It’s not just housebuilders adapting to change. Jamie Read, director at Covent Garden-based estate agency Tavistock Bow, says: “The good thing about being a smaller sized business is that we can be agile and adapt very quickly to challenging situations. We do a lot of property videos in any case as a large proportion of our buyers and tenants are from overseas, but we’re stepping this up a level and offering live video viewings too.”
There are already numerous examples of success in embracing this technology. Markus Kendall-Young, head of sales and marketing at Catalyst, says: “We have been quick to respond to buyers who were just starting the search for a new home, or were mid-way through the home buying process. We've launched virtual tours of all our developments, and are now holding appointments seven days a week via video call. Off the back of the launch, we took four reservations via video call at our Shared Ownership development Neon, in Burnt Oak, last week. Impressively, three of these buyers had not previously visited the development, demonstrating the impact of technology. We are gearing up for our first fully digital launch for our newest Shared Ownership homes at Nova at Queensbury Square on Saturday 25 April.”
Strawberry Star has recorded its sales agents explaining and touring three of its current developments and show homes:
Lu2on, Bedfordshire: Part One and Part Two.
Bronze, Wandsworth, south London.
Greenview Court, Southall, west London.
At Teddington Riverside, a spokesman said: “We recently secured a sale following one of our virtual tours, the client was very happy to be able to undertake a final viewing through our software and we completed on the apartment shortly afterwards. It shows that virtual tours are useful for buyers to review a property after visiting and we plan to continue using this tool once we reopen again for in-person viewings.”
Toby Brown from House at Urban Splash: “We have been offering elements of this technology even prior to COVID-19, with virtual reality technology being used (in show homes) for our Mansion House project since last year, so viewing the project from your home is no different. Virtual viewings have been a success with customers to date.
“For the future, we are considering virtual reality for our townhouses as we see this a modern and engaging tool to use with our customers. They can really begin to understand and feel the space using this technology, in a way that viewing traditional floorplans simply can’t.”
James Dickens: “Over the last few weeks we have noticed increased traffic to our website for buyers for the Nightingale Quarter site in Derby wanting to get a feel for the properties, from the safety of their own home, and it is a tool we find invaluable. Enquiries are still coming through and we are having some great conversations and booking ‘early bird’ reservations. These are challenging times for us all and we need to think outside the box.”
Some examples of ‘live’ virtual viewings and interactive 360° tours
St Edward show home, Hartland Village, Fleet, Hampshire.
Strawberry Star show home, Greenview Court, Southall, west London (from £349,000).
Shanly Homes show apartment, Manor Wood Gate, Cockfosters, north London (from £795,000).
Countryside show home, Dash, Hoxton, east London (from £670,000).
Civic Living show home, The Radmyle Apartments, Alconbury Weald, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire (from £179,950).
Berkeley Homes, Woodhurst Park in Warfield, Berkshire (from £249,900).
Pentland Homes show home at Saxon Fields, Canterbury, Kent.
Go Homes show houses, Oaklands, Dunmow, Essex; Fusiliers Green, Great Bentley, Essex; and Carriage Court, Hertford.
Anchor Hanover show homes, 25 Garnier Drive (£395,000), Bishopstoke Park, Hampshire; 45 Hurst Place (£369,000) and 53 Hurst Place (£262,500), Haywards Heath, West Sussex; and 3 Meadow Court (£285,000), Sarisbury Green, Hampshire.
Meyer Homes virtual show home, Gabriel Square, St Albans, Hertfordshire.
Argent Related, 1 Ashley Road, Tottenham Hale, north London has a ‘live’ virtual tour available on request.
Wavensmere Homes show home, Nightingale Quarter, Derby.
Peabody recently released a whole collection of 360° interactive tours of show homes around Greater London.
Iris Court, Peabody (click on the image for the full tour)
Some examples of fly-through videos
Vanderbilt Homes: There are two video tours for Gratton Chase in Dunsford, Surrey – the site itself and the show home.You can learn more about ‘The Burchetts’ show house here.
Barratt London has tours of a number of developments and individual house types: At Ridgeway Views, Mill Hill, north London, the five-bedroom detached family house (£2,050,000) and two-bedroom apartment (from £695,000); at Eastman Village in Harrow, north-west London, the site itself and a two-bedroom show apartment; at Hendon Waterside in north London, the two-bedroom show apartment; and at Hayes Village, west London, the site itself and a one-bedroom show apartment.