Tech Maintains Interest At Development In Berkshire

Berkeley Homes says its Woodhurst Park development in Warfield has seen steady website traffic despite the property market freeze, thanks to prospective buyers heading to its 360° virtual tours.

Benjamin Ivey, director of sales and marketing at Berkeley Homes (Oxford and Chiltern), said: “We are not seeing a drop in Berkeley’s website traffic that we might have expected in these uncertain times. It’s clear customers are taking this time to do their research, taking particular advantage of a number of virtual and digital tools that we have implemented to help those looking to, or planning to, move over the next few months.”

An interactive site map allows people to explore different phases of the development, to see the properties that are currently ready to move in to, and to walk through each home from the comfort of their living rooms.

There is also the option to have a guided virtual tour by calling the sales team who then provide a code to share screens, where they can talk through each room as if on a real viewing. This can be utilised by any number of viewers, allowing families in isolation to view at the same time.

Ivey continued: “You can ask questions as the sales agent talks you through each room, making the whole digital experience feel personal and interactive. We want buyers to know we are still here and on hand to help. Doing a 3D walk-through on your own is great, but being able to ask all those little questions as you go, like, ‘are there other bathrooms specs available’, or ‘what are is the community like’, sheds so much more light on bricks and mortar.

“When Berkeley first launched the 360° tours at the end of last year it was met with huge enthusiasm by our customers, so we knew people had an appetite for the technology long before even the hint of a lockdown. But since then, particularly in the last two weeks, we’ve seen a rise in requests.

“We had a client last week, for example, who had initially ruled out one of our plots from looking at the floorplan, but once we arranged a guided virtual tour of the four-bed show home, he now has the confidence reserve. Although physical viewings are still prohibited during lockdown, this shows that the video tours really do make the difference.”

This housebuilder is due to launch a new desktop interface to allow virtual appointments, which can be used both now and for the foreseeable future.

Prices at Woodhurst Park range from £249,900 for a one-bedroom apartment to £935,000 for a four-bedroom house. Help to Buy is available on selected plots.

Find out more about Woodhurst Park from Berkeley Homes.

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