We catch up with Luke, development director, and Natalie, sales and marketing director, at Barratt David Wilson Homes Kent, and we hear about the latest new home hotspots in the South East…
Luke, please tell us about your role as development director at Barratt David Wilson Homes Kent, and Natalie, please tell us about your role as sales and marketing director at Barratt David Wilson Homes Kent?
Luke: The development director role is extremely varied as I look after the Land, Planning and Design teams. The Land team are responsible for sourcing and acquiring land as well as working with affordable housing partners. These opportunities range from immediate sites with planning permission to longer term projects with no planning status which can take over 10 years to work their way through the planning system. The planning and design teams are focused on delivering planning permission and liaising with local authorities as well as ensuring all schemes meet our own high internal design standards.
Natalie: My role as sales and marketing director is also extremely varied, and in my 20-year career at Barratt David Wilson Kent, I don’t think I’ve had two days which have been the same! We currently have 10 live developments in the Kent region, and my role is to ensure delivery of sales across sites, drive performance from sales and marketing teams, and ensure we’re exceeding customer expectations with product and service.
Luke, what are the factors that make a great site for new home developments in the South East?
Every site is different and will have its own unique selling points but the principal things we look for are the following: sustainable and accessible transport links with access to employment hubs, supportive local authorities who want to see high quality schemes delivered, close proximity to a range of good schools and a positive housing market which has a good level of transactions.
Have you seen a change in what people are wanting from a home since the pandemic and the increase in hybrid working patterns?
We have certainly seen a change in buyers’ priorities and have adapted the designs of our homes accordingly. Whilst the wider working from home phenomenon is still evolving post pandemic, we are certainly getting feedback from customers about how important space is to them. This is seen through our show homes, which demonstrate how buyers can create a comfortable working from home environment whilst still being able to use spaces when they are not at work – such as studies doubling up for desk space and storage solutions.
Do you think that enough affordable homes are being built for first-time buyers at the moment? If not, what more could be done in terms of land release?
I think that the supply of homes and affordability are inextricably linked. As an industry and country, we are not building enough homes and with demand outstripping supply this is always going to put pressure on house prices. The political landscape over the last few years has been extremely challenging from both a regulatory and an economic perspective. This has led to a fall in delivery for most housebuilders over the last year, and with the trend of total planning permissions currently falling there doesn’t appear to be light at the end of the tunnel just yet.
On the positive side, all major housebuilders have aspirations to grow and it is an industry renowned for innovation and determination. In terms of what can be done; I think this can be looked at in a number of different ways and is something you could probably write a book on, but if it were my decision my one ‘low hanging fruit fix’ would be more investment into the planning system itself. There are some fantastic and talented people who work in the planning system but they are all overstretched. In public spending terms, it would take a relatively small amount of money to provide additional resources across the system to simply speed up the current process. This relates to local authorities themselves, statutory consultees, pins and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. A wider and longer term fix is changing the population’s attitude to new housing. When housing is at the forefront of the public discourse political parties respond, and I think it is integral that it is a key election issue over the next few years.
We have recently launched two-bedroom apartments at our Spitfire Green development in Ramsgate available to buy on the Discount Market Value (DMV) scheme. This means that buyers who live, work, or have a connection to the district of Thanet can receive a 20% discount off the full asking price. We are extremely proud to be leading the way on delivering affordable homes exclusively to those in Kent, as currently, there are limited DMV options for buyers in the region.
And finally Luke, what are the next 'hot spots' for development in the South East, do you think?
For me there is a definite correlation between proactive local authorities who encourage investment and positively engage with stakeholders and ‘hot spots’ for development. Two authorities that stand out for me (and for different reasons) are the Ebbsfleet Development Corporation and Dover District Council.
These are two different areas with the common theme of being proactive members who aspire to improve their environment and planning teams who work tirelessly to engage with their councillors, residents and communities to deliver housing, alongside the infrastructure required to support it. Looking at the sites we have delivered in these areas, house price inflation has certainly outstripped the wider market because this proactive approach produces places people want to live.
Natalie, what schemes are you marketing at the moment and how are they performing?
We have a range of fantastic developments at the moment all over Kent which are all performing well. One which sticks out at the moment is the David Wilson side of our Richmond Park development in Whitfield, Dover. We have recently launched two show homes here, and since then have received 10 reservations in a couple of weeks. Another development which has performed consistently well is Martello Lakes located in Hythe, which has a range of one- and two-bedroom homes available from £179,995. I believe this is due to both the fantastic location of the site being a five-minute walk from the beachfront, the on-site amenities such as the sailing lake, and the affordable homes available.
On the whole, we have many exciting incentives available across all our developments. One such scheme means that if a home is reserved by 15 September 2023, there is a choice between help toward a mortgage contribution, deposit contribution, or moving costs. This will be applicable for every £10,000 spent, we will contribute £300, so on a property worth £325,000 this could mean savings up to £9,750. We have also renewed our Key Worker Deposit Scheme which allows workers from a range of backgrounds - such as NHS workers, teachers and those who work in the police - to receive £1,000 contribution from us for every £20,000 spent on a property until December 2023. Finally, we also have the Deposit Unlock scheme which allows first-time buyers to purchase a property with just a 5% deposit.
Are buyers becoming more conscious of buying an eco-friendly home, in response to rises in cost of living and environmental factors?
This is definitely something we have seen in the past few years, and since the rising cost of energy bills in the past year or so, this has only increased. Many of our buyers say to us that one of their main priorities is the energy efficiency of their home, not only to help cut costs but also due to the wider impact on the environment. Luckily, a brand new Barratt David Wilson Home could be up to 63% cheaper to run, meaning buyers could be set to save £2,600 per year on energy bills.
Do you think that now is a good time for first-time buyers to get themselves onto the property market?
Unfortunately, there is no ‘good time’ for people to either move or get onto the property ladder, however, there is a range of incentives we offer here at Barratt David Wilson Homes which will make it that much simpler to buy in this uncertain market. As mentioned previously, we have our Deposit Unlock Scheme which requires just a 5% deposit for first time buyers, which is a great opportunity. We also have our newly launched DMV apartments available to those who live and work in Ramsgate, which is a rare opportunity to buy affordable housing in the area. I would also recommend for first time buyers to have a look at our Martello Lakes development in Hythe, as one-bedroom apartments start from just £179,995.
Natalie, what schemes are you looking forward to working on in the next 12 months?
There are a few new schemes and initiatives being rolled out for the rest of the year and into 2024. As previously mentioned, our DMV apartments at Spitfire Green are now launched, and we have also just laid our ‘first brick’ at The Poppies, a development located in between Aylesford and Maidstone. This site will offer a range of three- to four-bedroom homes, with a 60/40 split of private and social affordable homes, with the first residents set to move in at the start of 2024.
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