Member Article

Director Of Property Company Supports Neighbourhood He Grew Up In

Forty three year old Martin Smith has been taking a trip down memory lane having become a director of a property firm building new homes, near the street he grew up in as a child.

Maple Homes is celebrating this month, having laid the first foundations for their new development in South Leeds, the first in the area for many years.

Woodhouse Vale is the first development to be undertaken by the new management team at Maple, following a management buy out at the beginning of the year. Maple has also this month acquired extra land from the Council, which will enable them to build 5 additional 3 bed houses on the Pepper Road site in Hunslet.

The collection of the 17 new homes sees the business take a fresh approach following their management buy out and one which they hope will inspire first and second time buyers particularly, as they look to get on, and move up the property ladder.

After 25 years in the property industry Maple is now planning to shake things up as they set out to challenge the bigger homeowners, providing more space, and flexibility for less budget, helping their buyers to create #houseenvy. The team is looking to place more control into homeowners’ hands with a different philosophy towards buying a new build, as customers can input into the design process for their Pepper Road home, enabling them to create bespoke family homes which meet their own specific needs, at affordable prices.

Director, and ‘Project Man’ Tom Robinson, whose previous experience includes managing builds for Park Lane Homes, said: “We are really excited to be housing this development in South Leeds - it’s in an area that has suffered from lack of new housing stock for years and we’re not just providing new houses, but we’re opening up the process of housebuilding to our buyers in a way that has not been done before”.

“With our new approach we are offering people the chance to design elements of their home alongside our team -and we’re talking much more than just choosing the tiles. We will work with off-plan buyers to help construct their home to suit their lifestyle, so if they don’t like where a wall is on the plan, we’ll move it. If they’d prefer open plan living we’ll create it that way, if they want to add eco elements to the build we’ll incorporate that. We’re giving them a flexibility they would’t get with the big house builders as we know how hard people work to get on the property ladder, and want to give them a bit of a break”.

As well as creativity, community is the other value that’s core to Maple Homes, and with their foundations based firmly in Leeds, they are already making an impact within the local community. They recently announced a sponsorship deal with Hunslet Warriors ARFLC, the Rugby League club where Director Martin Smith played during his twenties.

Martin said: “Building in Hunslet we are aware that there is a very tight knit community and from day one we wanted to show our support for this. Sport is a passion for all of the team, and with my connections to the club this made a lot of sense as I can now give back to a club that supported me”.

Damian Mawson, coach Hunslet Warriors ARLFC said: “We are a busy club, with hundreds of passionate kids – but we can’t function alone and need community support to thrive. We are all self funded and have to find ways to raise money through sponsorship or fundraising. This support from Maple is huge blessing for us and takes some of the pressure off so we can get down to providing the best training for the kids.”

Maple has also recently agreed to support Hunslet Nelson Cricket Club too and Brian Farrell from Hunslet Nelson Cricket Club said: “Sponsorship enables us to concentrate some of our time and effort on coaching and organising cricket, as opposed to spending all of our time fundraising to maintain and grow our facilities. With regards to the work Maple is doing I’m right behind it. New homes are very welcome in the area. Their presence will make a very pleasant change from motorways, an incinerator and rail links, all appearing in Hunslet and surrounding area.”

Research shows that LS10 is becoming increasingly popular with first-time buyers with the area being listed in the top ten UK places where first-time buyers are snapping up most homes, according to Hamptons. Half of all sales were to first-timers, which points to an area that is up-and-coming and buyers in this area will also benefit from the forthcoming £350m regeneration of Leeds’ South Bank that will connect into the city centre.

Maple has now released the first 6 homes with Burnaby, Langford and Rossdale houses available for off-plan reservations, the names paying homage to the country from which the Maple Leaf originated. Homes on the development start from £184,950 for a 3 bed family home. For more information follow the build progress on Instagram @homesbymaple, Facebook @HomesByMaple and twitter @homesbymaple.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Chocolate PR .