Andrea Fawell, sales and marketing director at Kebbell, shares her observations and the company’s reaction to the effect of the pandemic.
Like many property businesses we hoped that 2020 would be a new healthy landscape for strong growth after 2019’s political instability and Brexit up and downs. However, the coronavirus has of course brought the market to a virtual standstill, and the turbulence of the global stock market and the financial insecurity every business and every home are facing means housebuilders will have to face an entirely different set of operating conditions once lockdown is lifted. Whilst 2020 has not turned out to be anything like what we expected we remain positive that the market will regenerate later in the year. In the meanwhile all that matters is that our residents, employees, subcontractors and suppliers and their families stay safe.
During this unprecedented time, we have of course had to react quickly to the daily changes and follow all guidelines being set by the Home Builders Federation and government and at times try and interpret what this means for us. Here is how Kebbell is handling the crisis.
The immediate mitigation of problems
We have reviewed and changed our message online, on emails, on website and answerphones on a daily – and at times hourly – basis to ensure we are up-to-date with the advice.
Show homes are closed to viewings but we are on the end of the emails and phones to happily liaise with any enquiries. We are confident that with the help of video footage, online brochures, photos etc we can answer all queries and give a full flavour of what it is to own a Kebbell home.
Several sites have now completely closed down, but some sites are minimally open to carry out essential maintenance and building work and to ensure the sites are secure for the residents who have already moved in. The limited tradespeople who will need to visit the site have been instructed to adhere to stringent social distancing and sanitising protocol to ensure our valued staff, subcontractors and residents are protected.
Many of our sales team have been furloughed but we have some colleagues in our customer care teams who are still working to attend to any emergency/essential call outs. To avoid putting our valued subcontractors and purchasers at risk, all general maintenance or non-urgent matters are postponed until the end of the lockdown. Purchasers are being very understanding and keeping their requests to a minimum in these difficult times.
Crisis management
In a crisis the most important thing is effective communication. We have been in regular contact with all our purchasers. Some of those who have already exchanged contracts, because the homes are vacant, are still moving. We have offered help where we can, and we have been available when needed to deal with legal documents. We also keep in regular contact with our residents. Everyone is on duty and the fact we are all working remotely is working really well. Our IT support team has been busy ensuring that everyone can access what they need to at home and we all have suitable connections.
Recovery
We hope once lockdown has been lifted, that perhaps the second half of the year will be a good year for Kebbell. We have live sites and product that is ready to move into and we can meet and indeed excel the expectations and pent up demand. Our reputation is for bespoke, well thought through, desirable homes and we have a definitive market of discerning purchasers who will appreciate this. We have new sites coming to the market in Yorkshire, Berkshire, Hampshire and Buckinghamshire. We are blessed to have a huge variety of properties on offer too from luxury apartments, family homes and first-time buys, to our exclusive gated developments. We always think about who is buying our homes, what are they going to want and what will exceed their expectations; and that is the way we will continue to grow the business after this global crisis.
Communicating with buyers
We are being very sympathetic to purchasers who are yet to exchange contracts. We will continue to assist with the conveyance process to get them to a position where they are ready to exchange contracts and then pause. Once the lockdown is lifted and we will be sure to help all purchasers have all they need for a stress free home move by exchanging contracts and fixing completion for as soon as possible.
Communicating with potential buyers on forward sites
Our website is being regularly updated so that potential buyers can find a wealth of information about each of our developments on the new homes page. We are encouraging people to use the Kebbell website to view the homes ‘virtually’ until they are able to come to see the show homes. For those buying homes that are still under construction we have advised we will need to revisit the likely build completion date because it will have had to slip.
Our community
At Scarborough we have donated PPE to local medical staff as the site manager’s wife is a nurse and she took grateful delivery of it. We have all humbly witnessed and joined the Thursday night applause as several staff members have key workers as spouses and family members. We are also aware many of our already valued purchasers are essential key workers and we wish to show them all our support and heartfelt thanks. We all know someone or have a family member who is in the at high-risk category and are self-isolating, so our hearts and minds are also with them at this difficult time
Being personally affected
Each and every one of us has been affected by coronavirus. After years of training, I had the honour of being one of around 30 people selected to do the ultimate physical and mental challenge and trek across the frozen ocean to the North Pole in April, which has had to be postponed to 2021. Continuing to train during this time, albeit at home, is helping me face the rigours of coping with these challenging times. But none of these things matter when we look at those on the front line, those suffering, those who need our help and those of us who are feeling very alone.
