Berkeley Group – the innovative urban property developer

We’ve worked with Berkeley for over 15 years now

The team have a long association with Berkeley being responsible for over 500 sales in the time we have worked together. They are one of our most respected and closest Developer Partners and we continue to sell their developments through each phase. We cannot speak highly enough of their quality build, attention to detail and all round value for money. They are masters at large scale regeneration and this above all else is the reason I hold onto their coat tails.

Moving forward with creativity focussed on the customer

The Berkeley Group is one of the UK’s most innovative development companies. With a strong land bank including quality brownfield sites, its focus is on developing sustainable communities. Its bias towards urban regeneration is central to its business, with a target of building over 95% of its development of luxury properties on brownfield land. Home buyers and property investors know that when they buy a Berkeley home, they are investing to withstand the test of time.

From humble beginnings, a world-class developer grows

Today, Berkeley is the leading developer in the South of England. When it was founded in 1976, not even the founders could have envisaged how big the group would grow. In that first year, the company built four single homes. Its turnover was £121,000, and it made a profit of £21,000. Within ten years, Berkeley was listed on the London Stock Exchange with a market value of £67 million.

Today, the group consists of six luxury property developers: Berkeley, St George, St James, St Edward, St William and St Joseph. Though each group is run autonomously, they all strive for the same results –­ the creation of new homes, in mixed-use developments of exceptional quality in the most desirable locations.

Where you invest in a Berkeley home, you can be assured it is built on a development that has been designed to establish a sense of place. These are not simply developments. They are communities, whether medium to large-scale developments in towns, cities and the countryside, executive homes, mixed-use schemes, riverside apartments, or refurbished historic buildings and urban loft spaces. Whichever type of property is developed by Berkeley; the name is synonymous with quality and excellence.

A southern developer expanding into the Midlands

Berkeley’s traditional strength has been in the development of quality homes in the South of England. It’s different brands has been developed to highlight their strengths and geographical prowess. For example:

• St Edward was established as a joint venture between Berkeley and Prudential. It delivers unique residential developments in London and the South of England.
• St George specialises in transforming brownfield land. In London, this brand is identified with producing high-quality, mixed-use sustainable regeneration.
• St William is a joint venture with National Grid. It will leverage off National Grid’s amazing brownfield portfolio in London and has plans to develop 7,000 new homes in the capital over the next 14 years.

Its latest brand, St Joseph, has been created to expand Berkeley’s reach to the attractive development markets in Birmingham and the West Midlands.

Berkeley – a property developer at the forefront of innovation

Berkeley’s reputation for build excellence is matched by its reputation as an innovator. It set up an innovation fund, encouraging pioneering ideas to help the build process and reduce construction-related risks. To date, this fund has awarded more than £1 million to 10 pioneering ideas. These include a device to prevent back injuries and a detector of hand/arm vibrations – a problem which affects more than 300,000 workers in the UK.

Berkeley moving into the modular home building will excite many property investors. Rooms will be designed and built in a factory, before being shipped to the development site and erected by a traditional workforce. Build time will be reduced by 19 weeks. The first such homes will receive their debut at Berkeley’s Kidbrooke Village development, where they will sit alongside traditionally built homes.

When announcing the plans, Berkeley’s Karl Whiteman told The Times: “Our ambition is that the finished quality will be as good as traditionally built homes that have been built on the site. They look exactly like a traditional home. The customer will not be able to tell the difference.”

Berkeley’s focus on excellence is regularly recognised

Berkeley’s developments have been awarded numerous accolades. Most recently, at the Evening Standard New Homes Awards on May 19^th 2017, Berkeley Homes, St Edward and St James were successful in winning awards for:

• ‘Best Conversion (Large Scale)’, for St Joseph’s Gate
• ‘Best Conversion (Small Scale)’, for Fitzroy Gate
• ‘Best Luxury Home’, for Abell and Cleland Penthouse

The group also won a plethora of awards in several categories at the What House Awards in November 2016. These included awards for Best Public Realm, Best Regeneration Scheme, Best Luxury Development, Best Large Housebuilder, and Best Mixed-Use Development.

A property developer focused on the customer

In 2016, Berkeley won the ‘ABa Quality Monitoring Customer Focus Award, Large Enterprise’. The judges said, “Berkeley shone through because of its complete customer-centricity. Customer service is the responsibility of everyone at Berkeley and is underpinned by a professional and efficient Customer Charter.”

Little wonder that Berkeley won several awards at the British Homes Awards in October 2015, including the coveted prize of ‘Homebuilder of the Year’ – the second time it had been named as such.

Where can investors buy a new build Berkeley home?

Berkeley builds homes across its brands in a range of price points. It has dozens of developments underway in London, the South East, and now Birmingham and the West Midlands. These include gems such as:

• The Waterside at Royal Worcester
• Victory Pier in Kent
• Royal Arsenal Riverside in London
• Kidbrooke Village in London
• Beaufort Park in London
• One Tower Bridge
• Wimbledon Hill Park
• Vista
• Chiswick Gate
• Heritage Walk
• Fitzroy Gate (houses)
• Brewery Gate (houses)
• 375 Kensington High Street

Berkeley is Britain’s fourth most admired company across all sectors and has contributed more than £2 billion to community facilities in the last five years. With land suffice for around 40,000 plots, you can be sure that Berkeley’s potential to deliver quality homes in quality locations will remain undiminished.

Live with passion,

Brett Alegre-Wood