Posted 21 December 2021 by
Lizzie LeighCaroline Comer, sales & marketing director at Comer Homes, tells us how the housebuilder blends the old with the new to produce striking new homes.
Caroline, please tell us a bit about your role and day to day responsibilities at Comer Homes?
I’ve been in the business, founded by my father, Brian Comer and uncle, Luke Comer, one way or another since I was 11. I’ve worn many hats in my time here, but my longest and current role is sales & marketing director and I oversee every active site in the Comer Homes portfolio. This is definitely my favourite job of all the ones I’ve done, and I really enjoy building an identity for a new development and then selling that dream to buyers. You’ll typically find me moving between our numerous schemes overseeing the sales programme ensuring everything is running smoothly and on track.
Which particular schemes are you focusing on at the moment?
We’re now well into the final phase at Royal Connaught Park, which has been a decade-long sales programme. Located in Bushey, the development is part new build, part restoration of the former Royal Masonic School for Boys. The Nova Collection is a unique selection of new homes that range in price from £610,000 to £1.425million and feature bespoke interiors, as captivating as the Gothic architecture that characterises the former school buildings.
Royal Connaught Park
Are you offering any incentives to potential buyers?
We don’t often incentives for the simple reason that we believe we price our homes appropriately and the level of design and quality combined with location and amenities mean that they sell themselves.
Do you have a personal preference for built from the ground, new build homes, or reimagined older properties with the Comer touch added to them?
I honestly love and see merit in all of them. The majority of our projects are conversions of significant heritage sites that we refurbish and deliver a mixture of converted period apartments and new-build homes. It makes it more interesting when you can offer every type of home and certainly helps with the sales process. We find that when potential buyers visit our marketing suites we will always have a product they like, be it brand new, period or something with real character and history.
Our sites are also typically set on expansive private grounds, where we also develop a mixture of leisure and entertainment facilities, to provide our residents with everything they need all in one place.
Comer Homes builds new homes in London, Hertfordshire, Dorset and throughout the South East. Is there one market that is outperforming others at the moment?
We always look for areas that provide good value and would make great places to live, but when it comes to markets London and the Home Counties will always outperform the rest of the country.
Royal Connaught Park
Do you think there will be lasting effects of the pandemic in terms of what people want from their home in the future?
We found that our residents at Royal Connaught Park really appreciated the large private 100 acres of private grounds they could access directly during lockdown, which kept them busy and got them out and about in a safe environment when sadly many who lived in apartments struggled to get to good-sized open green spaces.
Since then, we have received a lot of enquiries about the residents-only parkland at each of our sites, as well as the size and flexibility of our homes, which was another plus for residents when they were suddenly forced to work from home or spend most of the day inside.
When restrictions lifted slightly, homeowners were also kept busy by the wealth of onsite residents’ only amenities at Royal Connaught Park, which included outdoor tennis courts, gym and spa complex with jacuzzi, sauna and steam rooms and an indoor heated swimming pool. We put in place a booking system for residents, so they could use the facilities in comfort knowing they were safely social distancing.
It is certainly something we will be enhancing even further on our future schemes.
Royal Connaught Park
The Comer Group deals with a mixed portfolio, developing beautiful homes and office spaces; are you seeing many commercial properties being reconfigured as luxury apartments in city centres?
Yes, we have two developments in city centre locations; Royal Winchester House, Bracknell and Tower Point, Enfield that are former commercial premises that have been reconfigured into luxury apartments.
Both developments are part of our BTR [build to rent] offering, with Royal Winchester House a striking new build development providing 193 two-bedroom and 145 one-bedroom homes, available for short or long-term rental, starting from £1,000 per calendar month. Tower Point, is a striking building comprising c.300 rental homes, which also includes luxurious health and fitness clubs managed by Virgin Active.
And what’s coming up in 2022?
Coming soon are a collection of spectacular residential schemes in Chalfont St. Giles and Wallingford. The first to be released is Newland Park, Chalfont St. Giles, a Grade II listed 18th Century manor house to be converted into 300 new homes, and Carmel College, Oxfordshire, a former Jewish boarding school situated on an 80-acre site, with lakes and estuaries that lead onto the River Thames, which will see the construction of c.166 units. This year will also see the release of the final phase at Mast Quay, a highly successful mixed-use scheme in Woolwich, London.
And finally, what’s the best of new year, new home advice you would offer any potential buyer right now?
When buying home always look at the final finish and quality. It can be draining to constantly snag a new home or call out repair companies to put bad work right. We’ve always prided ourselves on delivering homes of the highest quality and take a no quibble policy to any aftercare requests, ensuring our purchasers are always 100% happy with their new home.
Buying a new home is never easy at any time of the year as we all know it is a huge investment and potentially the final move of your life, my advice is that you need to pick a developer who makes the buying process easy who holds your hand throughout and makes you feel at ease every step along the way.
Find out more at www.thecomergroup.com.