insideKENT Magazine Issue 46 - January 2016 | Page 142

PROPERTY

Millwood recognised as best
small housebuilder

Homebuyers spend
£10,000 doing up their homes
in the first year
Tonbridge-based luxury residential developer Millwood Designer Homes
has won one of the property industry’s biggest accolades at the ‘Oscars’
of the housebuilding industry, the What House? Awards 2015. The company,
which currently has nine sites across Kent, Surrey and East Sussex, won
Bronze for Best Small Housebuilder.

Homebuyers spend an average of £10,010 on their homes in the first 12
months of ownership, according to new research from Aviva. With around
679,000* owner-occupier moves happening every year, this puts the firstyear home makeover tally at around £6.8 billion across the whole of England.
The study of around 1,000 recent homebuyers reveals redecorated bedrooms
(47%) and living rooms (43%) are the most popular choices for first-year
transformations, although one in five recent movers (18%) install new kitchens
in the first year, and the same (18%) splash out on new bathrooms.

Judges commented: “Millwood is now about more than large detached
houses and has mixed up its portfolio to include larger developments of
smaller-sized properties in response to the market, such as its Orchard
Gate scheme in Ditton, Kent. Here Millwood created what it calls “a small
hamlet that has evolved over time”. This is a look more developers should
strive to achieve, not pastiche, but realising that complementary architecture
is often a local winner.”

A love of fires is evident too with one in 12 (8%) investing in stoves and
fireplaces, whereas an ambitious 6% go to the extent of building an extension.
And to complete the look, one in four (24%) indulge in new furniture, while
one in six (17%) purchase new technology items such as new TVs and
surround sound systems.

The awards, presented by comedian David Walliams and held at t B