Garden Village and Towns – An Alternative View

January 13, 2017

Following the Government’s statements that it plans to build 14 garden villages and 3 garden towns across England a leading land and new homes expert has urged agents to be positive and pro-active.

Contrary to some negative industry reaction to the announcement Kevin Ellis, founder of the Land and New Homes Network, which works with estate agents nationally on best practice in the new build sector believes the decision provides plenty of opportunities for agents.

He urged agents to be more positive, proactive and decisive to reap the potential rewards.

He said: “There’s been a lot of scepticism about the news from some people about whether the Government can or will hit its targets. But any amount of new homes represents opportunities for agents.

“My view is that it is clearly very welcome news as it recognises the need for more housing and enables new communities to be created. The opportunities for estate agents are fairly self explanatory however from an agent’s perspective it’s about being proactive rather than reactive once site specific proposals are advancing.

“Agents need to tune in to the respective house builders/land promoters early on and demonstrate expertise and credible advice both in terms of values, product demand and specification which can be substantiated.

“These sites are unlikely to be built exclusively by one developer therefore it’s important to be flexible and understand each one’s requirements.

“In some instances these locations could present an excellent opportunity for a proactive agent to take the edge and secure a commercial unit on the sites which will typically have very few A3 specific units and therefore secure an anchor position as the agent of choice.

“Many agents have taken a similar approach on volume sites in the past with huge success.

“Addressing the housing shortage is quite rightly a Government priority and leading agents can position themselves as their area’s new build experts and benefit from new and ongoing business.”

For more information about the Land and New Home Network visit: www.lnhnetwork.co.uk

By Kevin Ellis

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