Redrow Southern’s managing director, Rod Martin, tells us why it’s their duty to build beautiful homes that buyers want and need.
Rod, as regional MD of Redrow Southern, can you tell us a bit about how this new company division has been formed for Surrey and Sussex?
The new Southern division is an essential part of the overall growth plan for Redrow. For a number of years there has been both a Southern Counties and South East division but the geographic reach of these did not encompass Surrey and Sussex, so there was a clear opportunity to plug the gap and extend the reach of our wonderful Arts & Crafts-inspired Heritage house type. We are finding that there is an increasing volume of homebuyers wanting to live away from urban centres in more suburban areas, but still connected to great transport links and amenities. For this reason, we expect a high level of demand from families, couples, and young professionals, all looking for quality new build homes in Surrey and Sussex.
And where does your role fit within the new structure, how will you be spending your time in a typical week?
I have been with Redrow now for just over a year and in this initial time I have had three key areas of focus: building a talented team, identifying a suitable office space, and getting this workspace kitted out to maximise customer engagement and increase team collaboration.
I am proud of how the new Southern office in Crawley has shaped up – it’s a vibrant, inspiring base for us, with space for creativity as well as wellness features for our staff like a quiet area and café. We truly want to make life better for each of our employees and that includes providing a better way to work. Excitingly, Crawley now provides an innovative blueprint for all of our future offices across England and Wales. You can get a fly through tour by viewing our video here.
As well as growing our team, I have also been focused on buying high-quality land to enable us to build communities and we have some exciting deals in the pipeline.
Are you seeing one county performing more strongly than the other, or do Surrey and Sussex both offer similar opportunities for new home buyers?
I would say that both the Surrey and Sussex markets are very strong, as homes here can offer buyers proximity to green open spaces and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, alongside quick access to important cities such as London. I think we can do a lot of good in both counties by building communities which closely match the requirements of growing families, both in terms of home design and amenities. With buyers continuing to look further afield from traditional commuter belt towns now flexible working is here to stay, demand is only increasing in these Southern hotpots, so we have a duty to build beautiful homes that buyers want and need.
Do you think these two counties will continue to attract people looking to move out of London since the pandemic or are you starting to see a slowdown in that market, as people return to office life?
Yes, I do. Ultimately this comes down to quality of life and buyers being able to get better value for money in Surrey and Sussex than the more central city-focused hubs. At Redrow developments we aim to create a real sense of community and we are guided by eight placemaking principles which include values such as “nature for people” and “places to go and things to do”, which creates a very different ethos to the hustle and bustle of busy city life. Also, too much has happened over the last two years for the vast majority of people and businesses to revert back to being in offices full-time. Flexible working is here to stay and must be embraced as a societal norm. In Surrey and Sussex, we are primed to deliver on that hybrid lifestyle with great commuter links combined with our spacious houses.
‘Cambridge’ house type
What schemes are you actively marketing in these areas at the moment?
We are actively marketing four communities at this time: New Fields in Chichester; Lavant View also in Chichester; and Meadow Gardens and Valley Park in Yapton. Each location will benefit from our Heritage house type, which is modelled on the popular Arts & Crafts style. These communities will comprise around 500 homes with new roads, doctors’ surgeries, schools and playgrounds in some instances. We build communities to stand the test of time by supporting, enhancing and adding to existing infrastructure.
Meadow Gardens will become a hub with a Customer Experience Suite which will allow potential buyers to view any Redrow development. This will help unlock new location ideas for our customers and enable flexibility with remote viewings.
Are you offering any particular incentives to buyers?
Our homes are full of character with incredible care taken with every detail, so we are confident customers will love them. For anyone who hasn’t been to see one of our developments before, I would encourage them to pay a visit so they can really see the difference, in terms of the homes themselves and the wider environment we create. When it comes to incentives, I would flag our dynamic ‘My Redrow’ tool which allows our buyers to customise and upgrade their home in a personalised online area. This includes personalising the kitchen and enhancing the bathroom specification, through to the option of fitting out a bedroom as a comfortable and productive home office in our ‘Cambridge’ house type. No other housebuilder offers this level of detail and collaboration right from the very start of a buyer’s journey.
Do the fitouts of the schemes being built in Surrey and Sussex offer something distinctly different in style?
Each of our communities is instantly recognisable as we are guided by the Redrow Eight design principles which I mentioned earlier, which promote mature landscaping, incorporation of open spaces, wildlife preservation and our wide, treelined streets for an altogether more appealing outlook. The same principles will be apparent within each Redrow Southern community, so in this sense there is an element of consistency across all our places.
We have our own interior design team in-house at Redrow who style our show homes based on the individual merits of each scheme, including targeted demographics and location. However, there are some key aspects Redrow is well known for, in particular our boutique hotel-style principal bedroom. My Redrow is the most important tool we offer to buyers to customise their homes on a number of levels.
What’s in the pipeline in the next 12 months for Redrow Southern?
At Redrow Southern we are at the start of our growth journey. Our next big milestone is on Thursday 1 July when we are formally launching the division and opening our office in Crawley for business! For the rest of 2022, we will be continuing to pursue land acquisitions and we will start to market homes in Angmering in West Sussex, and East Hoathly in East Sussex. Bringing our award-winning Heritage homes to market as soon as possible is our primary aim.
And finally, what’s your best tip for somebody looking to buy a brand new home in Sussex right now?
I would say don’t just think about the home itself. Of course, the bricks and mortar remain important, but I would always encourage buyers to think about the wider area too. Does this also promote the sense of community you would like, for example through well-thought-through shared amenities and green open spaces? At Redrow we have a strong commitment to placemaking, which is what turns a collection of homes into a cohesive community.
When enquiring on a new home, I would also make sure you ask a developer about what is coming up in their pipeline. It may be that a new phase will be launching soon that ticks every box, or a development in a neighbouring town might also be worth a second look.
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