The post Placefirst named Residential Innovator of the Year at Estates Gazette Awards 2019 appeared first on Placefirst Latest News.
]]>The 2019 Estates Gazette Awards took place on Tuesday 22nd October at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, attracting over 900 of the UK’s property leading property professionals.
Hosted by Strictly Come Dancing’s Claudia Winkleman, the awards are one of the most prestigious in the UK property event calendar. This year Estates Gazette focussed wholly on celebrating the individuals and businesses at the forefront of innovation, those who are changing the property sector and built environment for the better.
In a toughly contested category including Ballymore, Places for People, L&G and Get Living, the judges felt that Placefirst’s particular approach to build-to-rent was the overwhelming winner of Residential Innovator of the Year. Here’s what the judges had to say:
Phenomenal, brave, different and focusing on a sector of the market that is underserviced. Placefirst is not just an innovator but the future of residential.
Since handing over the keys to our first residents in December 2014, Placefirst have delivered over 600 homes across the north of England that are setting new standards in private renting. Aimed primarily at households on modest incomes, our £70m investment programme has successfully regenerated neighbourhoods deemed areas of last resort through innovative property remodelling and community-led placemaking.
Through long-term build-to-rent investment, Placefirst are demonstrating that high quality homes and placemaking can be delivered in complex inner urban areas without reliance on public subsidy. Our rental communities to date have transformed over 1000 empty properties, creating modern, energy-efficient homes complimented by parks and gardens where families can put down roots.
We have an ambitious programme of new-build development ahead of us and are currently on site with new rental communities in Sheffield and Sunderland where we are delivering over 220 homes. Our aim is to deliver 4000 homes across the UK by 2023 and firmly establish Placefirst as an innovative leader in UK residential development.
Martin Ellerby, Head of New Business & Innovation at Placefirst commented: “This is a phenomenal achievement for an SME based in Manchester, taking on some of the biggest and best players in the residential sector. The words from the judges were particularly humbling and serve as reminder to keep striving and innovating, never accepting ‘OK’ and always seeking to improve our offer.
We are in a privileged position at Placefirst – for too long renting has been seen as a second-class tenure and this has played its part in the poor quality we see in many areas of the private rental sector. Individuals and families who rely on renting deserve a nice home and community as much as homeowners and, through long-term build-to-rent investment, we are demonstrating this is indeed possible and that renting can provide a genuine alternative to ownership.
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]]>The post Transformation of Welsh Streets named UK’s Best Residential Project appeared first on Placefirst Latest News.
]]>The 2019 RICS Grand Final took place on Friday 4th October at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London, attracting over 500 of the UK’s property professionals and a host of leading developers.
The RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) awards are regarded as the premier property and construction awards in the UK, celebrating the most innovative projects across the regions and their impact on local communities.
Competing against 11 regional finalists, including Placefirst’s The Green (North East), The Welsh Streets in Liverpool was named Best Residential project in the UK.
The Welsh Streets demonstrates how a long-term build to rent approach can deliver innovative design solutions to the growing housing crisis. Working with the proud heritage of Liverpool Placefirst, the Victorian terrace was reinvented through comprehensive remodelling that places the end user at the heart of the design process. Adjacent properties have been knocked through to create large, family homes, and all residents have access to landscaped communal gardens where once there were dark yards and alleys.
Tracey Hartley, Chair of the RICS National Judging Panel (residential) commented:
“Residential is by far the largest sector by value in UK real estate. This award recognises the vital and intimate link between a home and the well-being of its occupants. This should never be outweighed by a dry analysis of the purely financial returns a development might offer. Good residential development breathes life into old buildings, establishes new locations and provides the safe and secure roof over our heads we all need in order to thrive. The judges have seen an array of thoughtful residential schemes from both the public and private sectors where the needs of the occupants have been considered well.
“The Welsh Streets is a fine example of how to breathe new life into tired, rundown terraced housing. Instead of bringing in the bulldozers, sacrificing the established street layout and embedded energy of the existing buildings, Placefirst has imaginatively refurbished the houses and surrounding areas to create desirable, modern homes in an attractive community setting. At a time of acute shortage of quality rental accommodation available long-term at sensible rents, it is heartening to see a PRS scheme achieve just that”.
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]]>The post Treble of awards for The Green at 2019 British Homes Awards appeared first on Placefirst Latest News.
]]>The 2019 Sunday Times British Homes Awards took place on Thursday 19th September at the luxurious Marriot Grosvenor Square in London.
Attracting hundreds of the housing industry’s leading professionals, the awards celebrate exceptional design across every aspect of housebuilding — from one-off houses to major developments, interiors to landscaping, individual extensions to placemaking on a grand scale.
Following Placefirst’s treble of awards at the 2018 British Homes Awards for The Welsh Streets, The Green enjoyed similar success, collecting three awards including the coveted Judges Award for Excellence.
The outright winner at the awards, The Green has transformed over 150 empty homes on the edge of Hartlepool town centre. Larger family homes have been created through lateral conversions, and a new park sits at the heart of the development located on the edge of Hartlepool town centre.
The Judges Award for Excellence, the highlight of the awards, is selected from the twenty award winners on the day by chair of the judging panel, renowned architect Simon Allford. Simon is a founding partner of Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM) and engages in the broader architectural discussion as a writer, critic, teacher, lecturer, examiner, advisor and commentator.
To be in a position to repurpose our shared built heritage is a huge privilege for Placefirst, and we are immensely proud to have collected three prestigious awards from our peers. The Green demonstrates that, with the right approach, there is inherent flexibility in the traditional Victorian Terrace, delivering an attractive combination of new home in a heritage shell.
“For a small coastal town like Hartlepool to be recognised as delivering some of the best housing in the UK is testament not only to the hard-working team at Placefirst, but to Hartlepool Borough Council who have been hugely supportive of our work at The Green. From the outset it was clear that they wanted to do something special with the 170 empty properties which are now The Green, and they understood how our long-term Build-To-Rent investment model could unlock such a challenging regeneration project.