We speak to sales manager Charlie Wemyss about David Wilson Homes’ Leicestershire developments, with a focus on Grange View, a scheme of spacious homes in Hugglescote.
Charlie, please tell us a little about yourself and your role at David Wilson Homes.
I’m one of the sales managers for the region and I’ve worked for the company for more than 10 years, starting out on an apprentice scheme then becoming a sales adviser, then sales manager.
Our division is traditionally focused on Leicestershire but we’ve had sites as far north as Mansfield and as far south as Warwick, where we are today. We’ve gone as far west as Tamworth and east as far as Grantham, so we cover quite a big area.
We’ve got 13 live developments at the moment, and five more we are looking to launch in 2022.
We usually get one of the highest numbers of NHBC awards, including a Supreme Award winner a few years ago.
Tell us about Grange View.
Grange View is in Hugglescote, a village just outside Coalville. We’re building 210 homes in total and have completed 91 so far. It’s a great location, about a mile from the town centre and close to the M1 and the A511, so you can get to Leicester in about half-an-hour, and towards Birmingham. Being right in the heart of England, we do appeal to both local buyers and anyone looking for a rural location that’s ideal for commuting.
We’ve got five supermarkets nearby, a doctor’s surgery right at the entrance, lots of great rural areas including Bradgate Park, just 10-minutes away, the National Forest, Ashby-de-la-Zouch Castle and lots of other great places to explore. There are some great schools too, including Ellistown Community Primary School and The Newbridge High School which are both rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted, and Forest Way School rated ‘Outstanding’ too.
It’s good value for money here and you can get a larger home than you might for the same money elsewhere in Leicestershire.
We’re building three-, four- and five-bedroom properties and we’ve sold to first-time buyers, families and downsizers.
Since the end of lockdown, have you seen lots of visitors to the site?
We’ve definitely seen a change. Before Covid, we used to get people walking into the marketing suite with general enquiries and starting their search quite early. Since then, it’s a bit more structured, with people doing a lot more research prior to visiting. They make appointments rather than just walking in, they have spoken to financial advisors before coming to the site. But having just one appointment at a time now makes it safer for customers and gives them a structured quality service.
With well-informed potential buyers, do you need to explaining the benefits of new build over second-hand homes?
In the market at the moment, one of the biggest strengths is due to energy bills. We have stats that show that, with a Victorian house in comparison to a David Wilson property, the new home will be up to 57% more energy efficient, which is a huge difference. With it being such a strong market right now, people can put their homes on the market for more money. Also, there’s no onward property chain.
With new homes, we have the ‘blank canvas’ to design them to suit their needs today compared to what was needed in the 1950s and 1960s, when people may have had different priorities. Things like open-plan layouts rather than separate kitchens and dining rooms. With the latest heating systems, combi boilers free up more storage space, and we can use clever designs to make the most of the space. And over time, we have made adaptations to our house types based on customer feedback.
When people see the upgrades and options in the show home, do they often want them for their own property?
The show homes are our ‘shop window’ to show the properties as best we can, so we will often include various different options through our Expressions service. We often have two show homes and there will be differences between the two, with some things as standard and some as upgrades. We are finding at the moment that personalising the home is becoming more commonplace. Because of the property market, we are selling much more in advance and buyers are reserving at a time that gives them an opportunity to choose their tiling or tweak the electrical layout for example, as opposed to buying a more-or-less finished property.
What homes are available at Grange View right now?
At the moment, we have a mix of four- and five-bedroom homes, with three-bedroom homes also coming soon. With other developments in the area, not many currently have the larger detached family properties.
Is Part Exchange often used?
We have three schemes: Part Exchange, Part Exchange Xtra and Movemaker. Because the property market is so strong in general, we’re using more of our Movemaker scheme, where we put the buyer’s current property on the market through an estate agent. When the agent sells that home, we pay their fees. That’s a very popular scheme. We’re often in a position where we’re confident we can sell that customer’s property within two weeks, so they get the maximum they can for their house.
Part Exchange Xtra is a hybrid of the Part Exchange and Movemaker schemes. The Part Exchange element is a backup. If for some reason we don’t achieve a sale on the property within a timescale, there’s an agreed figure for which we will buy the house. We try to find different ways to put customers in a position where they can comfortably move into a new home without the worry of selling their existing property.
Are there other current David Wilson Homes developments in the area that offer different property types than Grange View?
From our Fleckney Fields development, south of Leicester, we’ve just launched Thorpebury in the Limes, where we’ll be going on site shortly. That will have some longevity, and we should be completing Grange View within the next two years.
Is there anything else about Grange View that people should know about?
Recently, we’ve worked together with local councils to commemorate the Whitwick mining disaster, a very well-known story in this area.
Grange View is open five days a week, closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and it’s always best to make an appointment, but people can pop in if they are passing by.
Find out more about Grange View from David Wilson Homes.
Find out more about current David Wilson Homes developments in Leicestershire.
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