Yorkshire housebuilder targets further expansion after year of growth
YORKSHIRE housebuilder, Noble Homes, has seen a 220% increase in turnover in the past year and is planning further growth through a major expansion of its workforce and build programme.
The family-run Castleford-based business has been established for more than 50 years and said it has seen “exceptionally good” trading with a huge increase in visitor numbers, reservations and sales across all sites. The firm says that the total number of units completed in the last 12 months quadrupled compared to the previous 12 months.
The company attributes the surge in demand to the economic recovery, an increase in consumer confidence and the government-backed Help to Buy scheme providing a vital route to the property ladder for first-time buyers.
In addition to ongoing sites in Carlton, near Barnsley, and North Wingfield, near Chesterfield, Noble Homes has launched two more developments in Yorkshire this year: a scheme of 31 apartments at Cuthbert Cooper Place in Darnall, near Sheffield, and a range of 61 houses at Earlsheaton, near Dewsbury.
Noble said planning applications are at an advanced stage for further developments in the region which are expected to be launched in late 2014 or early 2015, and the company expects to have acquired 300 plots of land by the end of this year. A strategic recruitment drive has seen staff increase by 140% in the past 12 months.
Managing director, Chris Noble, said: “Across five decades of building, Noble Homes has experienced many fluctuations in the housing market and we weathered the most recent downturn with a flexible approach, employing a number of means in order to sell or move our housing stock, including a Shared Equity Scheme and a Try Before You Buy scheme which rented new build homes to tenants with the option to purchase at the end of their tenancy. We also introduced outright rental on of some our stock properties. After almost seven years in recession, the market recovery is accelerating and Noble Homes are looking to the next twelve months with renewed optimism.
“With Help to Buy, the government has created a stimulus for us to respond by building more homes. It is helping struggling homebuyers to purchase with small deposits, stoking demand and encouraging overall market sentiment to improve. As a registered Help to Buy house-builder, Noble Homes are growing as fast as we can to meet demand out there.
“Over the past year we have created 70 more jobs at our current sites to increase the production of our homes and our future recruitment programme has expanded to include as many apprenticeships as possible over the next three years. Now is the time to invest in people and development opportunities.
“I believe the government should release more land and accelerate the planning process to help solve the UK’s housing crisis. Though I would reject the notion that we are heading for a house price bubble, there is a danger that prices could go up too quickly. However, outside of London, price rises are currently tracking inflation.”
