One-on-one interview: Caroline Verity, Skipton Properties 

This week’s exclusive interview is with Caroline Verity, creative director of Skipton Properties, about her family-run business and the range of new homes they build across some of the northern counties of England.

Please tell us a little about yourself and Skipton Properties

I’m the creative director of Skipton Properties, my family’s business, which I run alongside my sister and father. We started building homes over 30 years ago in 1986 in our home town of Skipton. Since then we have built over 3,000 homes in Yorkshire and Lancashire.

What developments are you currently working on?

At the moment we are working across three developments; in Fence, Lancashire, and Silsden and Haworth in West Yorkshire, but have many more planned for 2018.

What do you consider to be the property hotspots of your region and what makes them so special? 

Manchester has recently topped the tables for capital growth, as a result our development in Rossendale near Manchester has been hugely popular; we’re extremely excited to start building our second phase of homes here in 2018. We also expect our homes, launching later this year in Haworth, to be received well. The right homes in this area are selling in a matter of days.

What makes the Skipton approach to designing and constructing new homes different from the competition?

Our business model is based on our loyal team of employees. We employ a highly skilled team of craftsman that have worked for us for an average of 15 years. This is unusual in the housebuilding industry but it is an approach that enables us to achieve a high level of quality whilst still building quickly. The work we do contract out is given to a team of contractors who we know and respect. Our plumbing and electrical, for instance, is supplied by my sister’s husband!

What do you consider to be the most important advantages of new build and do you think more house-hunters are seeing them?

Energy efficiency. In a warming world with rising energy prices, energy efficiency is more important than ever. A new home reduces energy use dramatically through increased insulation and the use of more efficient heating and appliances. However, one of the most important advantages our homeowners mention is the fuss-free nature of them.

Are show homes still a vital part of new homes search and how do you make yours especially appealing?

Yes, they are. Visualising an empty room is extremely hard to do, even I struggle on occasion. Creating a show home brings our homes to life and helps our clients see how their own home could look.

When I first started at the company, over five years ago now, my first task was to improve our show homes. They worked, but I thought we could do so much more. I stripped them back to the bones with my old advertising agency’s (M&C Saatchi) strapline in mind: brutal simplicity of thought. I didn’t want our homes to look like show homes: I wanted them to look like a home. I spend a lot of time researching new products and creating our specifications, which change as trends do and are influenced by the architecture of each development. The last thing I wanted was my specification hidden by an interior design scheme. I therefore create show homes that work in harmony with the architecture and specification of our homes.

Are schemes such as Help to Buy and Part Exchange vital to today's buyers?

We don’t see as many buyers using Help to Buy and Part Exchange as other developers see. However, a good percentage of our homes are sold this way. Owning a home is something that is close to our hearts. As a family, we certainly couldn’t live in a rented home; the uncertainty would unsettle us! Help to Buy specifically is helping many more families get onto the property ladder, it’s been a central part of the market.

Is the current market especially strong/weak for certain types of buyer?

We’ve seen strength in the upgrader market, possibly because our homes are aspirational. At Kearns Village, many of our buyers have waited for such a development to come to the market; many lived with parents or rented so were ready to go when our homes became available. We have also seen a section of the market downsizing, usually retirees, who want to downsize into an apartment so that they can make the most of their retirement.

How do you see the rest of 2017 for the new homes sector in your area?

Brexit and the general election have thrown up some uncertainty, but we believe in what we are doing and in the counties we build in. We build homes that are that little bit different and it’s this difference that appeals to our clients. We’re committed to investing in the area and already have several new projects in the pipeline.