Award-winning housebuilder, Story Homes, has launched its first virtual reality (VR) tour, allowing prospective buyers to gain a realistic insight into living in one of the developer’s homes.

The VR experience was launched at the housebuilder’s Edgehill Park development in Whitehaven last weekend to mark the opening of the new ‘Marlborough’ apartment. Visitors were invited to try out a VR headset and explore the two-bedroom property.

Story Homes has worked closely with virtual reality experts, Revolution Viewing, to produce the tours, which provide a detailed, high resolution, 360 view of the interior of the properties.

Steve Errington, Chief Executive of Story Homes, said: “Every element of the customer experience is important to us, and looking around our show homes is a key part of this, so we wanted visitors to be able to experience our homes in the most immersive way possible. The VR tours are also accessible from anywhere via computer or mobile phone, so prospective buyers can now explore a Story Home without even having to travel to a development.

“Virtual reality is becoming more and more prominent in the property sector, and we are keen to remain at the forefront of the industry when it comes to using innovative technologies. The feedback from visitors has been very positive so far – they have found it beneficial to be able to get such a realistic feel for what it would be like to live in one of our homes.”

Story Homes plans to roll out virtual reality tours across more of its house types and developments in the near future.