Selling the Benefits
How we are addressing this issue:
We acquire sites where we can create beautiful, sustainable places in which people can live sustainable lifestyles. Creation of these places remains at the forefront of our minds throughout the development process. This ensures that we can consistently sell the benefits to our customers of a sustainable lifestyle. In order to communicate the sustainability benefits of our homes properly, we provide customers with a selection of informative material through the marketing of our developments and during the sales process. This is done through the use of a variety of media, for example, using posters in our marketing suites, project specific sustainability brochures and site hoardings. We will also soon be publishing a customer facing brochure on Vision2020.
More technical information is contained in our home manuals. During 2010/11 we sold 2,544 units. Upon handover, all our customers are provided with a home manual which explains key information about the property including how it should be operated and maintained. These manuals contain a section on sustainability which explains how to use the sustainability features within the home, provides information on green living , local public transport routes, recycling and waste disposal and useful links to local community facilities. We also provide information on our website. For example, our interactive tool provides customers with tips on how they can live more sustainably in their homes and lead more sustainable lives.
Training our sales and marketing staff is a key part of ensuring our customers are aware of sustainability features. We are currently going through a process of training all sales and marketing staff about sustainability so that they are able to sell the benefits to our customers. Providing reliable information upon which our home buyers are able to make their purchasing decision is a key part of our compliance with The Consumer Code for Home Builders. This Code sets good practice requirements that all home builders must meet and ensures that a home warranty is provided to all purchasers of newly built or converted homes.
We pride ourselves on providing residents with innovative solutions to help them maximise their living space. We have carried out a review of our home designs against the London Housing Design Guide, in order to inform our consultation response to the Mayor on this topic. We are fully committed to ensuring our developments are safe and secure places where people feel comfortable visiting and living. We have a commitment to engage with Crime Prevention Design Advisors or Architectural Liaison Officers on all our developments, and several of our developments have achieved, or are planning on achieving, Secured by Design certification.
As sustainability is increasingly becoming an important issue for our customers, we strive to develop new and innovative design standards, such as our Urban House and SAIL innovative, and are piloting a rent to buy scheme at West 3 and the Armouries where customers may rent a property directly from us, and use money paid in rent to contribute towards their deposit.
While we are primarily a residential developer, we also sell commercial space on our mixed-use developments. Our commitment to sustainability and high environmental performance standards applies to all the buildings on our developments and we aim to ensure that all commercial space achieves BREEAM Very Good, or is capable of achieving BREEAM Very Good if fit-out is to be undertaken by the tenant.
Our performance:
In 2010/11:
- Vision2020 was communicated to customers through boards and brochures in sales and marketing suites, a dedicated section of The Berkeley Group website, and logos on hoarding and marketing materials. We will look to further improve our communication in 2011/12.
- We produced a selection of marketing materials containing information on the sustainability of our developments and will work throughout 2011/12 to ensure that all sales outlets use these materials. Most home manuals now contain information on sustainability and we will be working to ensure all new home manuals produced in 2011/12 contain this information.
- Training was in place for our sales and marketing staff and we will ensure that by the end of 2011/12 all have been given this training.
- 100% of our developments submitted for planning that contained commercial space committed to BREEAM Very Good. One development will only be constructed to shell and core and therefore fit-out will be undertaken by the tenant.
- 45% of our completed commercial space was certified to BREEAM Very Good.
Our Vision2020 commitments and ambitions:
As part of delivering Vision2020 we have set specific objectives for continuing to ensure that we sell the benefits to our customers.
Our commitments from May 2011:
- Highlight the sustainability benefits of our developments in sales and marketing materials and home manuals
- Train all sales and marketing staff in sustainability so that they are able to sell the benefits to customers
- Communicate Vision2020 to all customers
- Ensure that all commercial space and student accommodation achieves BREEAM Very Good or is capable of achieving BREEAM Very Good if the fit-out is to be undertaken by the tenant
Our ambitions from May 2012:
- Launch 'Pledge for a better tomorrow' – a partnership between Berkeley and our customers to make it easier for residents to live a more sustainable lifestyle
- Install Smart Meters in all new homes to help our customers understand their energy use
- Provide tenant fit-out guidelines to commercial customers, enabling them to optimise the environmental performance of the premises they purchase
