millgate homes ROMANS
‘Developers don’t have a choice – they have to sell as they must turn
the cash over.’ KEvin ELLiS roManS
He believes agents can really earn their money with the value add they put in - even as ‘development doctors.’ Simple things like getting the signage right or changing the colours of the kitchen doors can help sell a property. “I’d like to think we’re doubling the usual conversion rate, that’s based on nothing other than gut reaction and having been in the business twenty-something years.”
Moving forward Certainly selling new homes can be profitable – it was very profitable for many agents in the boom years. But is business still worthwhile, or has the market dried up completely? Kevin Ellis says this year is looking
better than last and with considerable growth secured for 2011. “During a period when many agents scaled back their New Homes divisions, we maintained our operation at full capacity,” he says. “Developers don’t have a choice, they have to sell as they must turn the cash over. We’ve been successful in winning a number of volume schemes recently, with developments ranging from 60 units to
12 OCTOBER 2010 PROPERTYdrum
1,000 units over a ten year period, as well as smaller, more immediate schemes, and the order book is very healthy.” This has given Romans enough confidence to expand their New Homes division by growing into a wider geographical area and extending the range of services on offer to housebuilders. Besides, Ellis says, some developments that were mothballed a year or two ago are now being restarted, which should create a good pipeline of work going forwards. “By the end of Q3, we will have secured instructions on a number of key strategic sites throughout our operating area of Surrey, Berkshire and Hampshire. This, coupled with second and third releases of other developments, will see us enter 2011 with a higher number of units than three years ago, which for us was a record year in sales and completions.”
Spicerhaart
publish Nouveau, a special magazine showcasing their new developments.
Above: a site for Millgate Homes which comprised 7 substantial detached houses with a gross development value of over £7,000,000 and fee revenue of £140k.
He continues, “A successful New Homes
agent has a distinct advantage over competitors, through the brand association and also the additional foot flow that comes into contact with the agent’s site sales staff - who are typically fantastic ambassadors for their estate agency. The culture across Romans is completely aligned with developers’ expectations, and the benefits are extensive, whether it’s increased valuation and listing opportunities, or rental instructions and financial services. All our people are incentivised to sell New Homes, and our site staff and branch staff meet every week to update each other and identify areas where they can offer mutual support.” Ellis further confirms “that to run a successful New Homes operation, it’s critical to only recruit the very best. We’re very fortunate that many of our site staff have been with us for over ten years – however, we’re constantly recruiting in readiness for the next big instruction.” Chris Browne says Zoopla is seeing an
increase in the number of new homes on the portal, though that’s driven by more and more developers coming on stream rather than by the amount of inventory that’s actually out there. For the market as a whole, he believes, “things are picking up and we expect stock levels to grow.” However Peter Krelle says, “It’s not as
good as it could be. There’s been too much downtooling.” He believes that some
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