Paul Rouse meets the team behind a dynamic property development partnership.
Luckily, sibling rivalry isn’t a problem in the Roberts/Evans family. Brother and sister Phil Roberts and Julia Evans, together with business associate Jamie Smart, have pooled their talents, experience and contacts to form one of the most proactive partnerships in the new homes market in the Solihull region.
They are all well-known in their respective fields.
Jamie established Smart Homes 25 years ago this year, and the company is recognised as being one of the leading estate agents in the area.
Julia, having worked for a number of larger developers including David Wilson Homes and CALA, joined the company in 2018 to set up Smart New Homes, a specialist division for the new-build property sector.
And in 2022, Phil – with names such as Fine & Country and Atlas Land & Planning on his CV – opened Brookvale Development Specialists, and number of landowners, investors, builders, developers and new homes agents amongst his clients.
It seemed to be the next logical step for the three of them to come together, in a loose (but still tight-knit if you get my drift) working arrangement.
Contacts
As the old saying goes, it’s not just about what you know, but who you know. And contacts – within the family or otherwise – have been crucial in the success of Smart New Homes.
“Back in 2019,” recalls Julia, “I held a networking event in Solihull and invited a number of developers to meet and discuss their current and future developments. David Hofton had just moved to Elevate Property Group, having himself worked in the estate agency business for some years. After a couple of months, we were instructed on Princes Gate Solihull (Consort and Royal House – an apartment scheme of 100 apartments). After a successful sell-out of phase one, four years later we are now back working with Elevate, selling the final phase of the development: Imperial House, a selection of 60 new one, two and three-bed apartments.
“Landowners need to be realistic with values and timescales”
“Working on Princes Gate gave us the reputation and respect within the new homes sector, and from there, we went on to start selling for a number of local developers. At the moment, we’re working alongside some of the key players in the region, including Macc Healthcare, Kingslea, Kingswood, Four Square, MIA Property Group, DC Construction, Avaro, Investin, Nash, Aquilis and Pro Build 360.”
Add on Phil’s contacts at Brookvale and it’s a powerful combination.
“We work as a referral agent for a number of larger developers in the area,” he explains. “This provides better opportunities for both landowners and developers to maximise the value of their projects. We cover residential and strategic land, mixed-use development, affordable housing, care homes and retirement villages, and work across the property development spectrum, from national house builders to smaller local developers, including PLC organisations and affordable housing providers.”
Market
But it’s a tough market out there at the moment. Never mind the cost-of-living crisis and the impact that high-interest rates are having on mortgages, how difficult is it for developers of new projects to find land and get planning permission in the region?
“I think it’s been well documented the many issues that developers are having with the planning process at the moment,” says Phil. “Coupled with rising material and build costs, it can be quite a difficult task for developers to find suitable and profitable opportunities.
However, as long as landowners are realistic with both values and timescales, there is still a huge requirement for development in the region.”
With regard to finding buyers once properties have been built, either for new homes or resales (all of which obviously have a knock-on effect), Jamie adds the following: “The current market is interesting, to say the least! The media would have you believe that there is no movement, and if anything a decline. It’s certainly more challenging than what we have experienced over the last three years or so. However, we have seen little if any reduction in the number of properties being sold within the postcodes that we cover.
“In fact, we have seen new instructions to the market increase by 0.4% recently. This is not the average increase across Solihull and its environs, but experience has shown us that clients refer back to established estate agents with a reputation for selling properties within their immediate area. It’s a case of having a detailed knowledge of the locality.
“If properties have been priced correctly, we’re still selling for relatively close to the asking price. But it’s certainly a buyers’ market. They now have the opportunity to look at a number of houses before making their final decision. Previously, if they didn’t make a decision within 48 hours of viewing the property, they were in for disappointment, due to multiple offers being received.
“We have however seen an overall decline in completed sales of late. We believe this to be down to the conveyancing process taking longer, as well as vendors still struggling to find the right property if they are looking for their ideal home, rather than just a convenient move.”
News
Location, location, location is a familiar mantra within the property industry. And not just for individual houses. The same applies to full-scale developments. So Phil is optimistic as far as larger, longer-term projects go.
“We offer land sourcing, sustainable acquisition and disposal, development and planning consultancy services,” he adds.
“It means we can help source and dispose of suitable sites for residential, carbon off-set opportunities and commercial developments – not only within the region but across the UK. We are well placed to assist with development planning and provide advice on the most effective way of realising planning consent. So if you are a farmer with land, a developer looking to flip a site, or own commercial buildings, derelict property, or even a suitable pub or hotel, there’s potential. It’s not all bad news out there.”