House builder rewarded for boosting first time buyer market

Getting first time buyers onto the property ladder at a price they can afford is an important business – and the awards just keep coming for one product designed to do just that.

Redrow’s low-cost, innovative Debut product – priced from below £60,000 - has just received its latest national accolade and been short-listed for another top UK property award.

Fresh from being ‘Highly Commended’ at the Business in the Community (BITC) Awards for Excellence 2007 ceremony in London, in the presence of HRH The Prince of Wales and former US vice-president Al Gore, Debut by Redrow has been shortlisted in the third annual Housebuilding Innovation Awards.

Debut had already earned a ‘Big Tick’ from BITC for its outstanding achievement and commitment to corporate social responsibility, and was shortlisted alongside initiatives by Barclays, Accenture, Lloyds TSB and ScotAsh, in the bid to become the overall ‘Example of Excellence’ in the TCS Marketplace Innovation category. The eventual winner was ScotAsh for its efforts recycling waste ash from power stations into low carbon cements.

Paul Pedley, Redrow’s Executive Deputy Chairman, said: “We were the first of the volume housebuilders to seriously tackle the issue of helping young first time buyers to get onto the property ladder and we are delighted that our efforts have been recognised time and time again with an array of national and regional property and business awards.

“However, what’s even more gratifying to us is the hundreds of people who, thanks to Debut, now own their own home; people who previously just could not afford it in the current climate of rising house prices.”

The Housebuilding Innovation Awards, which will be announced on November 1st, were devised by Housebuilder magazine and the Home Builders Federation. They aim to recognise companies which are demonstrating a commitment to innovation in the housebuilding industry and are supported by the Government, which views them as an aid to raising standards. Debut is shortlisted in the category of best initiative to aid first time buyers or key workers.

Much of the cost-saving in Debut homes comes from the way in which they are designed and built, using a lightweight structural steel frame and other modern methods of construction, which speeds up the build programme whilst enhancing quality.

The Debut developments have carefully managed outdoor spaces designed to create a sense of neighbourhood and the buyer pays just one monthly service charge, which includes the gas, water and electricity bills, as well as buildings insurance, external maintenance – and even the cost of window cleaning – making it easier to budget when setting up home for the first time.

Customers who use Redrow’s ‘Easi-buy’ option can also defer 10% of the initial purchase price of their new home for up to 10 years on an interest free, fixed sum basis, which can be paid back via occasional lump sums, monthly repayments or in whole.

The homes are also designed to minimise their impact on the environment, and the first five developments have already achieved an ‘Excellent’ rating in the EcoHomes independent assessment scheme operated by the Building Research Establishment.

Debut schemes have been successfully completed at Rugby, in Warwickshire, Ewloe, Flintshire, Buckshaw Village in Lancashire and Sittingbourne, Kent. Current developments can be found in Lincoln; Hilton, in Derbyshire; Stoke on Trent and Burton-upon-Trent in Staffordshire; Chorley in Lancashire; plus Newport, Merthyr Tydfil and North Cornelly in South Wales. Further schemes are planned in Selby, North Yorkshire and in Filton, north Bristol.

For more information, visit debutbyredrow.co.uk.