Tag Archives for " property developer "

Kier Living – Independent quality across the country

Building communities across the nation

Kier Living, part of the globally renowned Kier Group, builds more than 2,300 homes on sites across the UK every year. Kier Living brings together all Kier Group’s housebuilding operations, ranging from contract and mixed tenure to private sector housing.

A proud history defined by employee ownership

First founded in 1928 by Danish civil engineers Olaf Kier and Jorgen Lotz, the Kier Group was acquired by Hanson PLC in 1992. The acquisition triggered a buyout by the management at Beazer, and today’s Kier Group was formed. It became Britain’s first major contractor owned by its employees.

Now employing 16,000 people around the world, the Kier Group retains its focus on a collaborative, forward-thinking and enthusiastic approach across all its operations. It is evident in Kier Living, in which 70 years of experience of building new homes is combined with quality materials and modern construction methods to create new communities in each of its five regions: Central, Eastern, South West and Wales, Northern, and South East.

Renowned in private residential and public sector housebuilding

Kier Living has an incredibly impressive record in residential design and delivery. It works independently through all phases of the build cycle, from design to construction and aftersales care. Its locations are carefully selected, as are the materials used to build each new home.

Kier Living also specialises in delivering affordable housing and has recently been named as one of the participants on all five regional panels of the Homes and Communities Agency’s new £8 billion Delivery Partner Panel 3 (DPP3).

DPP3 will run for four years and is responsible for an increasing number of mixed-use and multi-tenure schemes. Kier’s appointment reaffirms its position as one of the UK’s leading public sector housebuilders and should help it to reach its target of building 4,000 homes per year by 2020.

Whatever the focus of development, Kier leverages three elements to create homes that people desire, in places where communities develop:

• Quality – using the highest-quality fixtures, fittings and building materials, and creating innovative build solutions
• Attention to detail – ensuring the highest possible standard to each new home built
• Experience – its 70 years of experience in the UK housing market helps it excel from initial design to construction and beyond

Multi-award-winning excellence

Kier is highly respected in the industry, regularly winning the highest accolades from its peers and building and construction organisations. It has also achieved five-star ratings for customer satisfaction from the Home Builders Federation Survey. Here are a few of the awards received by Kier in recent years:

• Green Apple Environmental Award Winner 2016
• Five-star Home Builder for Customer Satisfaction 2015
• Best Design of Three Storeys or Less – Housebuilder of the Year Awards 2016, Highly Recommended
• Best Large Development ­– First-Time Buyer Readers’ Awards, 2015, Highly Recommended
• Best Residential Development in Scotland – RICS Awards 2015
• NHBC Pride in the Job Award Winner 2014

Where can you invest in a Kier Living property?

Kier Living builds homes from one-bedroom apartments to five-bedroom family homes, and at the time of writing is developing around two dozen sites from Redruth in Cornwall to Falkirk in Scotland. Here are two Kier developments which typify the quality of location and build available to investors in a Kier residential property:

Elderwood Place, Bilston, West Midlands

At Elderwood Place, you’ll find an exceptional mix of two to four-bedroom homes, ideal for couples and families, and perfectly placed for commuting into Birmingham and Wolverhampton, where residents will discover a vast array of world-class shopping, dining, entertainment, and sports facilities and venues.

Locally to the development, there is a range of local amenities including supermarkets (Asda and Morrisons) and department stores. There are good schools for families with children – Loxdale Primary and Ormiston SWB Academy – and plenty of green open spaces within walking distance.

Both Wolverhampton and Birmingham are around a 10-minute journey by Midland Metro from Loxdale station, which is less than a mile from Elderwood Place.

For day and night recreation, nearby Wolverhampton and Birmingham offer an eclectic mix of clubs, pubs, theatre and cinema, as well as spectacular sports events including championship football and county and international cricket.

Kingsmoor Park, Woking, Surrey

Situated in an ideal location, residence at Kingsmoor Park is an ideal destination for commuters into London. Woking offers great shopping facilities, schools, and a superb nightlife, with country parks, commons and heathlands on the doorstep of these contemporary two to four-bedroom homes.

Woking is Surrey’s largest covered shopping destination, with Peacocks Centre and Wolsey Place shopping centres offering an impressive array of shops and restaurants. In the town itself, there are farmers’ markets and street markets, and in Chertsey Road, you’ll find restaurants, bars and pubs. Entertainment facilities include two theatres and six cinemas.

Education facilities include the award-winning Sythwood Primary School, the University of Surrey in nearby Guildford, and the Surrey campus of the International School of London is located in Woking.

There are superb road links via the M25 and M3, with Gatwick and Heathrow Airports a short distance away. For commuters into London, Woking station provides regular trains with a journey time of less than 30 minutes.

When you invest in a Kier Living home, you are buying exceptional design in an appealing location. This property developer is renowned for its quality of design and build, and is developing sites around the country with aggressive expansion plans that should excite property investors.

Live with passion,

Brett Alegre-Wood

Miller Homes – proud of its innovative traditions

A quality landbank for building quality communities

Miller Homes is one of the UK’s premier property developers and has built more than 100,000 homes since it was founded in 1934. It has consistently high customer satisfaction numbers and has won dozens of industry awards across all facets of its business.

Plenty to be proud about

Miller is a proud property developer, with plenty to be proud about. It is a customer-centric company, constantly listening and learning from feedback. It places the highest store in its customer satisfaction numbers, both internally and independently measured.

Miller frequently wins awards for quality, skilful construction, superb locations, and exceptional building teams. It develops to enhance locations and create communities. For customers, Miller provides a website that updates progress on homes bought off-plan, and information about the location and area.

Consistently satisfied customers

Miller conducts its customer satisfaction survey, via a commissioned independent research company. It asks questions about the customer experience, the house, the process, and the people, a few weeks after the customer has moved in.

In 2016, 93% of respondents said that they would recommend Miller Homes. This score has been consistent since 2011. More than 80% of customers are satisfied with the communications they receive from Miller, how special they have been made to feel on moving-in day, and on all demonstration meetings. Not a year goes by when Miller is not awarded a five-star rating in the Home Builders Federation National New Homes Customer Satisfaction Survey, achieving the accolade in every one of the last five years.

Building homes, developing communities

Miller builds homes in line with all modern building regulations and then takes it a step further by complementing energy efficiency with energy efficient appliances, water efficient sanitaryware, and low energy lighting. Savings on running costs consistently come in at the high end of the estimated £400 to £1,400 per year range estimated by Zero Carbon Hub and NHBC Foundation.

When planning a new development, and throughout the development process, Miller invites community feedback and employs industry best practices when designing its land use. It ensures that developments are not only functional but very attractive and great places to live.

Industry recognition to the highest degree

The plethora of awards that Miller wins every year is a testament to its innovative approach and readiness to embrace new ideas, technologies, and build processes that sit happily alongside its traditional values.

In the last few years, these are just a few of the awards Miller has won:

• Nine Quality Awards in the June 2017 Pride in the Job Quality Awards
• Family Home of the Year at Homes for Scotland’s 2017 awards ceremony
• Silver Award in the Best Regeneration category at the 2016 WhatHouse? Awards for its Varcity North development in Edinburgh
• The Gold Award by Investors in People, until 2019
• The ESTAS 2015 Best Homebuilder in the UK
• 12 NHBC Pride in the Job Quality Awards in 2016
• 5-Star Home Builder Customer Satisfaction for the fifth consecutive year in 2016

Miller was also named as the leading mid-market private housebuilder in the UK by The Sunday Times in October 2016.

Where can you invest in a Miller property?

Miller has development locations and land available for the future across the UK. It builds thousands of new homes every year, and most of its new developments are located within 500 metres of a public transport node.

Its locations cover from the South East of England to Scotland, and practically everywhere between. Here are just two of these developments, to give you a flavour of the investment potential of a Miller Homes development.

City Fields, Wakefield, Yorkshire

15 minutes’ walk from the centre of Wakefield. Only eight miles from Leeds. Fronted by green space, cycleways and footpaths. It is City Fields, a development of two to five-bedroom properties that combine sustainable, contemporary design with a convenient location, perfect for lifestyle living.

Local shops are conveniently close, as are some great schools: Stanley Grove Primary and Nursery School and St Austin’s Catholic Primary, are both within a mile of the development, and pupils normally move on to either Outwood Grange Academy or St Thomas à Becket RC College for secondary education. Also close, you will find a GP and pharmacy.

There are excellent bus services into the city centre. Pinderfields Hospital is virtually adjacent to the development. From Wakefield’s two railway stations (each less than 1½ miles away), Leeds is only 15 minutes. London is a travel time of two hours (which will be reduced when High-Speed Rail is fully operational). The M1 and M62 motorways are only a few minutes away.

Wakefield has plenty for the sports and fitness fanatic, with gyms, leisure centres, golf clubs, rugby and football clubs. The renowned Pugneys Watersports Centre and Country Park are on the southern edge of town, where you will find facilities for sailing, windsurfing and canoeing.

Bonnington, Leith, Edinburgh

Only a mile from the heart of Edinburgh, Miller will be developing at Bonnington in Leith. The selection of one to three-bedroom apartments will become available from late 2017. These properties are ideal for young professionals, within walking distance of work and Edinburgh’s amazing social scene of fabulous cafes, bars and parks. There are great transport links across Edinburgh, and shops and schools are easily accessible.

These two developments show the diversity of Miller’s development while providing evidence of its incredible locational land bank. Whatever an investor’s aims, they won’t be disappointed when the invest in a Miller Homes property.

Live with passion,

Brett Alegre-Wood

Countryside – creating exceptional places

Character, quality, and community – the hallmarks of a Countryside development

Countryside Properties is a property developer with an exceptional reputation for delivering value and design. The company has a nearly 60-year history of developing successful and sustainable communities. From small stand-alone developments to new large-scale garden villages and regeneration projects. Though Countryside’s prime focus is on and the South East, it has some of the best development sites in the North of England, too.

A history of place creation

Countryside’s reputation is at least partly built on its ability to create a sense of place and community at strategic sites, such as Great Notley Garden Village in Braintree, Essex, to Wickhurst Green in Horsham, Sussex. Communities are built through master planning, incredible landscaping and infrastructure build, and attention to detail in every facet of community and every single home built.

The homes that Countryside builds range from starter homes to executive homes, and in locations as diverse as urban brownfield regeneration sites to sprawling rural landscapes. Every development is created with quality and character.

Passionate about placemaking

All Countryside homes carry a signature style and character. They are designed for modern lifestyles and built using quality materials. Developments are made to stand the test of time, on strategic land that provides residential-led mixed-use developments, supportive of creating a sense of place.

Notable projects include sites such as Horsted Park, where homes reflect the Kent farmstead feel, but with a contemporary twist. This scheme was one of only six nationwide to receive a RIBA Housing Design Award 2014 in the Completed Scheme category, and was named Housing Project of the Year 2013 by ‘Building’.

Another multi-award-winning Countryside development is found at Accordia, in Cambridgeshire. It was the first residential scheme to receive the prestigious architectural accolade, the RIBA Stirling Prize in 2008. Homes here were designed to bring the outside in and built using natural, traditional materials in a contemporary fashion. Terraces, balconies and courtyard gardens were provided at varying levels throughout the homes, blurring the conventional boundaries between outside and inside. Each home was designed to overlook a green space. Each space is linked to the next by a network of footpaths and cycleways. Low-key streets, home zones and subtle traffic-calming measures reduced the prominence of the car and created a safe 20-mph zone.

Partnering to create sustainable prosperity

Countryside’s track record includes successful partnerships with local authorities and housing associations, delivering almost 50 regeneration schemes over the last 30 years. Its methodology is to work closely with local authorities and residents from the earliest stage, thereby shaping social and community infrastructure needed today and prepared for the future.

Countryside is one of the country’s foremost property developers when it comes to ‘tenure blind’ developments – where it is impossible to distinguish between tenures of individual buildings or homes. The company is also highly experienced in estate regeneration, recreating places where people want to live.

Too many awards to name them!

Countryside has received more awards for housing design than any other housebuilder in the UK and has received more than 350 awards for design and sustainability. It is the only UK housebuilder to receive the RIBA Stirling Prize for a housing development. If we tried to name all the awards won by and presented to Countryside, you’d be here for the next week reading them!

Where can you invest in a Countryside property?

From incredible sites in Manchester and Liverpool to projects in London, Hampshire and Essex, and many places in between, you will find Countryside building on some of the best strategic land in England. While there are opportunities to invest in property on developments already underway, I thought I’d highlight a couple of Countryside sites that are in the earliest stages and coming soon.

Wren Green, Bamber Bridge, Preston

The three and four-bedroom homes that will be built here are designed for modern lifestyles. Bamber Bridge is a fantastic location, just four miles from Preston town centre and its excellent transport links. There is a good range of local amenities, including shops, banks, pubs and cafés, and three supermarkets within a mile. There are parks and green spaces nearby, and a high-quality leisure centre with a good pool and gym.

With nearby parks, leisure facilities and excellent schools, Wren Green is the perfect place for a growing family. And for those who relish in rural living, the Ribble Valley edges the development, offering endless walks and cycling, as well as quality fishing and other activities.

South Oxhey Central, Watford

A vibrant development in the South Oxhey suburb of Watford. Here investors can purchase one and two-bedroom apartments and two to four-bedroom houses. Homes that are ideal for first-time buyers through to families seeking a move out of the city.

The development is ideally placed for commuters, with easy access to Watford town centre. The nearby Carpenders Park railway station means commuters can be in London in less than an hour. There are several local shops near to the development for day-to-day needs, and three excellent primary schools within walking distance.

When an investor buys a Countryside property, they can be certain they are dealing with a property developer held in the highest regard by the industry and one that offers access to some of the best strategic locations in England.

Live with passion,

Brett Alegre-Wood

Avant Homes – A phoenix from the ashes about to soar

Exceptional quality in exceptional locations

Avant Homes aspires to be the UK’s largest housebuilder, as it once was in another life. With the backing of three hedge funds, a go-to management, and a new line of financing recently agreed. It has every possibility of doing so. In the meantime, investors who buy properties from Avant Homes will benefit from innovative design, and high-level specification all included within the price.

One of the largest privately-owned property developers in the UK

Avant was once the UK’s largest housebuilder when it was an amalgamation of 15 housebuilders collectively known as Gladedale. However, the company had to be rescued when it nearly collapsed under the weight of £1 billion of debt in the recession following the Global Financial Crisis. The company’s saviour, Lloyds Bank, sold Avant to a consortium of three hedge funds – Alchemy Special Opportunities Fund, Angelo, Gordon & Co., and Avenue Capital Group.

It has been slimmed down by CEO Colin Lewis and focuses on building homes in Scotland and the North of England down to Bletchley, Milton Keynes. With 600 employees, the group operates via a number of regional subsidiaries. The major of these are Avant Homes Scotland, Avant Homes North East, Avant Homes Midlands, and Avant Homes Yorkshire.

Avant – paying attention to quality and the local area

Avant’s mission is to be ‘good, better, different’. This is personified in the homes it builds, and how it builds them. The company doesn’t simply want to be the biggest at what it does, and it seeks to be the best. It benchmarks its product against that of other property developers, compares approach, and aims to build homes that are ‘good, better, different’.

With the focus on quality, attention to detail, and the local area. They seek to work with and build communities while maintaining excellence in its core responsibilities: employees, investors, customers, clients, stakeholders, and community issues. To achieve all of this, Avant’s management:

• Drives the delivery of cost-effective homes designed for the needs of their customers. Built to the highest standards and future-proofed for residential needs
• Emphasizes on site safety, use of natural resources, and environmental impact
• Builds with specifications for sustainable lifestyles (including recycling, reduced waste, and using fewer resources)

High-level specifications creating unique homes

Avant’s specification list is off the charts. Off-plan investors have the choice of more than a dozen designer kitchens, with features that include soft close drawers, integrated appliances, and choice of colour schemes.

In the bathroom, buyers have a choice of panelling, hand-hair wash and slim-profile bath fillers, full-height tiling, digitally controlled thermostatic shower, and a floating vanity unit in a range of colours.

Sliding door wardrobes, en suite, and BT and television sockets to the bedrooms complete the individualisation options.

All of this is included as standard in an Avant Homes property (including carpets).

In February 2017, Avant Homes became the UK’s first national property developer to partner with British Gas and install the Hive Active Heating technology in every home it builds, giving homeowners and tenants the ability to control their gas and energy usage better and reduce costs.

Recognition beginning to flow

Avant’s design, build quality, and internal and external specifications have helped it win several industry awards, marking it out as a property developer delivering to the needs of its customers and local communities. Its most recent awards include:

• The new housing development in the village of Winchburgh has been named the best in Scotland.
• The developer’s team at Richmond Gate were presented the Property Team of the Year Award at the Herald Property Awards for Scotland in September 2016.
• Also at the Herald Property Awards for Scotland, Avant Homes’ Pendlebury house type won the Best Family Home Award.
• At this year’s Scottish Home Awards, Avant Homes won the House of the Year Award.

Where can you invest in an Avant Homes property?

Avant Homes completed more than 1,600 homes last year and planned to increase this to 2,000 homes per year within five years. It is currently developing dozens of sites, with more expected, providing homes ranging from one-bedroom apartments to five-bedroom family homes. Two of Avant Homes’ developments are:

Life at Bletchley

Located in the heart of Buckinghamshire and surrounded by stunning countryside, Life at Bletchley is a collection of homes from one and two-bedroom apartments through to four-bedroom homes. This development lies within a walk of the local railway station. From where London is less than 50 minutes by train: ideal for professionals working in the capital. Bletchley is close to the A5 and M1, providing excellent transport links to the rest of the country.

Local schools in the area include Knowles Nursery, St Thomas Aquinas Catholic Primary, White Spire School, and The Milton Keynes Academy. Local shops include a Tesco Express. There is a range of dining options locally, as well as a cinema, a hospital, and, of course, the amazing countryside to relax. Nearby Milton Keynes, which is in the running to be named the European Capital of Culture 2023. It provides further leisure and shopping facilities.

Johnsons Wharf, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent

In the heart of Stoke-on-Trent, Johnsons Wharf is part of the City Waterside regeneration programme. The site is surrounded by historically preserved buildings and puts residents close to the action of the bustling city centre. As such it is ideally located for local shops, leisure facilities, bars, restaurants and theatres.

And yet, residents also benefit from the peace of waterside living.

The development also benefits from Stoke’s fantastic transport links. With easy commutes to Stafford and Macclesfield, and good road and rail links to Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool. Families benefit from proximity to local primary and secondary schools and further education.

Properties available here range from two-bedroom apartments to four-bedroom homes. All of which benefit from the quality of Avant Homes build specification.

Avant Homes provides exceptional quality in its build and quality, and offers exceptional locations for investment, too.

Live with passion,

Brett Alegre-Wood

Crest Nicholson – quality and sustainability across the south of the UK

Introducing one the UK’s premier property developers

Crest Nicholson is one of the UK’s leading property developers, focusing on the South of England and Wales. It has been building homes and communities for over 50 years and delivers developments of all types of homes on various sizes and locational sites – including largescale urban regeneration and garden villages. This multi award-winning developer delivers on its promise to provide quality, sustainable communities – excellent properties in superb locations for property investors.

Crest Nicholson – one of the South’s premier property developers

Crest Nicholson operates through five regional housebuilding divisions. Two other business units complement these:

• Crest Nicholson Regeneration (Major Projects) specialises in large-scale developments, on which it typically partners with public and private ventures and organisations. Such projects incorporate residential and mixed-use developments, often on brownfield sites.
• Crest Strategic Projects (Strategic Land) sources land and acquires planning permissions for longer-term property developments.

Crest Nicholson delivers thousands of new build completions every year and expects to increase sales from around £1 billion in 2016 to £1.4 billion in 2019.

It builds homes suitable for a wide range of purchasers – from first-time buyers to families to investors – with properties ranging from one-bedroom apartments to five-bedroom detached homes.

A passionate developer with a mission

Stephen Stone, Crest Nicholson’s CEO, sums up the group’s purpose when he says that Crest Nicholson is a property developer with a passion for creating vibrant, sustainable communities with quality homes. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for individuals and communities, both now and in the future, by providing better homes, work places, retail and leisure spaces, with the customer at the heart of everything the company does.

Three core principles dictate every development

Crest Nicholson’s passion for creating quality developments is evident in the way it manages its projects with the guidance of three core principles:

·      Design and innovation

Crest Nicholson has an enviable reputation for delivering imaginative solutions in the design and build of high-quality homes. It is a leader in the development of off-site manufacturing processes, which will help to deliver homes more quickly while reducing waste, increasing on-site safety, and improving customer service.

·      Sustainability

Crest Nicholson understands that the developments of today must be built for sustainability to become the communities of tomorrow. It works closely with local stakeholders and planning authorities to ensure the development meets local needs. It works to create communities that blend in with local environments, and in which residents have access to good transport links and local shops, schools, and leisure facilities.

The properties it builds benefit from a range of green features, including low energy efficient lighting, smart meters installed, and many also feature low-carbon energy or renewable energy sources. All Crest Nicholson homes exceed the national average for water efficiency, and all have internal recycling bins.

·      Customer care

Crest Nicholson prides itself on delivering well-built, well-designed homes and a great customer experience overall. It works hard to retain and raise customer satisfaction levels, strengthening its quality assurance processes, including specifying a standard above the industry norm for paintwork and has improved its Quality Manual setting out the expected standards of its subcontractors.

Adding value for communities, providing potential for investors

Crest Nicholson has a well-located land portfolio in the south of the UK, strategic locations which add up to a sustainable land supply.

It uses its expertise and extensive partnerships to take land through the design and planning process, creating vibrant communities with a blend of tenures.

Throughout the planning and construction process, Crest Nicholson supports the development of local infrastructure, manages waste, and uses materials effectively.

It supports all customers throughout the buying process and then creates a community in infrastructure that supports that community. It includes innovative solutions such as creating Community Interest Companies to own and manage communal assets. And affordable management solutions to secure the long-term futures of the places created.

Recognised for all-round quality

Crest Nicholson is known by customers and its peers for the outstanding quality of its product. In 2016, among its industry awards were:

• WhatHouse? Awards – Park Central, Best Partnership
• WhatHouse? Awards – Bath Riverside, Best House
• WhatHouse? Awards – Bristol Harbourside, Mixed-Use Development
• The Housebuilder Awards – Sustainable Housebuilder of the Year
• The Housebuilder Awards – Best Refurbishment Project
• The Sunday Times British Home Awards – Best House Design Award winner

Eight of its site managers received Quality Awards from NHBC, and one received the Seal of Excellence.

Where can investors buy a new build Crest Nicholson home?

Crest Nicholson’s five regional divisions are Southwest, Chiltern, Eastern, Southern, and London. Across these five divisions, Crest Nicholson is currently developing dozens of sites. Two such sites and typical of the quality of location and properties developed by Crest Nicholson are Valentine Place in London and The Apex Apartments in Crawley.

Valentine Place, London SE1

Just a five-minute walk from Waterloo station, you will find Valentine Place, a collection of apartments, penthouses, and mews houses crafted around a former bakery. This development is at the heart of one of London’s premier cultural centres, and ideal for those who work in London.

There is no end to the recreation and leisure facilities surrounding the development and within walking distance. Views across the Thames, fine dining restaurants, the world-famous Borough Market, and pop-up markets are just a few of the local amenities here.

This development is perfect for professionals and young families. And ideal for those working in the legal quarter, The City of London, Canary Wharf and the West End.

The Apex Apartments, Crawley, West Sussex

A new collection of contemporary one and two-bedroom apartments, The Apex Apartments development is ideal for town centre living. In the heart of this commuter town, Crawley and Three Bridges railway stations are nearby. Regular trains taking commuters and travellers to London Victoria in less than 45 minutes. Close to the development, the M23 is the main route to London Gatwick for national and international flights.

Crawley offers a wide variety of high street names and boutique shops for retail enthusiasts. Houses an arts and entertainment complex, and is getting a name as a gourmet hub. Gyms and plenty of open spaces cater for fitness and sports enthusiasts.

These quality properties are set around a landscaped courtyard. And also nearby Goffs Park offers a green haven from the hustle and bustle of the town centre lifestyle.

Live with passion,

Brett Alegre-Wood

Bovis – a leading housebuilder with a reputation for quality

Exceptional value for money promised by Bovis Homes

Bovis Homes build some of the best residential properties in the UK. From apartments to large family homes, the property developer is known for the quality of its development sites, homes it builds, and communities it helps to create. It employs 1,200 staff and has a strong presence in the south and home counties and into the Midlands from its eight regional operations.

Bovis – 135 years of tradition and quality

Property developer Bovis was originally founded in 1885 as C.W. Bovis & Co. in the London Borough of Marylebone when Charles Bovis bought an existing business owned by Francis Sanders. Since then, the company has changed hands several times, but always retained the Bovis name and its reputation for delivering quality homes.

Between the wars, Bovis developed mostly commercial and retail properties. In the early 1970s, Bovis acquired the New Ash Green development in Kent and sold over 2,000 homes here. It is here that Bovis’s headquarters is located. By 1973, Bovis had become the UK’s second largest housebuilder, completing on 2,659 residential dwellings.

Bovis has always been one of the UK’s most innovative property developers, and in 1993 introduced a new standard in the housebuilding industry – value-engineered house designs built using standardised components and materials.

In 2007, Bovis acquired northern housebuilder Elite Homes Group to consolidate its presence in the North of England.

Creating homes for all

The Bovis product range incorporates two-bedroom starter homes through to large six-bedroom family homes. Design and construction is a perfect blend of the traditional and the innovative. The result is a quality home every time, built with traditional values of craftsmanship for contemporary lifestyles.

A value-driven property developer

Everything that Bovis does is driven by a unique set of values, encapsulating its approach of integrity, care, and quality:

A developer with integrity

Bovis encourages an environment of trust, acting in a fair and reasonable manner towards all, taking responsibility for its actions, and keeping its promises – including delivering homes on time.

A caring house builder

Bovis is passionate about health and safety, as well as communication with employees, business partners, suppliers and subcontractors, and customers. It puts emphasises on understanding individual needs, and values the contributions of others.

A developer committed to quality

Bovis demands high standards across all of its developments, partners and employees. It creates an environment in which learning and development thrive, and insists that high standards and attention to detail are common values on all Bovis developments.

Bovis builds homes of which all its employees can be proud, and which offers exceptional potential to investors.

What you can expect from a Bovis home

Bovis includes many ‘extras’ in its homes that many other builders consider to be ‘optionals’. For example:

• Kitchens are designed to optimise available space, with work surfaces cabinetry, and white goods usually included in the price.
• Most homes benefit from en-suite bathrooms or shower rooms to the main bedroom and often include more than one en-suite.
• Built-in wardrobes offer exceptional space-saving and clean decorative lines in most bedrooms.

Where can investors buy a new build Bovis home?

Property investors can buy Bovis new build properties across many sites in the following counties:

• Bedfordshire
• Buckinghamshire
• Cambridgeshire
• Cheshire
• East Sussex
• Gloucestershire
• Hampshire
• Kent
• Norfolk
• North Yorkshire
• Northamptonshire
• Oxfordshire
• Shropshire
• Staffordshire
• Warwickshire
• Wiltshire
• Worcestershire

Bovis Homes offer exceptional value for those seeking to invest in predominantly more rural locations that offer good transport options for commuters. The following locations typify the type of property development offered by Bovis.

Drovers Way, Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire

Within eight miles of Cambridge, Drovers Way is in the historic Fen village of Waterbeach, with excellent links to London. Commuters by train can be in London in around an hour, while the A10 skirts the village and runs to the heart of the capital. There are regular buses to Cambridge and Ely, and Cambridge International Airport is only six miles away.

Waterbeach benefits from two local stores and a bakery, and the closest supermarket is just 4.5 miles away in Milton. For more extensive retail therapy, residents will find a range of high street shops, boutiques, designer brands and markets in Cambridge.

Properties developed by Bovis here include three to five-bedroom homes. This development is perfect for residents with families and those who want to live in a semi-rural location with all the benefits of open space and proximity to transport links for commuters.

Honeyvale Gardens, Moulton, Cheshire

Honeyvale Gardens is a new Bovis development in Moulton, overlooking open farmland. There are three to five-bedroom homes available here, designed for modern lifestyles.

The village of Moulton is just four miles from Northwich railway station, from where Manchester Piccadilly is less than an hour’s commute. Junction 18 of the M6 is a five-mile drive away. Manchester Airport is only 20 miles, and Liverpool John Lennon is 25 miles.

Moulton has a village shop, and nearby towns have a selection of shops, markets and supermarkets. Chester offers independent and boutique stores in addition to high street names, and north of Chester residents will find 145 luxury and high street brands at the Cheshire Oaks Designer Brands Outlet.

Moulton has a bustling community, and a variety of sports and social clubs. There are pubs, restaurants and evening entertainment in Moulton, Middlewich, and Northwich. Families with children up to age 18 are well catered for, with a primary school in the village and the nearby Middlewich High School.

Bovis offers a range of homes on a range of fantastic developments, ideal for investors seeking properties in idyllic lifestyle locations.

Live with passion,

Brett Alegre-Wood

Redrow – Creating a better way for people to live

Investors buy quality and lifestyle with a Redrow home

Redrow is one of the UK’s leading residential property developers, with more than 40 years’ experience building quality homes across England and Wales. It has a history of high achievement and is a winner of a multitude of industry awards. On all its developments, Redrow aims to build efficiently, sustainably and responsibly, while delivering premier places to live with a focus on high-quality lifestyle.

Redrow – a property developer with a proud heritage

Redrow’s proud heritage dates back to its foundation as a small civil engineering company in 1974. It embarked on its first major housing development in 1979, at Denbigh in North Wales. By the mid-1980s, Redrow had established itself as a quality national homebuilder. It introduced its ‘Heritage’ collection in the 1990s, and it was then that industry awards began to flow its way.

It hasn’t all been plain sailing for the company. Redrow was hit as hard as other homebuilders during the Global Financial Crisis and Credit Crunch. The product range was redesigned and relaunched in 2010, and this helped to restore Redrow’s reputation as a builder of premium-brand, high-quality homes for all lifestyles.

It has continued to grow its product range and opened new regional divisions to help improve its development capabilities and geographical reach. It is now the developer of choice for many urban and rural projects. These include the mixed-use Colindale Gardens in North West London and the Woodford Garden Village in the North West.

A three-legged focus

Redrow’s approach to developing delivers excellence across all its business areas. To achieve world-class excellence, it focuses on:

• Developing in outstanding locations, creating environments to stand the test of time
• Building beautiful homes, to a quality unsurpassed by others
• Employing the very best, dedicated workforce and business partners, with all stakeholders (including staff and customers) treated as equals

Redrow is continually searching for the best locations to add to its land bank. It builds where people want to live, work, and enjoy life.

By understanding current and future market trends, Redrow has built an enviable track record of creating award-winning homes.

The company has been a leader in the development of talent, creating hundreds of jobs and employing record numbers of apprentices to support its future growth.

What investors get when they buy a Redrow home

When an investor buys a Redrow home, they are assured of quality – from design to sustainability, to the little details.

Redrow’s design teams are dedicated to delivering attractive and sustainable homes in healthy and vibrant environments. It’s building teams use efficient and cost-effective processes, environmentally friendly materials, and proven technologies to create quality homes to the highest specifications. It applies whether Redrow is developing urban or rural locations. The company’s commitment to detail is evident in the quality of internal and external on each property completed.

Recognised by the industry

Every year, Redrow scoops awards across its three focus areas. This year alone, it has won awards for safety on construction sites, the quality of its learning and development and apprenticeship schemes, and interior design.

In 2016, Redrow won the Best Large Housebuilder Silver Award at the WhatHouse? Awards, was the winner of the Show Home of the Year at the North West Property Awards, won several Residential Development awards at the UK Property Awards, and numerous NHBC Pride in the Job Awards, amongst others.

The plethora of awards it wins so regularly is evidence of the Redrow’s commitment and ability to build properties of the highest standard and quality in the UK today.

Where can investors buy a new build Redrow home?

Property investors will find that Redrow has dozens of developments around England and Wales, with much more in the pipeline. They will build thousands of new homes this year, from Liverpool to London, St. Ives to Sheffield, Birmingham to Bristol, and many other locations in between. As examples of the quality of property investment opportunities offered by Redrow, developments currently underway include:

Colindale Gardens, North West London

In North West London, Colindale Gardens will provide a community of 2,900 homes over 50 acres, with development progressing over the next decade. Included in the development is a range of shops, restaurants and cafes. Properties here range from studio apartments to four-bedroom homes.

One of the selling points (as well as the quality of properties) is the beautiful outside space this development will provide. Sports, fitness, and outdoor lifestyles have been prioritised here. Residents benefit from concierge services and their gym, open air football pitches, footpaths and cycle tracks. It is also close to Fryent Country Park, where residents will find 250 acres of fields and woods.

Woodford Garden Village, Cheshire

Based at the former aerodrome at Woodford, this development is within commuting distance of Manchester. Phase one delivers quality three to five-bedroom homes. The development features plenty of open spaces, including traditional village greens. There will be many new amenities, too. These are to include a brand new primary school, sports facilities, shops, and a dedicated health centre.

Major supermarkets are in nearby Poynton and Wilmslow, where residents will also find a range of fine dining establishments to augment the many countryside gastro pubs in the area.

When completed, Woodford Green will provide 900 homes and 50 acres of public open space, to include sports pitches, cycle paths, and a new Heritage Centre.

Whatever an investor’s investment objectives, you can be sure that the quality of Redrow’s development sites and its new build homes will underpin capital growth and income potential.

Live with passion,

Brett Alegre-Wood

Bellway – a nationwide ‘local’ property developer

Quality is the keyword at a Bellway development

Bellway builds its residential property differently to most other property developers. Rather than developing a set range of home styles, it designs homes to fit in with the local environment. It means property investors benefit from an investment in a home that completely resonates with home buyers and tenants, wherever the property is located. This approach is just one of the reasons why Bellway is one of the most decorated property developers in the UK and has a five-star rating in the Home Builders Federation customer satisfaction survey.

Bellway – one of the UK’s largest housebuilders

Established 70 years ago in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Bellway directly employs 2,000 people and provides work for thousands of contractors. Bellway is now one of the UK’s largest housebuilders, with dozens of development sites around the country. It builds around 9,000 homes every year, ranging from one-bedroom apartments to luxury penthouses and executive houses.

Building with a local bias

Bellway prides itself on knowing the needs and aspirations of buyers at the local level. It builds homes to suit local needs that are in keeping with local environments. Operating from 19 regional offices, it uses local contractors wherever possible, further supporting the economies in which it is building. Homes are designed at an almost individual level, rather than to a national standard design. Bellway works closely with buyers at early stages of development, enabling investors to personalise their property to extensive levels of uniqueness.

A watchword of quality recognised by the building industry

Bellway prides itself on the quality of its build and the high standard of service it offers to home buyers. It hasn’t lost sight of what matters to home buyers and property investors. Bellway liaises with local people when making key decisions about property design, materials to use, and specifications. This dedication to quality is reflected by the industry awards it so regularly receives.

Most recent of these awards include 23 Quality Awards in this year’s NHBC Pride in the Job Awards. These awards recognise outstanding quality on house building sites, and winners are selected from around 13,000 site managers around the UK. They reward the best site managers with responsibility for the start to finish of construction of new homes, and who have a unique influence on the quality of the finished product.

John Watson, Chief Executive of Bellway, said: “The awards are highly regarded within the industry; winners earn the true respect of their peers. Anyone gaining the first-round award is already in the top three per cent of their profession, and they can be very proud of their achievement. To have improved year after year over the last four years demonstrates our commitment to providing the best quality homes for our buyers.”

Speaking of being awarded five-star status by the Home Builders Federation – an award based on feedback from customers in the weeks after moving into their new home – Bellway CEO Ted Ayres said:

“Performing to five-star standards requires unwavering attention to detail. It is especially challenging given the volume of homes we are building. Every site we develop, from Scotland to the south coast, brings with it its challenges and every home has its intricacies. To have more than 90 per cent of our customers say they would recommend us to a friend is a phenomenal achievement for everybody at Bellway.”

Where can investors buy a new build Bellway property?

Property investors can find Bellway developments across the UK, from Scotland to the South West of England. Here are two examples of Bellway developments, demonstrating the diversity and quality of build, and excellence of location:

·      Tidbury Heights, Solihull

A range of two to five-bedroom homes, in various styles and specifications. All properties benefit from gardens and garages or private parking. This development is ideally located with nearby schools for children of all ages. The nearest supermarket is a mile away, where residents will also find a range of convenience stores, restaurants and pubs. With Birmingham city centre only eight miles away, Tidbury Heights is less than half an hour away from some of the best shopping and leisure facilities in England.

·      Caspian Quarter, Barking

Near the Thames at Barkingside, these award-winning one and two-bedroom apartments are designed to breathe new life into this area of London and will appeal to young professionals and small families in particular. The development includes green roofs, communal gardens, high levels of insulation, and are built using locally sourced timber.

There are several primary and secondary schools in the area, as well as around 30 parks and wildlife reserves. There is local shopping in Barking town centre, and exceptional retail therapy is available at nearby Westfield at Stratford City.

Public transport links are exceptional, with regular services from London Fenchurch Street.

Whatever an investor’s financial objectives, Bellway is a property developer that is likely to have a development and a home design available to meet them.

Live with passion,

Brett Alegre-Wood

Hamptons International – Centuries of experience and thousands of sales

Working with Hamptons International

We’ve actually worked with Hamptons for around 5 years now and assisted in the off market side of many of their developments on behalf of developers. They have recently restructured their London Residential team and are posed for growing under the direction of Countrywide.

The power of an estate agency network in action

Hamptons Internationalis one of the oldest estate agents in the UK, with 85 offices around the country. Having been acquired and sold several times during its history, it is now owned by Countrywide, the UK’s largest estate agency. Hamptons offers a number of property services including sales, residential development services, new home sales and property investments. The company also has a global network and offers an extensive portfolio of properties abroad.

Award-winning end-to-end investment property solution

Hamptons International Residential Development works with housebuilders and developers and sells more than 5,500 new homes each year.

In 2015, Hamptons International was awarded Best Large Agency for the fourth year running at the Estate Agency of the Year Awards.

Its service provides an end-to-end solution to developers, buyers and investors. It provides advice and a complete range of services on UK property developments of all sizes, marketing to investors at home and abroad. Its network of 85 UK offices is enhanced by operating with several long-standing partnerships. These are key to facilitating its incredible sales numbers, with partnerships aiding the marketing of projects ranging from full-scale developments to mixed-use schemes.

The Land team – the experience to guide

Hamptons’ Land team has over 30 years of experience as specialists in identifying, advising and acquiring sites with development potential. They help release the land, arranging the sale and acquisition of properties and building land. Services include:

• Land sales
• Site acquisitions
• Feasibility advice
• Site assembly
• Strategic land
• Targeted research and marketing support
• Securing of development partners
• Joint venture arrangements

Specialists in London

Hamptons is particularly strong in the London property market, where it has 22 offices and more than 140 years of experience.

Offering privileged access to investors

The PRS market is developing rapidly and offers some exciting investment opportunities. Hamptons’ Investment Consultancy team has an enviable track record of advising on and transacting residential property investment opportunities. It works with property companies, institutions, private equity firms and specialist PRS developers.

Investor clients also include family trusts, high net worth individuals, and international and sovereign wealth funds. Working closely with the investment team, Hamptons’ clients receive privileged access to new off-plan deals, income-producing portfolios, and build-to-rent opportunities.

Live with passion,

Brett Alegre-Wood

Colliers International – a global property advisory with marketing focus

Working with Colliers International

We’ve been working with both the Singapore and UK team at Colliers to assist their developers to sell more stock, re-launch sites and finish off the remaining units in a development. Our off-market approach means that we do not compete with their above-the-line sales.
The team are very professional and in the past years have proven to be very successful in securing many sites across London and more recently into the rest of the UK.

Teaming up with a global giant could boost profits

Colliers International is an industry-leading real estate company, with 15,000 employees operating in 68 countries. It provides a range of services for property investors, and markets for property developers using a ‘go-to-market’ strategy. In the UK, Colliers operates across several sectors from 12 regional offices.

A truly global property company

For more than two decades, Colliers has been delivering real estate services to owner-occupiers and investors as one of only a handful of global real estate advisory companies. Its workforce is highly trained and extremely passionate. They put clients first, and enjoy the success they have because they enjoy what they do. The company has returned an average of 20% per year to its shareholders.

Contributions from all 68 countries in which it operates enabled Colliers to post record profits in 2016 as:

• Global revenues reached $2.6 billion
• Property under management totaled 2 billion square feet of property around the world
• 72,000 lease or sale transactions were completed, with a total value of $105 billion

Colliers Residential

The Colliers Residential team is based throughout the UK and offers a comprehensive residential agency and advisory service. Its representatives are knowledgeable and enterprising. With a global platform at their fingertips, Colliers advises both the sell side and the buy side of the property market. It represents a wide variety of companies, from global brands to family-owned businesses.

Renowned for its corporate responsibility

Colliers has a renowned corporate responsibility mission that has been recognised with many industry awards and certifications. It aims to uphold three pillars of the community, people and the environment. To this end, Colliers has:

• Been Investors in People accredited since 2005, in Human Resources Management
• Been certified by DNV GL in environmental management; business management; business continuity management; and health and safety management
• Chosen to support several charities through 2017, including Cancer Research UK; LandAid; Alzheimer’s Society; Children in Need; and Comic Relief, among others.

Live with passion,

Brett Alegre-Wood