A Fine Romance: Jane Herbert talks with the movers and shakers of the industry and reports on the growing love affair with the park home living concept….

The latest park homes offer vast improvements in energy efficiency, light and space. Pictured: Omar Ikon.

There are exciting times ahead for those involved in buying and selling park homes.

“There is a marked change in culture; this is in part down to the Mobile Homes Act and partly down to the public being better informed about the benefits of park home living,” says Justin Allitt, owner of sellmyparkhome.co.uk and its sister company sellmylodge.co.uk.

“Now, it seems, at long last, the public is falling in love with park homes,” Justin adds.

With over 20 years’ experience in the property industry and a chain of estate agents, Justin identified an opportunity to expand into the park home industry at the end of 2012. “My background in the property industry proved invaluable and has given me a unique perspective on park homes,” he explains.

“For many years, as an estate agent, these homes were hard to sell. Although popular, both the public and agents found it difficult to get to grips with the legislation, licensing and rules, which led to a lack of confidence,” he adds.

WEBSITE TRAFFIC

One of the best sellers within QMP’s stock support scheme is the Tingdene Hayden Classic.

Since 2012, traffic to the sellmyparkhome.co.uk website has grown 50 per cent year on year which reflects both the increase in consumer confidence and also the wider public’s interest in park homes. 65 per cent of their customers are the general public but the remaining (and growing) proportion is park owners themselves.

Justin explains: “With the recent developments in design and manufacture, the whole industry is now less inward-looking and more geared towards the needs of the end user. More and more park owners are using our service to reach the buying public.” In recent years, many newcomers to the residential homes industry are bringing with them their ideas and experience from mainstream property after cutting their teeth in new builds, construction and traditional estate agencies.

Paul Short joined Turners Parks Group as National Sales Manager in 2015 after 20 years in the bricks and mortar market.

He credits his varied experience in construction and estate agency as “it has provided me with an unprecedented insight into every aspect of the process that enables me to speak to both developers and potential purchasers with reassuring confidence.”

With 38 residential parks across the UK, Paul and the Turners team certainly have their work cut out but the market is buoyant and new developments such as Lechlade Court in Gloucestershire are selling well. Another new project at Twinbrook Park in Falmouth has already sold four units prior to launch.

CUSTOMER FOCUS

Key to success is a customer-centric attitude and an integrated approach that is typical of those businesses at the forefront of the park homes industry. As Paul says, “Turners can offer a truly bespoke service to our clients offering them a sales journey which is transparent and simple. We can manage the whole transaction.”

The modern park homes business is all about providing innovative solutions that bring the industry together and move homes forward. As the UK’s largest independent provider of property part exchange, Quick Move Properties works with everyone from individual park owners to manufacturers and groups with large park portfolios. Since 1998, Quick Move Properties has directly purchased over 5,000 properties with a value of over £725 million.

To read the full article, subscribe here.