This week’s exclusive interview is with one of the biggest names in the UK new homes industry. David Bryant spent many years at national developer Persimmon Homes and is now at the helm of a fledgling housebuilding company operating in East Anglia and the South East of England, Halsbury Homes.
Please tell us a little about yourself and about Halsbury Homes.
I worked for over 25 years at Persimmon Homes, with a spell as chairman of the New Homes Marketing Board, I am currently chairman of the Home Builders Federation – Small Developers Group. Officially launched in May 2016, it is currently building a wide selection of properties to suit a diverse range of buyers at locations in Kent, Norfolk, Essex and Buckinghamshire, with more to be announced shortly.
Halsbury Homes is a brand new housebuilder, combining quality with thoughtful design, value for money and a passion for making every Halsbury homeowner proud of their new purchase. Whilst the name might be new, the Halsbury team certainly isn’t new to housebuilding.
Quite simply, we aim to take a more considered approach to everything we do, we like to call it ‘the Halsbury Way’. Being driven at all times by our customers’ needs means that we take our responsibilities very seriously for what is often the most significant purchase in someone’s life. And we’re passionate about halting the decline in both design and quality of new homes, putting style back where it belongs and maintaining traditional values whist building desirable, more spacious solutions to modern living.
How does it feel to be in charge of a small housebuilding company again?
I am very excited at this opportunity to develop a completely new company with such a great team. Our plans have been received positively and support has been very good, but with new housing development being of such strategic importance to the overall economy, it is also important to recognise the combined roles of our banks, the HCA (Homes and Communities Agency) and local district councils. Their combined role in enabling individual housebuilders like Halsbury Homes to deliver much needed new homes cannot be overstated. Local partnerships and funding support are key for smaller housebuilders to succeed in playing their vital role in the overall supply of new homes, especially with so few new start-ups: in the last 15 years the total number of smaller housebuilding firms has dropped from over 12,000 to less than 3,000.
Can you give us a few more details on the first developments you have planned (locations, size, property types, external and internal design styles, community facilities etc)?
All Halsbury Homes are classical in style and provide more spacious solutions to modern living. Two developments are currently underway at Richmond Park, Whitfield, Dover and St. George’s Park, Loddon, Norfolk with two further developments at Princes Risborough and Basildon expected to launch in 2017.
Genuinely providing the best of both worlds, residents of Richmond Park can enjoy everything a traditional Kent village offers as well as an excellent range of amenities and first-class transport links (including proximity to Dover, ferries to France and just 65 minutes to London St. Pancras on HS1). This 1,250-home (first phase) development features a traditional village green and square where shops and even community market stalls will maintain the village atmosphere. A new school has also been incorporated, expected to open in approximately two to three years.
The layout of homes has been designed to offer residents as much open space as possible with each home benefiting from its own garden and parking space, car barn or garage.
A total of 23 two-, three-, four- and five-bedroom house types range from the five-bedroom detached ‘Sandringham’ and ‘Dedham’ at 2,156 sq ft to the two-bedroom semi-detached ‘Ash’ at 812 sq ft – all Halsbury Homes having an en suite to the main bedroom, even in the two-bedroom designs.
At St. George’s Park, Loddon, there’s a perfect blend of modern design and traditional style, this collection of two-, three-, four- and five-bedroom homes comprises 11 house types and five bungalow designs, all thoughtfully arranged around several public open spaces and environmentally sensitive landscaping.
There will be a total of 202 homes: 134 private houses and bungalows plus 56 affordable houses for rent and 10 starter homes. In addition, two further new homes will be built and offered at a discount to Help for Heroes veterans (we hope to persuade planning officers to allow us to do this on all future sites too). Choices include the ‘Mundham’ five-bedroom design at 2,156 sq ft, the ‘Saxlingham’ two-bedroom option at 805 sq ft and the ‘Brampton’ three-bedroom bungalow at 1,096 sq ft. The development enjoys being located just a short walk from the heritage and amenities of the historic market town of Loddon; excellent schools catering for all ages; the beautiful and diverse Broads; city of Norwich just 12 miles away; and the renowned Norfolk coastline merely half an hour’s drive.
Princes Risborough is an exciting development of approximately 500 homes, with planning coming to fruition in 2017, while Basildon is expected to be launched in 2017, a development which will comprise around 600 homes.
What kind of buyers are you expecting at your developments, and will they have any purchase assistance schemes to look out for?
Both Halsbury’s Richmond Park and St. George’s Park are registered for the government’s Help to Buy scheme with all homes well within the qualifying price range. From first-time buyers to downsizers and everyone in between, there is a Halsbury home for all types of purchaser at both locations.
At Richmond Park, Whitfield, Dover we already have 30 sales confirmed (of which 14 have exchanged contracts), and high levels of interest from a cross-section of buyers due to the range and design of homes plus excellent amenities, schools and location which appeals not only to those seeking a better quality of life but needing quick, simple commuter routes to the capital as well as to the continent.
Creating a new community within the market town of Loddon, St. George’s Park provides attractive living for first-time buyers, families wanting good-quality schools and those looking to downsize. Sales launched in early December with over 130 registering interest and the five new bungalow designs proving extremely popular.
What sort of specification can buyers expect to find, and will you be offering options/upgrades?
All Halsbury Homes feature classical design and accompanying superior quality specification when it comes to choice of both materials and products. In addition, where we can provide more space, we do so, for example larger showers and en suite facilities. And because we want our homes to be as personal as our customers, we have developed Halsbury Personal Choices: a range of options which, dependent on the stage of each home’s build programme, enables selection from electrical accessories through to landscaping.
With all your experience in the new homes industry, what do you consider the most important lessons learned that your customers will benefit from?
Quite simply, being much more considered in everything we do, from initial design and planning through to final build quality and customer service.
At Halsbury we take our responsibilities to our purchasers very seriously indeed. For most people a new home will be the single most expensive commitment in their lives and we are determined to keep their needs and dreams at the centre of everything we do. Our new, more spacious designs demonstrate how style and traditional values can be delivered alongside the demands of modern living, at beautiful locations and in partnership with local organisations.
There have been headlines about the shortage of some materials and quality staff in UK housebuilding, how have you overcome these issues as such a young company?
Our team may be newly formed but it isn’t new to housebuilding, and by bringing together a group of like-minded, industry-leading specialists with huge experience and personal credibility/trust within the market we haven’t experienced any problems with sourcing materials or growing the team as we develop, quite the opposite in fact!
Every member of the Halsbury team has their own contacts and reputation which have proved invaluable, but equally importantly, we are all committed to doing things differently: “The Halsbury Way”. We believe in this approach and so do our suppliers, so together and in partnership we are working towards the same goal: customers who are as proud of their new Halsbury home as we are in building it.
No-one doubts demand for new homes, but the industry seems to be stalling in providing them - what do you think needs to be done to speed up production across the country?
It seems too easy for some market commentators to forget just how significant the damage at the end of 2008 was for the housebuilding industry: an almost 50% reduction in volume with trades and apprentices made redundant and a widespread collapse which only really started to recover in 2012/13. By this time, there had been continued natural wastage through retirement, no new apprentices and many thinking twice about joining or returning to the sector. It is, therefore, hardly a surprise that housebuilders are only able to grow at the speed of the skills base they rely on, which thankfully is now becoming much more healthy.
In addition, and simultaneously, local authority services were also drastically cut and all planning related activity inevitably took longer. This too has now improved significantly, but I am sure there are still initiatives which could be taken to speed up further and we should all be working together to achieve a practically, commercially and economically viable system so that we can deliver the much-needed homes which politicians constantly remind us about. It might be easy to blame us, but it is simply untrue and commercially naive to imply that housebuilders are ‘land-banking’, we would be mad to do this!
What are your pipeline plans for Halsbury in terms of homes to be provided and new sites to be announced?
At Princes Risborough and Basildon we expect to be announcing the launch of over 1,100 homes in 2017. Focusing largely in the South East and East Anglia, our intention five years from now will be to increase our output to over 250 homes per year.
Is there a particular type of development you haven't yet secured that you would find especially interesting to undertake?
Whilst wanting to continue with our classical Halsbury theme, we would definitely consider a more farmhouse or cottage style in a rural setting and also more sites featuring bungalows (less than 2% total UK new production is currently bungalows yet demand is ever-increasing).