Forget the doom and gloom, this builder's on Cloud Nine
Friday, July 18, 2008
House prices collapsed last month at their fastest rate since the Thirties; only 42,000 mortgage deals were agreed in the most recent figures - the lowest since records began; and housebuilders are laying off thousands of workers.
In this calamitous housing market, it is rare to find a building boss who has any good news, but Chris Chapman, chief executive of Cloud Nine, is one. Based in Redruth in Cornwall, the company has so many inquiries he is considering expansion - just about the only housebuilder to be doing so.
Cloud Nine's booming order book may have something to do with the heating costs of the homes it builds. One of its two-bedroom houses has a fuel bill of just £26 a year and annual running costs of £346. Cloud Nine is now producing some of the most advanced eco-homes in the world, at affordable prices. A basic two-bedroom house costs £88,000, plus land. For a four-bedroom detached home, you can expect to pay £167,000 plus land.
With landholders desperate to find buyers, Cloud Nine's moment has come. Its clients appear to have the cash to buy sites outright. 'We are getting a stream of people who want to buy our houses, many of whom have the finance,' said Chapman. 'We are looking to pair these up with developers who have plots, so we can create eco-hamlets, with customers buying off-plot. This is a major reduction of risk for all concerned.'
The firm has a production capacity of 250 homes a year. The houses are built in Poland on a production line, which dramatically cuts costs. Panels are pieced together on a modular basis - a bit like a sophisticated flat-pack.
Read the full article at Guardian Business Online
In this calamitous housing market, it is rare to find a building boss who has any good news, but Chris Chapman, chief executive of Cloud Nine, is one. Based in Redruth in Cornwall, the company has so many inquiries he is considering expansion - just about the only housebuilder to be doing so.
Cloud Nine's booming order book may have something to do with the heating costs of the homes it builds. One of its two-bedroom houses has a fuel bill of just £26 a year and annual running costs of £346. Cloud Nine is now producing some of the most advanced eco-homes in the world, at affordable prices. A basic two-bedroom house costs £88,000, plus land. For a four-bedroom detached home, you can expect to pay £167,000 plus land.
With landholders desperate to find buyers, Cloud Nine's moment has come. Its clients appear to have the cash to buy sites outright. 'We are getting a stream of people who want to buy our houses, many of whom have the finance,' said Chapman. 'We are looking to pair these up with developers who have plots, so we can create eco-hamlets, with customers buying off-plot. This is a major reduction of risk for all concerned.'
The firm has a production capacity of 250 homes a year. The houses are built in Poland on a production line, which dramatically cuts costs. Panels are pieced together on a modular basis - a bit like a sophisticated flat-pack.
Read the full article at Guardian Business Online
Labels: Cloud Nine, eco-homes, first time buyers, flat-pack homes, Housebuilders, Housing market, property prices
