LOVELL, the leading provider of innovative residential developments, has become the first house builder to take proactive steps in a bid to tackle the challenge of asbestos waste.   Asbestos still poses a major challenge to the housebuilding industry where it is still sent directly from site to landfill for future generations to tackle. Lovell has been the first to act, collaborating with Thermal Recycling to safely package and convert asbestos waste into a safe and reusable cement substitute.   Lovell completed a pilot project under a licence from the Environment Agency with Thermal Recycling, who were assisted by its research partners at Wolverhampton University. The trial was a complete success and saw 25 tonnes of asbestos removed from three demolished buildings at Lovell’s Castleward development in Derby city centre.   Steve Jones, regional health safety and environmental manager for Lovell Midlands, said: “We have made a commitment to move towards reducing the amount of asbestos going to landfill.  As such, this was an important environmental initiative for us to trial with Thermal Recycling and one that has proven that it is possible to solve the problems asbestos poses to the industry and future generations. This is a great step in our approach to circular economy, ensuring materials are recycled and reused rather than taken to landfill.  “One of the reasons that asbestos waste continues to be sent to landfill is hesitance from the industry to change processes and practices. Our demolition partners have confirmed this, and we’re pleased they had a similarly positive experience.”   Opened in September 2020, Thermal Recycling currently operates from a demonstration plant in Wolverhampton and has a licence to treat up to 30,000 tonnes of cement bonded asbestos each year when their full-scale plant is built. The asbestos is treated using the latest developments in thermal technology to change its composition to make it safe. The cement is stripped by a state-of-the-art kiln and turned into a sustainable aggregate for use as a building material.  Graham Gould, chairman of Thermal Recycling said: “Thermal Recycling is delighted to be working with a Lovell and their contractors. They have all recognised that there is now a viable alternative to sending asbestos to landfill and have the determination and commitment to embrace that change.”  Steve continued: “Lovell is committed to making the necessary changes to ensuring its removal is safe and environmentally friendly. Lovell has a target of recycling 100% of its asbestos waste which we are delighted to be working with Thermal Recycling to achieve through further schemes in the future.”  For more information, please visit https://www.lovell.co.uk/ 

LEADING housebuilder Lovell Homes is looking forward to welcoming potential homeowners as the marketing suite at a brand-new new Kirk Ella development, The Sycamores, opens its doors for the first time. When complete, The Sycamores will offer 224 two-, three- and four-bedroom homes, 168 of which will be for sale on the open market, with 40 available to rent and the remaining 16 available for shared ownership through Together Housing Group. The marketing suite will be located on-site ready to welcome potential homeowners to the new community. Heading up sales at the new build development, will be sales advisor Rebecca Lovegrove, who has spent three years working at Lovell Homes’ The Leeway development in the Ings area of east Hull. Rebecca said: “I’m incredibly excited to be returning to an area that’s particularly close to my heart. Lovell is a great brand to work for, it offers really high quality homes across the country and this development will be no different. I’ve lived in the city a long time, so I know the area well, but getting to work on a new site from scratch is still very exciting. I get to meet new people and experience another aspect of the business. “Kirk Ella is a lovely area too. Having previously lived in west Hull where my children also went to school, I am very familiar with it, which will certainly help when passing on my knowledge to my customers. I have found how important being informative and approachable is when it comes to being able to answer questions and instill confidence in those wanting to buy with Lovell.” Robert Adams, regional managing director at Lovell, said: “This is a really exciting development, which has already proven to be incredibly popular with more than 150 enquiries being made already. Rebecca brings years of knowledge and experience with her thanks to her time at The Leeway and her previous role with Bovis Homes and we’re looking forward to seeing her flourish as she settles in at a new site.” The first set of homes at The Sycamores are due for completion in autumn 2021, with the first families moving in for Christmas. The overall scheme will also include a play area and is due to be completed by summer 2026. The marketing suite opening hours are Thursday to Monday 10am – 5pm, currently by appointment only. For more information, please visit www.lovell.co.uk/developments/the-sycamores-kirk-ella/ or call us on 01482 298 461. 

THE VIRTUAL launch of Lovell Homes‘ latest North West development has revealed what a dream home looks like for house hunters in Lancashire. The national house builder held its first ever interactive Instagram event over the weekend (5-7 Feb) to celebrate the opening of Woodlark Chase’s new show homes in Thornton Cleveleys. More than 450 savvy buyers tuned into Instagram over the weekend and almost 300 votes revealed that 73% of people would choose an office over a playroom in their new home, 86% would prefer a back garden facing kitchen and a utility in a non-negotiable for 77%, while also receiving interior inspiration from the development’s interior designer and gaining a sneak peek of its beautiful new show homes. The top trends revealed during the unique interactive launch reflected the chic style of the newly opened show homes at Woodlark Chase with “tone on tones” schemes including layering and strong accent colours. This popular use of natural tones – whites and soft taupe – with earthy accent colours are on display with forest green in the Rochester and ochre in the Woodford. The show home designs also showed potential buyers that inspiration can be drawn from everywhere, from nature to the catwalk. Karen Vincent Ernst, of Open Door, designed and curated the Woodlark Chase homes. She said: “A key part of the brief for Woodlark Chase was to incorporate elements of the local area into our design. We therefore pulled inspiration from the coast, wildlife, and nature and brought these natural elements into the theme of the show home design.  “When thinking about interior design, an important aspect is to create interest and impact in the room by paying close attention to detail. A great example of this is the Rochester master bedroom where we incorporated a zinc velvet headboard with an Aztec pattern on it. This seamlessly linked with the Andrew Martin curtains, and then we used lots of natural fabrics to really tie it all together. “Within every room we also wanted to create a warm and cosy feeling with lots of textures and plenty of layering to give depth. This was particularly true of the Woodford kitchen as we utilised a tone-on-tones scheme – which is really on trend this year – by layering lots of ivory and taupe, accented by a strong ochre colour. We also incorporated plenty of gold and metal in the lighting, artwork, and accessories to add further depth. “Another clever interior design trick when you have a great, big, blank wall, is to use weathered oak picture ledges to create impact and focus. In the Woodford we dressed the shelves with a combination of plates, photo frames and cookbooks to add personality and character.” Anne-Marie O’Doherty, regional sales director at Lovell Homes North West, said: “We really loved this launch as we got to hear from potential buyers about what they value in a home even though we couldn’t meet them face to face “It’s no surprise that 73% would choose a home office, given the shift to home working, but 77% voting a utility as a non-negotiable really shows the trend of how modern families live. People want a practical space for storage and to keep dirty wellies and washing out of view, which is why we’ve included it in our family friendly Rochester house. “So much work goes into the design and construction of the houses as well as the interior design and finishing touches, that we usually love opening up our doors and celebrating a brand-new launch. However, that’s just not possible at the moment so we’ve had to adapt to the situation, and I think that getting house hunters involved has been a really fantastic way to mark the occasion. Instagram was the perfect platform for this development as we wanted to reach first time buyers and young families, and the weekend saw our highest level of engagement to date! “This is a really lovely development and our two and three-bedroom homes will help meet the growing demand for high-quality starter homes, while our four-bedroom house types are perfect for growing families in need of more space.” Located in Thornton Cleveleys, near Blackpool, the 86-home development offers a collection of two-, three- and four-bedroom properties that are currently available to purchase. Site visits and show home tours must be booked in advance with visitors adhering to social distancing guidelines. Prices for homes start from £176,950 for a three bed, which falls within the region’s Help to Buy cap for first time buyers, and for those moving up the ladder four beds start from £236,950. For more information about Lovell Homes please visit www.lovell.co.uk or follow @Lovell_UK on Twitter.

LOVELL HOMES has reported high demand for new properties in the North West despite the universal challenges faced by businesses in 2020, with an increase in sales from 2019 which was itself a record year for the region. Despite the restrictions imposed by covid-19, the availability of unused holiday funds to top up deposits and increased time at home to consider making a move, is behind a surge in demand for new properties. Zoopla is also predicting that December 2020 will be the busiest December in over a decade.    During a particularly difficult year, Lovell Homes’ North West region has successfully launched three new developments – Weston Woods; a picturesque village three miles from Crewe, Woodlark Chase in Thornton Cleveleys, and Roman Heights – with sales confirmed at each site. The picturesque Roman Heights launched virtually; a first for the housebuilder. The live event included a site tour, interviews with those building the properties, and a Q&A with mortgage experts and solicitors. The year also saw popular locations remain strong despite the pandemic, with Manchester staying a purchasing hot spot. The final property at Lovell Homes’ Weaver Park development was sold out in 2020, seeing the community of 129 homes on the edge of Manchester city centre constructed and occupied in just two years with more phases to be launched in 2021. Its Joseph Williams Place scheme, developed in partnership with Compendium Living, also sold out in 2020, marking Liverpool as another major UK city seeing great interest from home buyers. Anne-Marie O’Doherty, regional sales director at Lovell Homes North West, said: “We are now in the strong position of having 40% of our forecast sales for 2021 already sold. This is not only testament to the dedication of our sales and marketing team and the quality of our properties and their locations, but an increased appetite from house hunters. “We’ve had to quickly adapt to provide Covid-19 secure show homes, viewable by appointment only, as well as changing how we communicate with our customers. For instance, deciding to do a virtual development launch for the first time, accepting online reservations, creating a website chat function, and developing a digital appointment system which is due to go live imminently. “The whole housebuilding industry, which includes solicitors, lenders, and of course those wanting to purchase a new property, have been impacted. We’ve focussed on overcoming delays during the conveyancing process and that has stood us in good stead. However, we are continuing to encourage anyone thinking about moving house to act now to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday with the process taking longer.” For more information about Lovell Homes please visit www.lovell.co.uk or follow @Lovell_UK on Twitter.