V10 Homes has bolstered its construction expertise with the appointment of Keiran Wakley.

Keiran joins us as head of pre-construction and sustainability from Keepmoat Homes, where he worked as a pre-construction manager.

He brings with him significant industry experience including onsite construction management and project management of large-scale residential developments.

In his new role at V10, Keiran will review and appraise new land opportunities and oversee value engineering for our exciting pipeline of new schemes.

With a detailed knowledge in modern methods of construction and building regulations, his experience will be a vital part of V10’s continued growth and focus on sustainable construction.

Commenting on his new role, Keiran said: “I’m hugely excited about this new chapter and challenge at V10 Homes. This is an ambitious company with people who are truly enthusiastic about creating better and more sustainable housing and this really appealed to me.”

Keiran’s career highlights include acting as project lead on a major Homes England scheme of 425 new properties in Somerset, delivering the first modular homes for ilke Homes as construction lead and delivering numerous five-star National House Building Council quality sites across the UK.

John Stainton, project delivery director at V10 Homes, added: “We’re thrilled Keiran is joining the V10 team to provide a broad range of skills that befit the pre-construction role our business model demands. It’s clear his design and construction know-how and ability to manage multiple projects through the full development cycle will enable us to sustain our growth and remain as one of the leaders in the delivery of package deals to the RP sector.

“Keiran also holds a wealth of modular housing experience which accords with our values to promote modular methods of construction with our delivery partners.”

Located in the beautiful Sussex countryside is this major development of 160 new homes. V10 was instrumental in acquiring the land from a promoter then sourcing the build contractor to deliver a package deal to Optivo.

The scheme is now being comprehensively advanced with the target of creating a successful sustainable community aligning with V10’s objectives. This is the second large development delivered in the market town of Hailsham to a Registered Provider, this first being a scheme of 157 homes in the locality of Amberstone to Clarion.

Achieving social value

The scheme provides a range of two, three and four-bedroom townhouses, semi- detached and detached homes. Coupled with this there are bungalows contained within the scheme to create further variety in the housing mix. Some of the non-s106 units were delivered by Optivo as additional affordable units with an affordable rent and shared ownership tenure with Homes England grant – thus creating additional social value.

Testimonials

Both the Clarion and Optivo schemes were bought from land promoters, each of which gave their verdicts on dealing with V10 during the acquisition process;

“The crucial aspect of dealing with V10 for me is the certainty I have experienced in them performing on the terms we have agreed. They have the required expertise to understand all of the technical and planning aspects of a project and are able to work out solutions with me such that all parties are happy and the deal can be done. I will take further sites to V10 such is my confidence in them performing.” Jonathan Tomlinson, Director, Heyford Developments (Clarion scheme promoter)

“As land promoters we are well versed with the trials and tribulations of selling sites with multiple owners. On our dealings with V10, however, these problems virtually vanished with their straightforward approach and determination to resolve all issues as they arose, in an open and determined manner. It was a pleasure to deal with V10 on this site, and we hope our paths cross again soon.” Rick Bird, Director, Frederick Bird Investments Ltd (Optivo scheme promoter)

Legacy Developments

Karl Timberlake, Land & Partnerships Director at V10 Homes commented: “Working with both these land promoters was an absolute pleasure which led to us working on new opportunities after completing on both projects.

We are very pleased with the hard work our contractor partners, Jenner Construction have undertaken to advance both schemes on behalf of Clarion and Optivo. Both developments will be outstanding architecturally and in terms of the quality of the finish. They will be built legacies that both our land promoters can be proud of – being the initiators of the vision for each development”.

Nestled in the rolling Sussex countryside is ‘Ambersley Green’ and its adjoining housing parcel ‘Linnet Place’ – a development of 157 new homes across two phases. V10 were instrumental in acquiring both tranches of land and sourcing a select build contractor for Clarion and its private development business, Latimer. The scheme is now comprehensively advanced with many residencies occupied, creating a successful sustainable community aligning with V10’s objectives.

Achieving social value

The scheme provides a range of two, three and four-bedroom townhouses, semi- detached and detached homes. Coupled with this there are also apartments and bungalows contained within the scheme to create further variety in the housing mix. Some of the non-s106 units were delivered by Clarion as additional affordable units with an affordable rent and shared ownership tenure with Homes England grant – thus creating additional social value.

Historic Hailsham town

Hailsham is an area mentioned in the Domesday Book. It was granted market town status in 1252 by Henry III and is seven miles north of Eastbourne. In recent years Hailsham has grown significantly with many new developments attracting new homeowners to the area from greater Sussex and London seeking value for money.

Thoughtfully considered design

Karl Timberlake, Land Director at V10 Homes commented: “Working in development is mostly about plans and figures especially in the evolving pre-construction phases prior to acquisition. Given this scenario, this was a typical textbook deal for V10 to procure. In this regard we worked with a highly professional land promoter, his agent and legal team, Clarion’s new business team, ECE Architecture and Jenner Construction in true collaborative unison. Together we identified the issues and problems and calmly sought the most cost-effective solutions. It was perfect teamwork in motion to achieve a very successful outcome.

“One of the things I remember mostly about this scheme when it was on the drawing board was in deliberating and deciding the appropriate housing mix, layout and tenures to meet local needs of the area. We wanted to get it just right to cover a broad demographic and cater for a range of occupiers from all walks of life. John Stainton, V10’s Pre-Construction Director and I enjoyed spending many hours with a plan, spreadsheet and some coloured pencils creating the vision which has now been realised in built form today. We were especially conscious of delivering homes for those people who we knew needed an affordable home in the area.

“Fast forward to the present day situation and our drone images show a fantastic development that everyone collectively involved can be proud of. What the aerial footage doesn’t show is the joy and happiness of the occupiers of these well-designed homes – some of whom greeted me when I was filming the scheme with the V10 drone. Knowing that around 500 people now have a home gives me intense professional and personal satisfaction – especially as some of them wouldn’t have had one here in the Sussex countryside without V10’s efforts. A reward worth the toil!”

Hometrack, which supplies V10 with its market valuation data, released its UK House Price Index and commentary today and claims that the pace of house price rises is expected to drop 40% by the end of 2022.

House Prices

It is predicting that Y-O-Y house price inflation will slow from its current 8.3% to 5% by the end of this year – that’s a 40% drop in the pace of increase. In March house price inflation was running at 9.3% so the peak in Y-O-Y increases seems to have passed which reflects not only general supply and demand trends in the market but affordability in local markets.

Demand Drops

The report also highlighted that demand in April was 58% above the previous April in 2021. However, that peak has clearly passed as Hometrack are now reporting buyer demand to be only 25% above the same period in June 2021 – representing a 57% drop in the pace of demand increases Y-O-Y. Nevertheless, overall demand is up compared to 2021.

Supply Surges

Meanwhile the supply of homes to the market has increased Y-O-Y from 3% last month to 5% this month – up 67%. However, the number of available properties to buy is still 29% less than it was at the same point this time last year. Overall supply is down compared to 2021.

The impact of affordability on house price inflation

Hometrack commented “ This analysis demonstrates that while the direction of house price growth is dictated by the balance of demand and available supply, the pace of price changes is dictated by housing affordability. The Zoopla house price index shows that the fastest price gains continue to be seen in the most affordable housing markets while unaffordable markets lag behind as affordability pressures price out growing numbers of households and limit the potential for price gains.”

So, for example Wigan has seen an 11.8% increase Y-O-Y but central London only a 1.7% rise.

The London Experience

The London market arguably peaked a couple of years ago with rampant house price inflation as demand and sales surged. Anecdotally this has cooled in the last 18 months as prices reached their peak and demand slowed due to affordability. The same effect is likely to occur in other areas outside of London which are likely to slow even faster due to increasing mortgage rates and household cost factors. London has entered a period of market stability whereas outside of London V10 expects local markets to show strong house price inflation before flatlining during 2023.

The Hometrack report comments:

“Our analysis suggests 4% is a key level for mortgage rates and one beyond which we would expect to see zero annual house price growth.”

Earlier this week V10 was exclusively approached by a landowner to collaborate on a new project. This would be our third deal with them. But why did they come back?

The Holy Grail of Repeat Business

Any business school will teach its students the importance of achieving repeat business with its clients and partners. Why? Repeat customers will do more business with you, they are easier to deal with, they will promote your business and this means the business needs to use less effort to find new customers. Customer and partner retention is a key benchmark by which any business should measure itself. So, having been approached again to collaborate on a new project this week we reviewed our repeat business credentials and found that 78% of all our projects were agreed with partners on more than one occasion. So, what do our customers, suppliers and partners think of V10?

Testimonials

Most people these days will review a product or service by casting an eye over that company’s latest Google reviews after an internet search. The problem is V10 doesn’t have any! However, we do have professional testimonials and have a full page on our website dedicated to this – link here. Some of the extracted comments are below:

• The crucial aspect of dealing with V10 for me is the certainty I have experienced in them performing on the terms we have agreed
• As land promoters we are well versed with the trials and tribulations of selling sites with multiple owners. On our dealings with V10, however, these problems virtually vanished
• V10 have expertise in unlocking sites with high abnormal costs and finding innovative solutions to sites with problems in the ground
• They are professional, responsive, experienced, and trustworthy
• We have always the V10 team to be straight talking, professional and friendly with a tenacity to get the deal done.

V10’s Approach

At the heart of all of V10’s business dealings there are some key principles with corresponding actions that the team adheres to. Karl Timberlake, Land & Operations Director explains.

“Trust is the key principle. Trust that what we say is true. Trust that what we say we’ll do, we’ll do. Trust in that we know what is important to a land seller or contractor or registered provider and that we’ll always seek to find a win-win solution. We value medium and long terms relationships over short term commercial expediency. We adhere strongly to the three C’s; collaboration, communication and credibility. Clearly actioning these principles has ensured that V10 has achieved repeat business – which is the key to our success. This will hopefully lead to another phone call inviting us into the next deal next week!”

At the very moment V10 is releasing this news post, the main news is that the UK is experiencing the most extreme weather ever and temperatures have just exceeded 40 degrees for the first time.

The planet is sending humanity a message. That message is clear; reduce greenhouse gas emissions or face even more extreme weather events and its devastating consequences.

Net zero

The path to net-zero is a colossal single species endeavour that many of the world’s population are embarked upon. Every industry sector is addressing it. Every company or organisation is assessing its policies, its products and its services – each with the intention of contributing to net zero and adopting a more sustainable approach. V10 is no exception.

Sustainability benchmarks

To ensure that our future developments are increasingly sustainable, V10 has devised its own ‘sustainability benchmarks’ which are based on three pillars; environmental, social and economic, with each pillar having 10x specific measurements. Each of our developments will attract a % sustainability rating and we have applied this test to all our currently live projects to create our starting point.

Sustainability pledges

Having rated our live developments, V10’s management team considered where the company and team could make a further contribution to improving the sustainability ratings of our future developments. There were many options but the team decided to adopt three pledges:

1. Increase the use of MMC in our supply chain
2. Increase the delivery of net bio-diversity
3. Increase the delivery of affordable homes above s106 requirements

Karl Timberlake, V10’s Land and Operations Director commented

“We introduced our sustainability benchmarks to enable us to measure and strive for better sustainable outputs in the future. It has made us conscious of where we can deliver positive change by focusing day in, day out on our three pledges.

Heatwaves, drought, famine, migration, woodland fires and extreme weather are all coming down the line faster than we would want. So V10 will do it’s best to play a part in arresting this trend with its re-focussed efforts”

We recently unveiled an updated brand identity at V10 which has also coincided with the launch of our new website.

Our brand colours have undergone a subtle evolution to better reflect where we are now as a purposeful business and where we’re heading on our sustainability journey.

As a company embracing modern methods of construction and new ways of thinking on carbon reduction, biodiversity and social value, we recently introduced our own set of sustainability benchmarks for our development projects.

Our new website also showcases our latest projects and our unique approach to working with registered providers, landowners and construction partners.

“It’s important to us that people know exactly what we’re about and the values we represent,” comments Karl Timberlake, land and operations director at V10.

“We wanted to make it easier for our clients and partners to understand our offering and our collective passion for creating sustainable homes that strengthen communities and change lives.

“The changes in our brand identity reflect not only how our business has evolved in recent years but also the investment we are making to become an exemplar business in sustainable housing development.”

Our news and views section is the place to go for all the latest going on at V10 and you can also sign up for our newsletter to stay updated.

Our V10 Homes team is in Brighton on 10-11 May for the housing conference.

We’re looking forward to catching up with our RP clients, construction partners and our contacts in the wider housing and property community.

Our directors Karl, Simon and John will be in Brighton over the two days of the conference and we’ll be attending many of the fringe events organised by our client community.

If you would like to meet up for a quick chat over coffee or join us for drink, please get in touch with us.

Our directors’ details, including e-mail addresses and LinkedIn profiles, are on our about page.

V10 Homes is delighted to announce the acquisition of a site in Northamptonshire that will provide almost 150 affordable homes on behalf of our development partner Stonewater.

Located at Glenvale Park on the outskirts of the market town of Wellingborough, or ‘Wendelingburgh’ as it was referred to in Anglo-Saxon times, V10 is aiming to develop out a parcel of land on this 2,700-home urban extension creating an impressively designed development of houses and apartments.

This 148-plot scheme is being delivered as a package deal. V10’s RP partner is aiming to deliver a 100% affordable scheme with four tenures – ensuring more access to a life changing home – thus creating additional and long-term social value for the local community.

Furthermore, the s106 contributions and obligations generated from the development of this parcel will trigger a range of wider community benefits including more sports facilities, two new primary schools, a neighbourhood centre including land to accommodate fire, police and teaching facilities.

Wellingborough town centre itself will receive funding for a raft of improvements too. Both the local and wider community will enjoy all these advantages for years to come.

Karl Timberlake, Land and Operations Director at V10, comments: “We’re proud to be bringing this site forward in partnership with Stonewater.

“As well as providing quality affordable homes, it will provide other substantial benefits including use of local labour and suppliers. Once complete the local authority will benefit from increased council tax receipts and the new homes bonus which will be redirected to meet local people’s priorities.”

V10 has undertaken a sustainability audit of the scheme using its 30 environmental, social and economic benchmarks. V10 has awarded this development an 80% rating*.

V10 agreed terms to acquire the site off market directly with the land promoters – this being the second site to be agreed with them in the last 12-months.

V10 is actively in the market to buy other consented sites so please get in touch with our Land Director – Karl Timberlake if you are instructed to sell or can introduce V10 to a land opportunity.

*For more information on how we assess our schemes and to learn more about our sustainability pledges and policies please visit our sustainability page.

V10 Homes has acquired a site that will allow 94 new affordable homes to be created near the market town of St Ives, Cambridgeshire.

Located on the outskirts of the picturesque market town of St Ives, V10 is aiming to transform the redundant brownfield site into a stunning development of houses and apartments in a semi-rural environment.

The views from the upper floors over the rolling countryside and adjacent boating marina will give the occupiers a real sense of tranquil living. All the occupiers will also benefit from the use of the extensive landscaped areas which includes a large pond and wooded area. This will be accessed by way of a unique boardwalk which wraps around the building.

This 94-plot scheme is being delivered as a package deal on behalf of our development partner Settle Group.

“This development will create additional and long-term social value for the local community,” comments Karl Timberlake, Land and Operations Director at V10.

“We’re proud to be working with Stonewater on this development. Our RP partner is aiming to deliver a 100% affordable scheme with two tenures – ensuring more people can get access to a life-changing home.”

Over £58,000 of the s106 contributions will go directly to the nearby Fenstanton Football Club to improve the outdoor and indoor facilities for the local amateur players and supporters for them to enjoy for years to come.

The scheme will also generate additional environmental value as a 12% bio-diversity net gain will be achieved on-site once the development is complete –20% more than required under planning law.

V10 has undertaken a sustainability audit of this scheme using its 30 environmental, social and economic benchmarks. V10 has awarded this development an 80% rating.

V10 agreed terms to acquire the site off market directly with the land promoters. V10 is actively in the market to buy other consented sites so please get in touch with our Land Director – Karl Timberlake if you are instructed to sell or can introduce V10 to a land opportunity.

*For more information on how we assess our schemes and to learn more about our sustainability pledges and policies please visit our sustainability page.