Following the publication of the UK Housing Secretary’s Housing Market ReStart and Safe Working Charter updates, leading volume housebuilder Weston Homes has unveiled its plans to reopen the company’s marketing suites and showhomes to the general public on 14 May, at developments across London and the Home Counties, with new anti-Coronavirus safeguarding and social distancing procedures in place.
Weston Homes have some 7,000 new homes with a GDV of £3 billion under development, or in the planning pipeline, and are currently marketing over 1,000 new homes for sale across London and the Home Counties, including one, two and three bedroom apartments and four and five bedroom houses, at prices starting from £172,000 sold through marketing suites and dressed showhomes.
At part of the government’s Housing Market ReStart and Safe Working Charter updates, sales staff will return to work the marketing suites today to prepare, and the suites and showhomes will reopen to the public on the 14 May, with new safeguarding procedures in place.
When the Weston Homes marketing suites and showhomes open on the 14 May there will be detailed anti-Coronavirus safeguarding and social distancing procedures in place, based on guidance from the Construction Industry Council and the Housing Secretary’s ReStart and Safe Working Charter guidelines.
Weston Homes highlight that the majority of their marketing suites are in excess of 3,000 sqft in size, with spacious reception foyers with high ceilings, roomy seating areas and separate breakout rooms – providing ample space for social distancing. Each development now has individual detailed anti-Coronavirus safeguarding procedures to ensure the welfare of visitors and staff on site.
Under new anti-coronavirus safeguarding procedures buyers are encouraged to contact Weston Homes and schedule an appointment to visit the marketing suites and showhomes. As per the new guidelines appointments will be focused around off-peak commuter travel times and a minimal number of people attending the visits to assist with social distancing.
At the point-of-entry to the marketing suites face masks, gloves and hand sanitiser are available and signage highlights the two metre social distancing guidelines in place.
The large marketing suites enable buyers to liaise with the sales agents from the recommended two metre distance and review plot locations, apartment/townhouse floorplans and specification options with comfort and peace of mind.
In the showhomes and view units a tour has the benefit of being “contactless” meaning that all the doors and selected cupboards are open and the lights are turned on so that buyers do not need to touch anything. Whilst a buyer is having a tour of a property the sales agent will wait outside the property to assist with health safeguarding.
Weston Homes are also avoiding back-to-back viewings and will carefully control the number of people in the marketing suites to ensure that the government’s health and safety guidelines can be maintained. There are also dedicated, regularly cleaned, cloakrooms/washrooms for visitors.
All the marketing suites and showhomes are undergoing enhanced ongoing cleaning regimes with all touch points regularly sanitised and on all sites Weston Homes have also created special bespoke Wash Stations for site staff comprised of sinks with their own independent water supply and sanitiser suppler. Wherever possible the company is creating one-way pedestrian traffic routes on sites and within buildings to optimise health and safety.
All Weston Homes sales and site staff have been fully briefed on COVID-19 to help ensure that anyone with symptoms will not be on site and will be self-isolating at home to help maintain the safety of customers and other employees.
Bob Weston, Chairman of Weston Homes says: “Whilst Weston Homes is pleased to be reopening our marketing suites and showhomes, the health and safety of our customers and employees is Weston’s number one priority and we are doing everything we can to assist in safeguarding against the spread of COVID-19.”
We have reviewed the housing market restart guidance from the Housing Secretary and analysed every aspect of our site marketing and sales activities and implemented strict procedures in order to fully comply with the restrictions imposed by social distancing and health safeguarding requirements.
Jonathan Lewis, Group Sales & Marketing Director says: “We are confident that we have a robust and comprehensive set of guidelines which mean that we can operate our marketing suites and showhomes safely and comply with strict social distancing requirements and we are fully prepared to handle everything from a first enquiry, to customer marketing suite visits, to a customer reserving their new home.”
In addition to marketing suites and showhomes Weston Homes is also offering buyers ‘virtual viewings’ – where an applicant can have a remote 360 degree 3D tour of a show home from the safety of their home – at developments including The Denham Film Studios in outer London, Fletton Quays in Peterborough, and Watford Cross in Watford, Greater London.
Fletton Quays in Peterborough is a stylish development of new apartments fronting onto a wide riverside boulevard on the banks of the River Nene. At Fletton Quays there is a virtual tour of a two-bedroom apartment with a private balcony. Fletton Quays has proved incredibly popular with first time buyers, with prices for the remaining homes starting from £172,000.
At Watford Cross in Watford, Greater London, there is a virtual tour of a two-bedroom apartment with a private terrace. Watford Cross provides great transport links into Central London, making the apartment scheme ideal for commuters. Prices at Watford Cross start from £319,000 and select homes are available on the First-time SecureBuy scheme.
At The Denham Film Studios in outer London, there are two virtual tours available, one of an undressed four-bedroom ‘Lucas’ house type, and one of the dressed four-bedroom ‘Lester’ house type. The dressed Lester show home is inspired by Hollywood, with the new homes development created on the site of the historic Denham film studios, which welcomed directors including Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg, and Stanley Kubrick during the twentieth-century. The show home has glamorous interiors, with a fun ‘Star Wars’ themed children’s bedroom with a bespoke Stormtrooper mural. At the Denham Film Studios the available homes start from £680,000.
First time buyers are able to use Weston’s own First-Time SecureBuy scheme using a 5% deposit and a reservation fee of just £500 on select homes, with a reservation fee of just £1000 on other properties.
