‘We transform communities and improve lives’

Ahead of the Midlands PROPS Awards, we spoke to Charlotte Goode the regional managing director of Keepmoat Homes about how she and Keepmoat West Midlands became involved in the Variety-backed event – and what’s next for the firm.

How did Keepmoat Homes get involved with Variety?

I was the finance director up in the Yorkshire region when I joined Keepmoat five years ago, and I attended the Variety Awards up in Yorkshire. I started to do some work with the Yorkshire team by going out and effectively assessing children and their families to see if they were eligible for some sort of support from Variety.

I moved down to the West Midlands and opened up the region here and decided that Variety would be my chosen charity for Keepmoat in the West Midlands. We’ve organised events such as a charity football event last year against another region, we had a summer ball and we had a golf day with our subcontractors – all in aid of Variety.

What is it that Variety does that stands out for you?

I’m a Mum of two and I have also grown up with a profoundly deaf sister who has grown up with disabilities. I like the ethos of what we try and do, by going in and helping those families that are in need. I love meeting the children. It’s really close to my heart.

What upcoming opportunities are there to get back amongst the West Midlands community following the pandemic?

We are looking forward to working with Variety to set up a West Midlands “Big Build”, which is something the charity has done in Yorkshire. The last one that we did when I was there was with a local school whereby a sensory room and sensory garden were built. Keepmoat hopes to work with Variety to do something similar in the West Midlands, possibly working with the Children’s Hospital or Women’s Hospital to create some special places for families to come together.

At Keepmoat we go into brownfield areas to regenerate deprived areas and it sounds very cliched, but we do transform communities and improve lives – that’s what I’m really proud of doing.

What state do you see the Midlands property market in at the moment?

I think it’s quite a very buoyant market at the moment. At Keepmoat we tend to concentrate on the smaller end of the market with two to three bedrooms for first-time buyers. We’ve got about 75% first-time buyers through Help to Buy, and there’s certainly a lot of interest there still.

We are seeing a lot of people, particularly post-COVID, having saved up for the last couple of years when no one has been able to go out and spend money on socialising or holidays. We’ve got a lot of people who are now looking to get on the housing market ladder, which is great. It’s clearly a lot cheaper to buy than it is to rent.

What developments are currently ongoing across the Midlands?

My region is West Midlands and the South West. It’s quite a large geography. We have 12 live sites with a further 10 coming through the pipeline. Those tend to range from 50 plots up to 400 plots. We’re working in partnership with local councils, local registered providers and we’ve got a really big site in Kingswinford coming through shortly.

The awards are on the 28th of April, what are you most looking forward to about the evening?

Just to come in together physically after a couple of tough years to celebrate the West Midlands, and all that is being done to transform communities will be really exciting.

Tickets are all sold out but nominations are still open for the awards!

If there’s a company, a team, or an individual you feel deserves special recognition for their outstanding work in the property sector then fill in the form below and nominate them for one of the 2022 PROPS awards.

You may nominate your company, yourself or someone you know.

Entry is free and you can enter any number of awards.

Please ensure that you include all the information requested for the nomination to be considered.

CLICK HERE to complete the nomination form.

The deadline for entries is 28 February.

We look forward to receiving your entry!

For more details contact:

Lyn Staunton
Midlands development director
Variety, the Children’s Charity
midlands@variety.org.uk
078 5077 9466