Home builder leases fleet of electric cars

Yorkshire housebuilder Avant Homes has become the first UK housebuilder to introduce a fleet of 30 Honda e electric vehicles for its regional sales teams.

With 60 developments in progress across Yorkshire, Scotland, the north east of England and the Midlands, the fleet will enable Avant Homes to provide prospective homebuyers with a more mobile and accessible sales service.

The cars have been introduced as part of a new commitment by the company to meet prospective buyers by appointment only at their preferred location.

Avant Homes Yorkshire managing director, Chris Coley, said: “We learned a lot during lockdown about how best to continue to provide our customers with exceptional service that is tailored to their needs.

“We identified that our customers need greater flexibility due to the changing circumstances they face and that we needed to evolve our sales function.

“We wanted to be able to meet our customers wherever was most convenient for them, so our idea was to be able to take Avant Homes to them on demand, and this led us to securing and introducing our new fleet of Honda e cars.

“We chose the Honda e so that we could not only provide our people with a state-of-the-art vehicle, but also minimise the environmental impact of the increased travel our sales team will be undertaking.”

Avant Homes currently builds approximately 2,000 homes each year, has a turnover of circa £500m and employs around 780 people.

Of its 60 live developments, 11 are part of Avant Homes Yorkshire stretching from Knaresborough in North Yorkshire to Waverley in South Yorkshire.

The Honda e cars are supplied by motor retailer Stoneacre Chesterfield. The leasing deal is the biggest transaction the Tapton Lock dealership has ever brokered with a corporate client.

The leasing agreement for the fleet was handled by Lex Autolease.

Regional manager for Stoneacre Chesterfield, David Harding, said: “The popularity of hybrid and e-vehicles is rapidly increasing, so we were delighted to see Avant Homes select the Honda e as the vehicle of choice for their sales fleet.

“We’re thrilled to be able to provide an affordable, efficient and stylish option, and help Avant Homes to optimise their customer experience.”