used by local authorities and social landlords to ensure residents’ homes are “safe, secure and meet the Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS)”.

The grant will also create jobs and training opportunities across Wales.

Lesley Griffiths said: “We want everyone in Wales to have the opportunity to live in a good quality home within a safe and secure community. Investment in people’s homes has a far-reaching impact – it is vital in improving the nation’s health and creating jobs and training opportunities. This is why we are taking decisive action to protect and improve Wales’ social housing stock. In addition to this significant £108m investment and our proposal to end right to buy in Wales, we are also investing over £400m in affordable homes through our Social Housing Grant programme during this government term.”

Cheyne Capital launches £900m Social Property Investment Fund Fund manager Cheyne Capital has set up its Social Property Investment Fund, which has £900m of funds from global pension funds and high net worth individuals to invest in UK social housing.

The fund has already completed its first deal – providing £8.5m of funding to build 80 council flats in Luton, which the local authority will rent for 21 years, receiving full nomination rights. The homes will be let at “genuinely affordable rent”, agreed with Luton Council, below Local Housing Allowance levels, and are built with no government grant.

Further deals with housing associations and local authorities are close to agreement. All deals agreed through the fund have built-in social covenants to ensure the properties remain at low rents and meet the Decent Homes Standard. The deals are structured to be accounted off balance sheet, allowing councils to avoid government-imposed borrowing restrictions.

Shamez Alibhai, manager of the fund, said: “We look at this space and see a dislocation between supply and demand. There are 1.5 million households on social housing waiting lists and not enough homes being built. The sector has a very strong and stable cash flow profile.”

Cheyne expects to invest the entire £900m over the next three to four years. The fund is able to purchase or develop properties and is open to offering a wide-variety of funding structures

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AFFORDABLE HOUSING NEWS

Developers in Greenwich to submit public viability studies for projects with less than 35% social housing The Royal Borough of Greenwich is planning to make it mandatory for all developers to supply a fully public viability study if they submit planning applications that don’t meet the council’s requirement for 35% affordable housing in new residential developments of more than 10 new homes.

Under the current system, developers who claimed a proposed scheme is not economically viable with this level of affordable housing supply a viability study, which they can request stays confidential.

The study is assessed by an independent expert on behalf of the council, which then makes recommendations to the planning board.

The new criteria setting out what information should be provided when submitting a planning application includes the requirement to provide a fully public viability study, which will be subject to public consultation as part of the planning application.

Councillor Danny Thorpe, Greenwich’s cabinet member for regeneration and transport, said: “This is about transparency for local people. At the moment our hands are tied on affordable housing levels if the viability study shows a development won’t work financially with the levels of affordable housing we want. This will now allow

the whole process to be far more transparent; making the viability studies publicly available as part of the planning documents means the Royal Borough and residents alike can see precisely why a developer might claim they cannot meet our affordable housing targets.

We believe we’re the first local authority in the country to be doing this – looking at policy that insists on these studies being in the public domain. We now want to hear what people think about this policy, so please do give us your views”.

L&Q to launch PRS division London RSL L&Q is setting up a separate private rented sector division, and will transfer £250m worth of PRS stock to the new company, as it launches a 50,000-home development programme, which has been described as “the biggest development drive in the sector’s history”.

L&Q currently has a pipeline of 2,000 PRS homes, all of which will be transferred to the new company. It is planning for 8,500 of the 50,000 homes to be for L&Q PRS, which will be established in the autumn, by which time between 650 and 1,000 of the new homes will have been completed.

The main L&Q group will gift £250m of funding to the new company, which it will then use to purchase the PRS homes from the group. Rental income from the homes will then be used to raise finance for the development of further new homes.

L&Q is also building 16,500 homes for affordable rent and 25,000 for market sale and lowcost home ownership.

IFS: Right to buy could undermine UK public finances The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) says there are “considerable uncertainties” surrounding the government’s plans to extend the right to buy to housing associations, and that the plan could “worsen the UK’s underlying public finance position”.

In a briefing paper published after the election, the IFS said: “Extending right to buy to HA tenants would bring about equal treatment of HA and LA tenants, and additional sales would increase home ownership rates. It would also represent a significant giveaway to HA tenants – potentially billions of pounds over the next parliament – paid for by selling public assets (expensive LA properties). This would worsen the UK’s underlying public finance position.”

It added: “Sales of expensive LA properties would reduce the availability of social housing in the most expensive areas, thereby creating clearer divisions between areas where richer and poorer households are located – though it might also facilitate an increase in social housing construction. There are considerable uncertainties surrounding the revenues that can be raised from sales of expensive properties, the costs of right to buy discounts and the cost of replacing sold properties. These reflect both genuine difficulties in predicting the effect of

108| June 2015 showhouse

the policies and a lack of detail in the Conservative Party’s announcement. Given this uncertainty, and the coalition’s less-than-impressive record in delivering replacement social housing under the existing right to buy, there is a risk that these policies will lead to a further depletion of the social housing stock – something the proposal explicitly seeks to avoid.”

The paper also pointed out a lack of detailed costing of implementing the right to buy extension: “There is an upfront cost to extending right to buy because HAs need to be compensated for selling properties below their market value. However, there are no published estimates of the expected cost. The cost will depend on the number of properties sold, which in turn depends on the number of HA tenants who are eligible, willing and able to afford to purchase the property and on the discounts on these properties. The discounts available depend on how long those exercising their right to buy have lived there. Analysis produced by the National Housing Federation (NHF) suggests that about 1.4 million HA tenant households will be eligible in principle – that is, they will have lived in their property for at least three years. Of this group, about 550,000 already have a ‘preserved’ right to buy, leaving 850,000 who

could benefit from the new proposal. Based on analysis of the average value of HA properties, length of tenancies and average household incomes in different regions, the NHF estimates that about 221,000 households could afford to exercise their right to buy, at a total cost of £11.6bn. This probably provides an upper bound on the total cost of right to buy discounts over the next parliament. The cost could be much less depending on actual choices made by tenants.”

The right to buy extension has also been criticised by other out-of-sector bodies. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said the plan “doesn’t solve the problem of boosting the supply of affordable homes”, while credit rating agency Moody’s, which rates 43 of the country’s largest RSLs, said the move could affect their financial viability, potentially damaging their ability to raise private finance to pay for new housebuilding.

Jeanne Harrison, a Moody’s analyst, said that right to buy sales would “give housing associations short-term cash flow upside”, but could also “erode their rental income streams and potentially impair both their balance sheets and future borrowing capacity” if they could not afford to replace the homes sold via right to buy.

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Keep calm and carry on What the new government is offering may not all be good news for the social housing sector, but, says SIMON GRAHAM, housing associations are better than most at adapting to political pressures

A

neck and neck campaign, a final week of Labour mistakes and an electorate deciding in the sanctity of the voting booth that, no, they still didn’t believe in the Labour leader as a prime minister and at least they knew what they were getting with the Conservatives. It was 1992 all over again.

So where does that leave housing associations for the next five years?

Let’s start with the good news.

There is clarity. The policy landscape will follow a direction of travel the sector has got itself used to since 2010, even if the adjustments have been painful at times and there will now be more to come. The Affordable Rent regime will stay in place, the rents model is fixed, the Affordable Housing Programme already decided. Certainty has its own value.

The economy is recovering. Assuming Europe or China don’t go belly up, the UK economy should be stable and interest rates and inflation should stay relatively low, helping support housebuilding. Living standards have started to rise and should carry on doing so, with pensioners protected and an important promise for lower income households to raise the personal tax allowance to £12,500 by the end of the parliament. Doubling free childcare hours for three- to four-year-olds will help some people go back to work. A solid economy makes business planning easier.

The new secretary of state for communities and local government, Greg Clark, comes from the left of the Tory party (he is a former Social Democrat). He has previously been local government minister and is an advocate of decentralisation and localism (he helped steer the Localism Bill through the Commons).

Hopefully, he will show a bit more empathy and willingness to engage than ‘slasher’ Pickles, though his room for manoeuvre will be limited.

Other appointments and David Cameron’s initial statements have also been interesting, saying that policies will be for “one nation”, rooted in “true social justice and genuine compassion”. Will his words prove as authentic as Margaret Thatcher quoting St Francis of Assisi (“where there is discord may we bring harmony...”, for you youngsters) or does new ‘bread and butter’ Dave actually mean it?

While we’re on personalities, Brandon Lewis retained his role as housing and planning minister, though not without initial comic confusion. Lewis has been in the post since

July 2014 and his prime interest has been in pushing home ownership. He has not given the impression of being a big fan of social housing or the nuances and complications of making policy for housing associations. How hands-on Greg Clark proves could be important for the sector.

Once again, the Conservative campaign made extending home ownership a headline promise, hoping for a Pavlovian response from the public and seeming to get it in some key marginal seats in the south-west and Midlands.

The unveiling of the promise to extend Right to Buy to 1.3 million housing association tenants on the eve of the Conservative manifesto launch was a body blow for the sector. Where to begin about how simplistic this is as a policy, how illconceived? It is a knee-jerk to the ‘property owning democracy’ ideal and there is a link here to Tory attacks on housing association surpluses.

This has all been looked at in detail several times before and rejected for good reasons – the last being under Brandon Lewis’s immediate predecessor, Kris Hopkins, in 2013. However, this deserves a full column in itself, so I’ll keep my powder dry for now.

The Conservatives also doubled their promise on ‘discounted’ home ownership for first-time buyers under 40, from 100,000 to 200,000 homes. The rules on this will see housebuilders get first dibs on brownfield land where they are prepared to provide starter homes for sale at 80% of market value to first-time buyers.

These homes will, gratuitously, count towards affordable housing planning obligations. It is bad

news for housing associations, who will struggle even harder to compete for land, and bad news for people needing genuinely affordable housing to rent or for shared ownership. Overall, it will reduce the volume of affordable homes built in the next five years. Doubling the commitment only exacerbates the problem.

In the Queen’s Speech the government announced plans to cut the overall household benefit cap from £26,000 to £23,000. More tenants in housing association homes and in the private sector, particularly in London, will find themselves suddenly short of the income to pay their rent, with obvious consequences for associations’ rental streams.

Another £12bn of welfare cuts are on the way.

Austerity will continue – we are only halfway through the cuts needed to balance the books and by far the hardest part is to come. Public services will be further depleted. Finances for many lower income families will be volatile and under constant, severe pressure, whether they are working or not.

Clearly, this is not a landscape many housing associations would willingly choose. But even if Labour had gained power, policy difference would have been limited by the major constraints on the public finances. The environment would still have been very challenging.

One of the things housing associations do brilliantly well is adapt to thrive. The next five years will test the sector’s skills, its creativity, its philosophical compass. But it will test the resilience of housing association residents far more. The sector must not lose sight of that fact. sh

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We invite your entries for the WhatHouse? Awards 2015 Housebuilder of the Year | Best Large Housebuilder | Best Medium Housebuilder Best Small Housebuilder | Sustainable Developer of the Year | Housing Association of the Year Best Starter Home Scheme | Best House | Best Apartment | Best Luxury House Best Renovation | Best Development | Best Partnership Scheme | Best Luxury Development Best Mixed Use Development | Best Sustainable Development Best Exterior Design | Best Landscape Design

Entry deadline is Monday 13th July A prospectus inviting housebuildersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; entries to the WhatHouse? Awards 2015 is available from Derek Smith - ds@globespanmedia.com

ENTRY BLUEPRINT

PRODUCT NEWS edited by Kate Hamilton (kh@globespanmedia.com)

All charged up Mark Wilkinson Furniture has launched a new tech drawer to charge internet connected mobile devices. The design adds up to four USB connection points into the body of a standard drawer (eight for a double drawer) and can also house standard three-pin plug points. The design team from Mark Wilkinson Furniture felt that many homes are running short of wall-mounted power points and family members are having to queue to keep their phones and tablets charged. As a result it has redesigned the single and double drawer in its kitchen, study and bedroom furniture to enable connection to charging wires or to power wireless charging pads. The image shows two devices under charge in a plain drawer, although, being a bespoke manufacturer it is possible to have divider sections fitted, much as they are in a cutlery drawer, to accept the different types of device and to store individual charging cables. www.mwf.com

Ship shape Sinks, taps and accessories manufacturer Reginox has launched the Admiral 40, a stainless steel sink that is ideal for installation where space is tight. The sink has a standard size bowl and a half drainer and measures 615 x 490mm in total, with a bowl depth of 180mm. Manufactured in 18/10 stainless steel, it is the perfect compact sink for the smaller kitchen or new-build apartment where style and quality are high on the list of requirements. It is also equally suitable for use in utility rooms. It has a 90mm waste and is supplied complete with waste, overflow and fitting kit. www.reginox.co.uk

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All American Grundigâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new American-style fridge-freezer offers a sleek stainless steel finish, premium quality and German design. With food-preserving technology, including a Super Fresh Zone to store fresh meat, fish and deli foods at the ideal temperature, plus a generous capacity of 544 litres, the new GSBS13310X gives consumers the freedom to store a wide range of chilled goods. High-spec Duo Cooling technology keeps food fresher for longer and prevents the transfer of odours, while the Vitamin Care Crisper uses blue LED lights to maintain the vitamin content in fruit and vegetables. LED lighting strips inside help consumers find what they are looking for and the integrated water and ice dispenser gives chilled and filtered water and ice on tap. www.grundig.co.uk

Designed to make the most of the limited area in the typical British bathroom, Compact from Britton now offers even more space-saving options with the addition of wall-hung semi-pedestal basins and a wall-hung WC that complete the range and make it one of the most comprehensive space saving ranges available.

The semi-pedestal basin is available in 45cm, 55cm and 65cm sizes, all with a 40cm projection, leaving ample space to move around in a small bathroom, shower room or en suite. The wall-hung WC measures just 364mm wide with a 480mm projection into the room making it possible to tuck a toilet into a very limited space. The WC is designed for use with a wall frame and concealed dual flush cistern (both available from Britton) and has a softclose seat. All products in the Compact range are guaranteed for 10 years. www.brittonbathrooms.com

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PRODUCT NEWS

Under the hood Franke has introduced a new Greenline energyefficiency standard for its brushless motor extractor hoods. The Greenline standard provides a quick and easy visual guide for retailers and consumers to identify Franke’s most energy-efficient models.

Four existing and five new Franke kitchen extractor hoods feature brushless motors and LED lighting, earning them Franke’s Greenline status. The innovative brushless motors of Franke’s Greenline hoods provide an 85% energy saving compared to a standard motor. The Greenline extractor hoods include the new Maris Plus 60, 80 and 90 hoods, which are all rated ‘A+’, the new Maris T-Shape Anti-Condensation wall and island hoods and the existing Sinos, all of which are rated ‘A’, and the iconic Swing hood. The hoods are

also packed with many other features including multiple operating speeds with an intensive setting, cut-off timers, digital displays and filter saturation indicators. www.franke.co.uk

Safe showering Safe and easy to use, the Mira Vision Flex brings the benefits of wireless showering to the inclusive sector, where the wireless controller enables users to turn on and control their shower without the hassle of dealing with levers and controls in the shower itself. Combining the Vision digital shower valve and wireless controller with the company’s Flex hose and slide bar fittings, the Vision Flex brings contemporary design and technology to the users who need it: the physically frail. Ideal for adaptations in either the social housing or private sector, the Vision Flex is also simple to install and stylish rather than ‘institutional’ in appearance. The controller, which communicates to the shower valve wirelessly through radio frequency, can be situated anywhere that is convenient – up to 10 metres away from the valve. Wireless technology also enables users to have an extra controller, which can be mounted outside the bathroom so that they can ‘warm’ the shower to their ideal temperature before entering. It also means it can be operated by a carer outside the showering area, affording the user greater privacy. www.mirashowers.co.uk

Bella Italia Masterclass Kitchens has extended one of its bestselling semi-handleless ranges to include an even greater choice of finishes. The Italia kitchen from Masterclass is now available in five gloss finishes and five woodgrains, as well as an ultra-modern matt white finish. Helping to add colour to the kitchen in a subtle way, the gloss finishes on Italia include White,

Easy-lay parquet Luxury vinyl flooring manufacturer Moduleo has launched a parquet option with all products in its Transform and Impress collections. Moduleo’s Transform range currently includes 55 stone-effect and wood-effect products, while the Impress collection features five wood designs with 22 colour options, each with registered embossing for the ultimate in realistic design. “Our parquet flooring has only been available for a few weeks, yet is rapidly becoming one of our most popular options,” comments David Bigland, managing director of Moduleo UK and Eire. “We are definitely heading in a much more creative direction with our products so watch this space, as we have lots more to come over the next few months.”

Moduleo produces a diverse range of vinyl floor tiles in a large selection of colours and finishes. These are available in both a traditional LVT construction as well as a simple-toinstall Click system, which holds a strong consumer appeal due to its added flexibility. www.moduleo.co.uk

Ivory, Sand, Light Grey, Heritage Grey and Matt White, and it is possible to combine these with one of the new woodgrain finishes such as Coral White, Pearl, Washed Stone, Sandwood or Palmwood to get the best of both worlds. The doors have an integrated ‘J’ pull handle with neat radius edges, resulting in a minimal look yet remaining easy to open. www.masterclasskitchens.co.uk

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PRODUCT NEWS A double life Caple has released its new CM126 combination microwave with grill and convection cooking. The built-in CM126 is packed with handy features to ensure a quick and easy cooking experience. The auto cook menu provides a set of preset cooking modes, each designed to provide you with the best possible results for your required dish. The auto-defrost function saves you having to wait for food to

On tap Opening doors JB Kind Doors ‘Symmetry’ wide shaker panel door range has seen the addition of six new exclusive designs. The competitively priced doors suit both classic and modern interiors, while FD30 fire door options are also available from stock. Adding three new finishes to the white Axis designs, specifiers can now choose from Axis Oak, Axis Walnut and Axis Monochrome, as well as their glazed partners. All pre-finished, solid core doors, the glazed Oak and Walnut offer clear safety glass, while the glazed Monochrome has striking chequered opaque glass with its solid version sporting an all-black central panel. www.jbkind.com

Abode has launched a portfolio of eight new tap ranges for 2015 including Vedo, a five-piece range of basin and bath taps.

Vedo is a new entry-level range for the Abode bathroom collection and includes two heights of basin taps for regular and designer-style sit-on basins along with a

defrost as it selects the appropriate programme based on the weight and type of food. Other features of the 25l capacity model include a child lock, a minute timer (up to 95 minutes) and an end of cooking signal. The green and red LED display is clear and easy to read, the push-door function offers easy access while the stainless steel front offers a mark-resistant finish. www.caple.co.uk

minimalist architectural-style, space-saving, wall-mounted basin mixer. For the bath, a deck-mounted filler plus a deck-mounted bath/shower mixer with shower handset complete with Smoothflex shower hose are on offer. Both bath mixer taps are suitable for low-pressure environments. www.abode.eu

Casting a spell

On the slate British Ceramic Tile has introduced HD Slate to its Project collection. Designed to emulate the look of real slate, this new ceramic tile collection forms part of the Hospitality range and has been specifically selected to offer architects and interior designers a cost-effective wall and floor tile solution offering an industrial look. Rustic by design, the tiles bring a strong, textural quality to walls and floors, recreating a natural slate effect from floor to ceiling. Created using cutting-edge inkjet technology and locally sourced British materials, these ceramic tiles are easy to install, hardwearing, waterproof and require no special sealing or maintenance – unlike real slate. Available in four neutral shades of oyster, beige, grey and black, the range offers a plain slate-effect wall tile in a 25x50cm size, together with a split-face mosaic effect décor in 25x50cm. A coordinating floor tile in a large format 50x50cm size also forms a key part of the range. www.britishceramictile.com

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Hoover has launched the UK’s first complete family of WiFi-enabled appliances with its new Wizard range. The revolutionary product line offers consumers the opportunity to have a fully connected WiFi kitchen that they can control remotely. It includes an oven, hob, hood, fridge-freezer and a selection of washing machines and dishwashers. The entire Wizard range can be simultaneously controlled, monitored and managed via an app that can be downloaded to Windows PC/desktop, Google Play, Android devices from 4.0 onwards or Apple devices from iOS 7 or later. The app allows users to monitor energy consumption, have access to favourite programmes, receive alert messages and view the status of their appliances and programmes while on the go. Steve Macdonald, trade marketing director of Hoover freestanding division, commented: “Our new Wizard range offers retailers a truly unique proposition with consumers no longer needing to be at home to stay in control. They can preheat the oven from their desk, put a wash on while walking the dog or even wash the dishes from the gym. The future has arrived with Hoover Wizard as it is the first and only appliance collection to create a truly WiFiconnected kitchen. This is an industry first and a significant step forward in the development of the connected home.” www.hoover.co.uk

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SUPPLIER NEWS edited by Kate Hamilton (kh@globespanmedia.com)

EGGER invests in BIM New FD for Designer Contracts Flooring contractor Designer Contracts has appointed David Walker as its new finance director. Walker is a CIMA qualified accountant with over 20 years’ experience as a senior professional, having held financial director positions in both the retail and property sectors. Before joining Designer Contracts, he was head of regional finance at HC-One, the UK’s third largest care home provider. Walker takes over from John Dalton, who has worked for the company for the past 10 years, and who will remain with the business as a part-time consultant.

“I am delighted to be joining Designer Contracts at this exciting time,” commented Walker. “I am pleased to have the opportunity to work with such a friendly and professional team and look forward to the challenges ahead.” www.designercontracts.com

Metropolitan to supply GMVL Metropolitan and E.ON have been selected to provide the district heating system powering the next phase of the Greenwich Millennium Village (GMVL) development. The Metropolitan energy and utility infrastructure will be supplied by a new energy centre owned and operated by E.ON, which will serve 1,743 new homes to be built over the next eight years.

Metropolitan is already contracted to provide the electricity, water, sewerage and fibre networks to the site. The district heat network will help GMVL to achieve carbon-reduction compliance, which now is a key planning requirement. There is growing interest in district heat networks for new developments as the 2016 zero carbon target approaches and the UK moves towards a sustainable future. “We are delighted to be chosen to deliver all the utility networks at GMVL,” commented John Marsh, director of Metropolitan. “There is a growing interest in heat networks for new developments to help deliver the 2016 zero-carbon target. It is exciting when we integrate the heat network with all of the utility networks to deliver a onestop-shop.” www.met-i.co.uk

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EGGER UK has invested in BIM (business information modelling) technology to ensure the products in its Advanced Structural Flooring System can be specified at the earliest stage of any construction project.

The company is the first major flooring manufacturer in the UK to invest in BIM technology and the products in its Advanced Structural Flooring System are now available on two prominent user platforms: the BIMobject portal and the National BIM Library (NBL). By creating BIM objects for its products, EGGER aims to give specifiers and architects a new level of support in selecting the right boards for their requirements, with the added benefit of intelligent planning models provided through NBL and BIMobject. Kathryn Burton, EGGER building products marketing coordinator, said: “It’s no secret that BIM is revolutionising building design in the UK and BIM technology offers a more efficient and costsaving approach. By launching our Advanced Structural Flooring boards as BIM objects, we are giving building designers and specifiers the opportunity to select and download trusted EGGER products into their design models, complete with all the relevant product information.” The EGGER Advanced Structural Flooring System is the company’s flagship structural flooring solution for the construction industry and designed to work in six simple steps. In fact, EGGER is so confident in producing stronger, better chipboard floors, the Advanced Structural Flooring System comes with a lifetime guarantee to give installers complete peace of mind on every floor laid using the Advanced fitting method. www.egger.co.uk

New service from New i.d Interiors New i.d Interiors has launched its Designer Collection, an allinclusive new service offering interior advice, furniture packages, delivery and installation. The Designer Collection will debut with a selection of Kelly Hoppen London furniture and accessories handpicked by New i.d. The collection will comprise two packages – Indulgence and Opulence, featuring furniture, soft furnishings and accessories. Kelly Hoppen has been at the forefront of interior design for almost 40 years. She is a multi-award-winning designer renowned for her style of neutral tones and clean lines, fused with an east-meets-west aesthetic. Managing director of New i.d Interiors, Daniel Caplan, said: “We are excited and very proud that Kelly Hoppen London has allowed us to feature their furniture in our new Designer Collection. We had identified that there was a gap in the market for a much higher quality one-stop furniture collection and are anticipating the new range to prove very successful, particularly with such a strong brand association.” www.new-id.co.uk

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GROHE announces billboard campaign Alongside its commitment to consumer and trade advertising, GROHE has announced that it will again be dominating London Waterloo with a targeted billboard campaign, as well as premiering billboards in both Birmingham and Manchester this year.

GROHE will take over London Waterloo with adverts covering 21 billboard sites, while in Manchester & Birmingham there

will be one prominent billboard sign in each city. The billboards will be unveiled on 18 May and will be displayed for two weeks.

The Waterloo Domination delivers an estimated 9.1m impacts over a two-week period for ultimate exposure. Through the new campaign, GROHE has doubled its investment in consumer advertising, complementing a significant spend on consumer print and digital advertising. www.grohe.com/uk

Oregon plans to increase output Oregon Timber Frame has submitted a planning application for change of use of a former Co-op furniture retail store in Selkirk.

The 56,000ft² building has been vacant since last autumn and a conditional contract has now been agreed with the vendors, provided planning permission is given to use the premises for manufacturing purposes. Oregon has been expanding on its current site and last year opened a new 16,000ft² factory.

Presently operating in Burton-on-Trent and Selkirk (pictured), and with a total floorspace of 77,000ft², the company can accommodate a £20m turnover within its current premises; last year, turnover was £15m. With the recent uplift in the industry, and the prospects for more controlled growth in the years ahead, Oregon is looking to put the necessary resources in place; the addition of factory space will allow turnover to grow to around £30m. www.oregon.co.uk

Viking comes to Britain American appliance brand Viking is now available from Middleby UK, the wholly owned subsidiary of Illinois-headquartered The Middleby Corporation. Middleby UK, which is based near Wigan, has a long history of supplying the company’s commercial catering brands such as Pitco, Middleby Marshall, Blodgett, Hounö, Brema and Holman. “We’ve been working away in the background for almost 12 months to ensure that Viking customers get the service the brand demands,” said head of residential sales Stephen Stroud. “We have taken over all legacy servicing and taken a good hard look at the entire range in the UK. It’s important to make clear we are not just distributing the range; Middleby Corporation owns Viking, which means it will receive the investment it needs to enable it to reach its potential. Viking is a highly specialist product range and we anticipate much of its growth coming through designer specification. It’s our job to make the products available, to look after them all properly and convey the American dream.” www.middlebyuk.co.uk

New appointments at Actis Insulation manufacturer Actis has announced a range of new appointments in response to increased demand. A total of five staff have been recruited, including Bonnie Longdon, who becomes area sales manager for the south of England. Her background in estate agency puts her in an excellent position to understand the benefits of creating energy-efficient homes from a consumer and property market viewpoint. She

aims to expand the reputation of Actis’ Hybrid product range among timber frame companies and make it into a household name.

Meanwhile, increasing sales in the south-west have seen the region split into two sales areas.

Dan Anson-Hart has taken on the mantle of area sales manager for Devon, Cornwall, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Avon and Somerset while long-established sales manager Andy Joyce concentrates his experience in the south

central area – Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Berkshire, and Hampshire. Sean Mahoney brings his expertise of working with America’s largest insulation manufacturer, Johns Manville, to Actis by taking on the role of area sales manager for the north-west, while Margy Thomas and Sammy Bolton will be working in internal sales, liaising with the external team and new and existing customers. www.insulation-actis.com

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SUPPLIER NEWS Classic Folios unveils new logo After 16 years, Classic Folios, the industry’s market leader in homeowner customer support solutions, has announced the launch of a new corporate logo. Now working with seven of the UK’s top 10 housebuilders, and more than 200 other developers, the company’s new look follows its move over recent years to deliver high-quality digital solutions for homebuyers. Managing director David Graydon said: “While the name and founding values remain absolutely the same, we wanted to take a more contemporary approach

with the rebrand, reflecting our commitment to the connected home and digital marketplace.

For example, an increasing number of our clients now use Classic Folios to configure iPads and other tablets so they can offer a choice of communication channels for their buyers and tenants. Our cloud-based, online homeowner portal, myHomefiles, is a product that we continue to invest heavily in too, so we wanted the new logo to send a message reflecting the strength of our creative and digital innovation.” classicfolios.com

Electrolux employee celebrates 30 years e4 brick house to open at BRE Park Wienerberger has announced that the first e4 brick house will be officially opened on 16 June by Lord John Prescott at BRE’s prestigious Innovation Park, as part of the park’s 10th anniversary celebrations. The home will be the first to be assessed to BRE’s new Home Quality Mark, which was launched earlier this year at Ecobuild, and the official opening will offer guests the opportunity to visit the house, which is the first e4 brick house to be built in the UK. The e4 brick house, which utilises a fabric-first approach, is a fully costed design concept that intends to revolutionise the UK housing market. Richard Brown, category marketing manager at Wienerberger and project lead for e4, commented: “We are very much looking forward to officially opening the first e4 brick house to be built in the UK. This will be the public’s first opportunity to see the new home and to learn how it is built according to the new Home Quality Mark. The e4 brick house represents a big step in terms of sustainable building, and we are looking forward to promoting the principles of e4, as well as building sustainably with clay as a way to combat the housing crisis.” www.wienerberger.co.uk

The Electrolux brands have congratulated employee Penny Rumford for 30 years of service. Rumford began her career on 15 April 1985 as the AEG Home Economist and has since worked with many national and independent retailer accounts. In Rumford’s current role as product specialist manager she continues to promote the three brands with product training and inspirational cooking demonstrations.

Raymond Laidlaw, national training manager Electrolux brands UK & IE, said: “Penny’s dedication, expert knowledge, experience and passion for our brands is infectious. Her dedication and commitment is flawless; she is a special asset to the company.”

Vogue (UK) celebrates its silver anniversary Towel warmer manufacturer Vogue (UK) is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

Founded in 1990, Vogue (UK) offers the most comprehensive range of contemporary and traditional towel warmer and design radiators available in gas, electric or dual-fuel options. In addition to the extensive range of products available in its portfolio of contemporary and traditional towel warmers, Vogue (UK) also offers a bespoke service, allowing many towel warmers and design radiators to be tailored to suit individual needs and requirements. Steve Birch, sales director at Vogue (UK), said: “Everyone at Vogue (UK) is extremely proud to celebrate reaching this milestone and I would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of the team, to thank everyone who has supported us over the last 25 years; we owe a great deal to them, and of course to all our many customers.

Here’s to the next 25 years!” www.vogueuk.co.uk

Jewson is Building Better Communities Builders’ merchant Jewson has been asking people up and down the country to nominate community projects that are in need of a transformation and, after over 2,000 entries, the shortlist has been revealed. As part of its Building Better Communities initiative, Jewson offered community building projects the chance to win a share of £100,000 to be spent on anything from a new roof for their village hall to a much-needed coat of paint for a long-forgotten public space. A team of 60 judges, including Jewson employees and supplier partners, deliberated over the course of a week and picked the final 63 projects to progress to the next stage of the competition. The projects range from a mountain rescue team to food banks and community centre refurbishments.

David Fenton, marketing director at Jewson, said: “The Building Better Communities scheme has received an incredible response and we’ve seen more than 2,000 entries from people across the UK. It was really difficult to compile a shortlist from so many worthwhile projects. It’s clear that helping projects such as these will play a vital role in improving communities.”

To view the shortlist visit: http://bit.ly/1JlYfSH

122| June 2015 showhouse

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CAREERS edited by Suzanne Frost (scf@globespanmedia.com)

Housebuilder appoints 100th ex-military employee Persimmon Homes has appointed its 100th ex-military recruit as part of its Combat to Construction initiative, with former lance corporal Craig Payne joining the company’s North Midlands division as a bricklayer.

Persimmon launched Combat to Construction last autumn with the opening of a dedicated training centre in Darlington. The initiative trains ex-service personnel to an NVQ Level 2 to be bricklayers and joiners. Such has been the success of the programme, the company is now working with training partner Nordic Focus Training to open a further centre near London, which will officially launch in June.

The news of the 100th appointment came in the same week that the housebuilder announced its

total number of employees had exceeded 4,000, including 500 trainees and apprentices across the group. At the end of the recession, the business employed 2,300 people.

Jeff Fairburn, Persimmon’s group CEO, commented: “The 100 ex-service personnel now working for Persimmon have brought a wealth of experience to the company and our objective is to bring in hundreds more before the close of the year. Indeed, I’m delighted to announce that we have had a further 40 service leavers join us in other roles within the business in the last year.

“Alongside creating bricklayers and joiners, we are now extending the initiative to train specialist installers for our Space4 timber frame operation at developments across the UK.”

Craig Payne with national armed forces resource manager Tommy Watson

Stewart Milne to create 250 new jobs The Stewart Milne Group will create more than 250 new posts within its business in the next 12 months to support growth in its homes and timber systems divisions.

The recruitment drive represents a more than 30% increase to its current 800-strong full-time workforce and will span all disciplines and professions within the business, from skilled tradespeople, site management and quantity surveyors through to architects, design technicians and cost estimators. The housebuilder and timber systems manufacturer will also increase

its apprentice intake with 15 new recruits in the summer.

The new posts are spread across the Group’s homes divisions in both Scotland and north-west England along with its timber systems automated facility in Oxfordshire, and follows the creation of some 160 new jobs during 2014.

Glenn Allison, chief executive of the Stewart Milne Group, said: “This is an enormously exciting time to be working in the construction sector, as we bring premium new homes projects forward to meet market demand and continue

Apprenticeship system failing to address youth unemployment The apprenticeship system in Britain needs “significant reform” to address youth unemployment, a report by the Institute for Public Policy Research and the Local Government Association has said.

The study found that since 2010, 42% of all apprenticeships starts went to people aged over 25; in 2013-14 under 19s made up 56% of applications but only 27% of starts, whereas people aged over 25 made up 7% of applications but accounted for 37% of starts. Meanwhile, last year, 67% of intermediate-skilled apprenticeships went to existing company employees, which, says the LGA, means that instead of helping young people into work, current apprenticeships policy is enabling companies to train their established, older workforce. Last year saw 1.8 million applications for just 166,000 advertised apprenticeships.

The report calls for more local authority powers and the creation of local apprenticeship hubs, which would take control of the apprenticeship grant from central government; meaning apprenticeships could be better tailored to meet the needs of local employers and the local economy Councillor Peter Box, economy spokesman for the LGA, said: “A good apprenticeship can give young people the experience, skills and understanding that can often lead straight into a full-time job.

“At present, too many new apprenticeships are low skilled and taken by older people already in work with their employer. Too few new apprentices are school-leavers trying to get their first job, and too few are getting the construction skills to build the homes and roads our local communities need.

“Rather than spend more money on a struggling system, this research underlines the need for devolved training that enables partnerships of councils, schools, colleges and employers to both boost opportunities locally and to ensure youngsters get the skills, experience and advice to thrive.”

to grow our timber systems business.

“As a privately owned group, we have a very strong company culture that puts our people and their development at the heart of what we do. This is backed by best-in-class training programmes, an excellent benefits package and fantastic career progression prospects for those with ambition and talent.

“Many people probably do not appreciate the full range of skills and expertise that our business encompasses but our recruitment this year will include the full spectrum, spanning joiners, electricians, plumbers and roofers through to design, cost estimating, contracts management, HR and finance.”

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CAREERS

Skills shortage continues to bite BRE & IEMA in sustainability training collaboration The Building Research Establishment’s training body, the BRE Academy, is teaming up with the Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment (IEMA) to develop and deliver sustainability training courses.

The collaboration will play a key role in IEMAs current campaign, ‘Skills for a sustainable economy – preparing for the perfect storm’, which aims to highlight the critical need for environment and sustainability skills in businesses worldwide. The courses will be embedded into higher and further education programmes to give graduates market-ready qualifications and support employers in their recruitment selection process.

IEMA chief executive Tim Balcon said: “Training and education provision is a key service which we provide for our 15,000-strong global membership, who are focused on driving more sustainable practices and standards across all sectors. This collaboration with the BRE Academy will enable us to offer new skills programmes with a focus on the built environment, which plays such an integral part of every business and industry as well as the economy.”

The number of specialist contractors struggling to recruit skilled labour is at its highest for 14 years according to the National Specialist Contractors Council.

The latest NSCC State of Trade Survey found that 47% of specialist contractors have experienced more difficulty in recruiting skilled labour this year compared to just 2% who have found it less difficult.

As a result of this skills shortage, 28% of respondents were unable to bid for work, higher than at any time since the recession.

NSCC chief executive Suzannah Nichol MBE said: “The growing construction market is great news for specialist contractors but we need to tackle head-on the skills crisis that is facing the industry. If we do not invest in recruiting and training people with the right skills, the industry will not be able to meet demand and this will impact on the wider UK economy.”

Meanwhile, results from the Federation of Master Builders’ State of Trade Survey Q1 2015 suggest that increasing shortages of

bricks and bricklayers could threaten future housebuilding plans.

Brian Berry, chief executive of the FMB, said: “Half of all construction SMEs are finding it difficult to recruit bricklayers. 62% of firms are waiting for up to two months for new brick orders while almost one quarter are waiting for up to four months; an additional 16% are waiting for a staggering six to eight months.

“In terms of skills, the ever-growing lack of bricklayers is causing concern. Compared to this time one year ago, more than twice the firms are reporting difficulties recruiting these tradespeople. To ensure we have an ample supply of skilled workers in the future, the government must ensure it sets the right framework in terms of apprenticeship funding and apprenticeship standards. Also, more construction firms – large and small – need to willingly engage with training. After all, there’s strong evidence to suggest that training apprentices is good for business.”

Brickwork boss sets up training academy A Derby brickwork boss has set up his own bricklaying training academy in response to the ongoing shortage of skilled workers in the industry.

Ian Hodgkinson, who owns Hodgkinson Builders, has teamed up with Derby College to launch The Hodgkinson Brickwork Academy, which will open this September teaching students practical brickwork skills and theory as well as offering individual support and mentoring, work experience and a guaranteed interview with the company at the completion of the course.

Hodgkinson said: “We have politicians promising great housebuilding programmes but, at the present rate, we will struggle to find the people to build them. This is both a threat to the economy but also a huge opportunity for those learning a trade, especially brickwork. We can and must do something about this.

“If we can bring business experience and their programmes together, we can create a pipeline of ‘oven-ready’ apprentices. Working together, we will produce a new generation of talented, ambitious, motivated and highly skilled bricklayers who can bridge this skills gap. This is a partnership of huge potential.”

Story Homes announces graduate scheme and plans to invest £1m in CPD Story Homes is launching a new graduate programme, commencing in September and initially offering two-year placements in the sales and commercial area of the business at its offices in Carlisle.

Shelley Hayward, Story Homes’ learning and development manager, said: “Attracting graduates and school leavers into our business is key to our growth. We already do a lot of work with schools and have offered nine work experience placements during the summer. Taking on graduates furthers our commitments to youth employment.”

The company has also announced plans to invest £1m in continuing professional development over the next three years.

Steve Errington, chief executive of Story Homes said: “Story Homes knows that this investment in its people is essential for a vibrant, progressive company, which is why we have put in place not only schemes to train incomers to the business, such as a graduate programme and apprenticeships, but also a comprehensive staff development scheme. We value our employees and we want to support them in their existing roles and in their future career aspirations through innovative internal development and training.”

126| June 2015 showhouse

Bovis Homes recognises next generation with Apprentice of the Year awards The achievements of a number of young Bovis Homes employees have been recognised at the company’s annual Apprentice of the Year awards, held in Bristol.

This year’s Champion Apprentice, and winner of the blue riband prize and a £500 voucher, was young carpenter Jake Pulman (below left). The 20-year-old, who is attending Exeter College and has been working on both Bovis Homes developments at nearby Cranbrook, was a worthy winner of the coveted Apprentice of the Year honour.

Malcolm Pink (below right), Bovis Homes’ South Division managing director, said: “Our apprentice awards have been going from strength to strength since they started four years ago, and to be a winner you really do have to be the best of the best. Even though Jake has only been with us for 18 months, he has already made an impact and has just those qualities of commitment and dedication, together with a can-do attitude, that we look for and foster here at Bovis Homes.”

Pulman commented: “I became an apprentice with Bovis Homes because it looked like an exciting career prospect, and it was the best

decision of my life. I do look forward to going to work every day. You’re learning while you’re working and you’re getting paid for doing it – and at the end of it you get a recognised qualification.”

Plumbing apprentice Jack Baber was also recognised for his performance, winning the best Fourth-year Apprentice award – his fourth consecutive annual prize. Baber has now completed his apprenticeship and has secured a job as assistant site manager for the company.

Pink added: “Enthusiastic youngsters who are willing to learn are the lifeblood of the industry, not to mention the local economy. We’re keen that they receive opportunities to progress their careers at Bovis Homes beyond their apprenticeships to become the site managers and business managers of the future.

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MOVERS & SHAKERS edited by Kate Hamilton (kh@globespanmedia.com)

Heronslea Group – Shelley West

Acorn Property Group – Sarah Harris

Hertfordshire-based, privately owned residential developer Heronslea Group has strengthened its team with the appointment of a new sales and marketing director. Shelley West joins the group at a busy time, which sees the family-run company acquiring land and gaining planning permission for a number of new sites, as well as launching several developments. Jason Rishover, CEO of Heronslea Group, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Shelley to the team, where she will be a tremendous asset to the business. She has considerable experience within the new homes market and extensive knowledge of our region. This year we have significant expansion plans and Shelley’s appointment is instrumental in our continued success of the business. As well as driving new site launches, she will take a strategic overview of the company’s sales and marketing programmes.”

West joins Heronslea Group with over 20 years’ experience. “I am delighted to be joining Heronslea Group, at such an exciting time,” she said. “I was so impressed when I first saw the design and high specification of the homes being built by Heronslea Group, I knew I wanted to work with them. I am looking forward to steering the company to further success this year, and beyond, and helping the company build on its reputation for design, quality, customer satisfaction and attention to detail.”

Sarah Harris has been appointed as group communications and marketing manager at Acorn Property Group. Harris, 29, who previously worked as a marketing manager for a national housebuilder for five years, will be responsible for a wide range of duties including expanding group sales and marketing strategies and also Acorn’s communication and branding within the property industry. “I have long admired Acorn’s ability to maintain a bespoke approach to development, its design flair, its constant innovation and its flexibility,” she commented. “It’s this which sets Acorn apart in the marketplace and gives the consumer real added value. I am really looking forward to building on the great work already done by the team and one of my first priorities will be expanding the group’s digital strategy.” Nicola Markham, Acorn’s group sales director, said: “Sarah’s skills and experience will help Acorn to continue its present growth and expansion. Her excellent credentials make Sarah a natural fit for our business and we welcome her as a great addition to the team.”

TPO Scotland – Malcolm Cannon Malcolm Cannon, the chief executive of lettings agency Braemore, has been appointed to the board of the newly created The Property Ombudsman (TPO) Scotland to represent member companies north of the border.

Launched in April, TPO Scotland is a standards and mediation scheme specifically for Scottish estate agents and the Private Rented Sector (PRS) and Cannon’s appointment as non-executive director follows Braemore’s drive to raise standards and champion best practice across the property management sector. Cannon contributed to TPO Scotland’s two distinct Codes of Practice, which lay down robust processes and disciplines for sales and lettings agents in Scotland and which have been endorsed by the Scottish government and Shelter. “It is imperative that good lettings businesses, providing high-quality and reliable customer service, are not damaged by the rogue agents and non-compliant landlords acting at the edges of acceptable practice, and it is equally important that members of the public are made aware of what standards they can expect,” he said.

“Braemore has, for some time, been lobbying and publicly supporting the raising of standards in the lettings industry and as members of TPO Scotland we are already bound by the regulations and redress process. In addition to the standards expected of all those agencies covered by TPO Scotland, Braemore is encouraging even greater regulation in the sector, looking in particular at deposits, client accounts and training.”

Bett Homes – David Knight Bett Homes has appointed David Knight to the role of managing director of its Scotland operation. Knight brings 30 years of experience in the housebuilding industry to his new role, having held senior positions with Taylor Wimpey, Miller Homes and Barratt Homes. He will work to drive the growth and performance of Bett Homes Scotland as it looks to expand its operation in 2015. “I am very pleased to be joining such an established and well respected brand in Scottish housebuilding,” he commented.

“My focus is to further build on the success of Bett Homes in Scotland and helping to deliver long-term growth for the business. The company’s retail-focused ‘all inclusive’ specification and new product clearly sets it apart from other volume housebuilders and continued investment in new land will see a major roll out of new development sites in 2015.”

Recent acquisitions by Bett Homes include new sites in Glasgow, Hamilton and Newton Mearns with a total development value of circa £56m. The business currently has eight live developments stretching down from Dundee and across the central belt.

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MOVERS & SHAKERS London Square – David Simpson Developer London Square is continuing to expand with significant appointments to its Ickenham-based land team.

David Simpson (pictured) joins the firm as senior land buyer from Barratt North London, to support the expansion and the delivery of homes at all levels of the London market. He brings a wealth of land acquisition experience to London Square, having worked for an impressive range of housebuilders throughout his career, including Fairview New Homes, Shanly Homes and Bellway Homes.

Meanwhile, internally, Ross Stewart has been promoted to senior land buyer and Max Nordigian has been promoted to land buyer. Both Stewart and Nordigian have been

invaluable in helping to secure the £1.6bn pipeline to date and establish London Square as one of the larger London developers in the capital. Brian Betsy, managing director of London Square, said: “Expansion and sustained growth is firmly on the agenda at London Square. Over the past five years we have worked exceptionally hard to establish an extensive land pipeline. The continued growth of the team and exploration of new opportunities in Greater London is key. The rapid expansion of London Square reflects our rising prominence in the highly competitive residential property market. Astute site acquisition continues to be a focus of the business and through our exciting new appointments we are strengthening our offering.

Barratt Homes – Michaela Lancaster Phil Pluck – Royal Town Planning Institute Phil Pluck, a director with extensive board level experience in the private, charity and government sectors, has joined the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), as commercial and corporate services director. Pluck has held a number of senior roles, including at board level for a children’s charity and within higher education and employer membership organisations. “I am delighted to be joining the Royal Town Planning Institute,” he said. “I look forward to helping to continue to develop highquality, value-for-money services to support our members throughout their professional careers.” Andrew Taylor, chair of the RTPI Board of Trustees, commented: “Phil brings tremendous knowledge and expertise to the Institute and will be an asset to the senior management team. He has successfully developed commercial services in a number of diverse organisations and his experience in creating new strategic partnerships and stakeholder strategies will be very valuable to us.” Pluck’s responsibilities will include: owning the strategic plan for the delivery of the business development function which supports the RTPI’s overall business and financial plans; acting as main creative and operational driver of the format, nature and style of commercial and publishing partnerships and business development products and services; and managing external commercial partners.

Michaela Lancaster has been appointed sales director at Barratt Homes North West division Barratt Manchester. Lancaster’s career has included being sales and marketing director at Miller Homes, Gladedale Homes, Countryside Homes and Bett Homes. She has also held roles at Gleeson Homes and Colroy plc. Having worked in property all her career, Lancaster’s successes have included setting up a first-time buyer initiative with English Partnerships, growing a housebuilding business from £16m to £70m turnover and managing a £140m portfolio. “Barratt Manchester has achieved the maximum five stars in the industry’s annual customer satisfaction rating run by the Home Builders Federation for an unprecedented six years running,” she commented. “The division has a fantastic history and it also has ambitious plans for the north-west, with five developments set to open over the next nine months. It’s a fantastic time to be joining the business and I hope that the knowledge, experience and expertise that I will bring will only see the division continue to grow.” Neil Goodwin, managing director at Barratt Manchester, said: “Barratt Manchester is going from strength to strength: our business growth remains in line with our three-year plan and we have opened 10 new developments in the past nine months. Michaela’s experience will be invaluable in driving sales performance across 26 developments in addition to contributing to the broader aspects of the business.”

GCL Solicitors – Bernard Ralph Property development firm GCL Solicitors has announced the appointment of Bernard Ralph, as senior associate and specialist planning lawyer. Ralph’s commercial awareness, diverse experience and comprehensive knowledge allows him to advise on every facet of the planning process, including consents, complex agreements, appeals, enforcement and judicial reviews, along with a broad range of intricate and sometimes unusual planning issues. In the past Ralph has advised on a wide selection of planning issues from residential mixed-use and leisure schemes, to wind turbine development and aviation. He also specialises in all types of local authority licensing, and since 2005 has practised in both Australia and the UK.

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Burton Property – Adam O’Brien Hampshire-based property developer Burton Property has promoted director Adam O’Brien to managing director as a key part of its ongoing expansion.

“Adam has been with our company for just over seven years and has played a pivotal role in all aspects of the successful management and growth of the business,” said founder Tony Burton, who will continue to play a central role in securing development opportunities and shaping the company’s strategy. “This promotion is in recognition of his significant contribution and in preparation for our continued growth.” Burton Property builds bespoke homes across Hampshire, Sussex, Dorset and Surrey, with a varied portfolio ranging from small collections of homes in rural locations to larger town centre developments.

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SQUIRREL

Moore awards for City & Country The award might not have been as prestigious as the new homes industry’s greatest prize, WhatHouse? Housebuilder of the Year, but it is safe to say, without fear of contradiction, that Miss World is considerably more attractive than Rob Brydon.

Following on from its success at the WhatHouse? Awards, City & Country was crowned Residential Developer of the Year at the PROPS Awards, where Squirrel was hosted with typical elegance and generosity by Tricia Topping of Carlyle Consultants. The event, held at the London Hilton, Park Lane raised more than £400,000 for children’s charity Variety.

Helen Moore, managing director of City &

Dining with Wolves At the Wolves FC end-of-season dinner, the last WhatHouse? Player of the Month award of the season was presented to Wolves and England U21 forward Benik Afobe.

WhatHouse? has now stepped down as main sponsor of the Championship side after a very successful three-year partnership, which has seen the new homes portal significantly increase its profile and footprint in the Midlands and beyond and make many new commercial contacts in the local housebuilding community. Two lifelong Wolves fans, Martin McAtamney, pre-construction director of Mount Anvil, and John Hall, international sales manager of Durapipe presented the award to Afobe on behalf of WhatHouse?

Lusso Homes tees off for charity The annual Lusso Homes celebrity golf day took place at Wentworth last month in aid of Shooting Star Chase, with more than £35,000 raised for the children’s hospice charity.

Golfers included former Westlife member Brian McFadden, actors Philip Glenister, Colin Salmon (pictured with Lusso Homes’ Neil Jones) and Kevin Whately, and sports stars Gary Player, Danny Care, Rob Henderson and Marlon Devonish.

Lusso Homes director Neil Jones said: “It’s fantastic that we can raise so much money for such an important cause. I am really proud to be involved in this day and we are really grateful to all the celebrities who gave up their free time to make the day a triumphant success.”

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Country, said: “We are honoured and delighted to be named the PROPS Residential Developer of the Year. We want to congratulate Variety for raising a tremendous amount of money for such a worthwhile cause, which makes the awards an even greater event to be a part of.”

PROPS host was former England rugby player Martin Bayfield, who when he realised Miss World Rolene Strauss was South African, informed her that come the World Cup he would “whip her arse,” before realising maybe that was an inappropriate phrase to use.

Miss World is pictured with Helen Moore and (far right) City & Country chief executive Tim Sargeant.

Remembering Bob Some lovely words have been written about Bob Barlow in his obituary on p12.

I remember Bob as one of the finest PRs I ever had the privilege to work with. In this world of a million emails – most of them irrelevant or worse – Bob’s missives would seduce you in the subject box: Helicopter & Lunch. The body of the email would then start with: ‘Now I have your attention, do you fancy looking round the new Barratt show home in Basingstoke?’ In a world of political correctness, Bob, the master of the case study, would always find a young couple, who appeared to have stepped straight out of an Abercrombie & Fitch clothing catalogue. As a former journalist, he knew exactly what editors were looking for visually. In a property world where drinks are often taken, Bob was teetotal and yet with savage irony it was liver cancer that took him. We miss you Bob and thanks for the press releases, the memories, the launches, the lunches and the laughs.

Premier League Poggenpohl Leading German kitchen brand Poggenpohl held a dinner, hosted

by UK managing director Simon Richmond, at its Waterloo showroom in London for a group of Premier League footballers and their partners. The footballers included Andy Carroll, Winston Reid and Joey O’Brien from West Ham, as well as Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen.

The five-course meal was cooked on Electrolux Grand Cuisine appliances by Michelin star chef Simon Hulstone.

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