Novus Apartments, Slough

In December 2020, Stubbings launched Novus Apartments in Slough; a new collection of 64 studio, one and two-bedroom apartments in the heart of the town. The homes, delivered by Slough Urban Renewal (SUR), form part of the former library site, which has been transformed into a new destination, comprising two new Marriott International hotels (the Residence Inn and Moxy), along with 4,000 sq ft of retail space.

The Brief
The Stubbings team was appointed to provide a range of support for the development, from inputting into the early design stages and advising on pricing, through to launching the homes for sale and managing the customer journey.

The Approach
Stubbings produced an in-depth sales and marketing report for Novus Apartments, providing insights into key target markets, buyer demographics and local competition as well as guidance on pricing for the scheme. Stubbings later input into the specification and internal layouts of the apartments.

Ahead of the launch, Stubbings led the development branding, ensuring the delivery of key development collateral, ahead of the launch to market. We set up a branding pitch for the development and subsequently managed the creation of the development brochure and tailored microsite. We established a social media presence and created a variety of content, from drafting and issuing local press releases, to creating tailored customer HTMLs, social media videos, leaflets and other sales materials.

In December 2020 we launched Novus Apartments for sale, off-plan. Stubbings established a sales team on-site, supported by our in-house Connections team. In early 2021, we launched two new show apartments at the development. Our sales team handled the entire customer journey, from taking the initial enquiry and registering them on our dedicated CRM system to conducting the viewings, taking the reservation and then supporting the customer through to completion and handover.

After a successful application, in April 2021, we launched the Government’s Help to Buy scheme, providing eligible purchasers with the opportunity to secure a 20% Government loan, when purchasing at Novus Apartments. Our specialist sales team were fully versed in the intricacies of Help to Buy and were able to support customers through the complex application process. While Help to Buy widened the pool of potential purchasers, this scheme was due to come to an end. This, combined with a challenging market would impact on sales levels. The Stubbings team was quick to pre-empt this and explore other options.

The Stubbings team put forward a recommendation to apply to take part in the early delivery programme for the Government’s First Homes scheme. After a lengthy application process and various legal changes SUR was successfully accepted onto the scheme and awarded over £1.2m of grant by Homes England. In March 2022, we launched First Homes; designed to help local first time buyers and key workers onto the property ladder, by offering new homes at a discount of up to 30% compared to the market price – as a result, making deposits and mortgages more affordable. The 30% discount will apply to the homes forever, meaning that generations of new buyers will continue to benefit every time the property is sold.

The response to the First Homes scheme was phenomenal. Within five months, 90% of the homes within our grant allocation had been reserved and we were fortunate enough to be able to apply for further grant bringing it up to £2.5m for Novus - opening up the opportunity for local purchasers and key workers to secure themselves a new home here.

Progress
All of the homes at Novus are now sold. 

Customer feedback has been hugely positive, with high praise for the sales team on site.