Stamp Duty Extended

Hollins Homes welcomes the Chancellor’s announcement to extend the stamp duty holiday in phases to the end of September. The news will send a confident, solid message to the market and provide further stability over the next few month.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has confirmed an extension to the stamp duty holiday to the end of June in his Budget today (March 3).

Sunak said the government would extend the holiday, due to end on March 31, with the nil rate band transitioning from the current £500,000 threshold after June 30 to £250,000 until the end of September before a return to the usual £125,000 rate band in October.

The chancellor also announced an already trailed mortgage guarantee scheme, allowing lenders to offer 95% mortgages with a government guarantee. Sunak said that a number of large lenders would offer the scheme from next month, to help those with a deposit of 5%.

This new policy would allow people “who cannot afford a big deposit” to buy their own home, “turning Generation Rent into Generation Buy”. 

2021 top interior trends by Lifestyle Interiors

As we enter 2021 and Lockdown 3, our homes are going to be seeing even more of us than ever before. So it's a good time to finally take the plunge with some of those home improvements — be they quick fixes or big-ticket purchases — that have been languishing on the to do list.

Here are the top trends you can expect to see a lot more of in the new year.

MULTI-FUNCTIONAL SPACE
This will come as no surprise to anyone who has been attempting to work, cook, relax and exercise in anything other than a palace but hybrid and convertible furniture is going to be big.
At the start of the year, few people predicted that ‘murphy bed’ was going to be an emerging search term but with many offices closed until at least June, many bedrooms and spare rooms are doing double duty as offices.

LUXURY VINTAGE
Coronavirus isn’t the only global issue that’s been thrust on our consciousness this year – the environment is also hotting up!
Buying vintage is a more sustainable option than buying new but rather than junk shop finds, the emphasis now is increasingly on high-end pieces of second-hand furniture.
“Buying vintage is always a smart investment because it tends to retain its value. Adding vintage furniture allows you to add a touch of the unexpected and a touch of drama to the room,” says Lifestyle Interiors.

Look on eBay and start with glassware and styling pieces before you jump into buying vintage furniture!

THE ALL-WHITE KITCHEN
A preternatural fear of germs has seeped into the collective consciousness and with it return to all-white kitchens. While other rooms are getting bolder, cosier and more eclectic, we have noted a significant rise in desirability for ‘white kitchen’ this year, while white worktops are also gaining in popularity, reflecting a desire for clean-looking cooing spaces.
While white kitchens feel light and calming, they do show up food smears and dust so it can be more work to keep them looking fresh.

White kitchen from The Woodlands

NATURE-INSPIRED PALETTES
Dulux’s colour of the year, a warm putty neutral , aptly called Brave Ground, has thousands of posts on Instagram, while earthy terracotta and foresty sage and pine are also popular.
Rattan, jute and wood all proved stratospherically popular in 2020 and we expect the trend to continue well into 2021. The perfect backdrop to all those houseplants we’ve been nurturing during various lock downs!

Dulux colour of the year ‘Brave Ground'

SMART HOMES
As it’s improved to offer services people actually want, home tech has become a growing priority in recent years. Once the preserve of millionaires’ homes automated household items are now a feature of the most middle of the road home but Covid-19 has accelerated the trend.
No-touch tech is set to be a boom industry in 2021 with voice- and sensor-controlled taps and lights increasingly popular ! 

Quooker boiling hot water tap as featured in the Aston Meadows show home

OUTSIDE SPACE
Given the industrious gardeners who sprouted last year, growing your own produce is an unsurprising entry on the list with ‘vegetable garden’ one of the new popular terms on Houzz.
Expect window sills, balconies and small planters groaning under the weight of home grown courgettes next summer.
Another popular search term, albeit one that seems sadly optimistic now, is outdoor entertaining, with searches for firepits, hot tubs and outdoor kitchens proliferating almost as fast as coronavirus.

Hopefully it won’t be too long before we are all entertaining our friends again whilst using our lockdown 1 & 2 pizza ovens we bought !!

Ooni pizza oven

Happy New Year from Hollins Homes

As chief executive I would like to say how proud I am of the team we have, the service they provide and the homes we produce. 

This has been our most challenging but also our most successful year resulting in our building our hundredth home and actively developing across the whole of the North West from Lancashire to Cheshire and Greater Manchester to Shropshire.

 We are primed to commence on a further four sites next year which will double the growth of the Company.

This would not be possible without the support of our JV partners Glenbrook and Housing Growth as well as our funders, consultants, and contractors whose hard work and dedication are greatly appreciated.

 We do not want to be perceived as a traditional housebuilder but as a contemporary home provider. We strive to make the home buying experience as pleasant and stress-free as possible and due to the efforts of all our team and workforce, we continually achieve this as demonstrated by the testimonials of our wonderful purchasers.

May I wish you all a happy and healthy new year!

Stephen Goodman
Chief Executive Hollins Homes

100th completion for Hollins Homes

Hollins Homes is celebrating after presenting the keys to its 100th purchaser, following continued business growth and an increased demand for homes due to the stamp duty holiday.

We build with traditional values and a common sense approach and since we formed in 2015, we have delivered 100 homes across four developments in Lancashire and Shropshire.

With Hollins Homes now active on three further sites across the North West of England , and further schemes in the pipeline for 2021 and beyond, we are planning to expand our site teams with at least two new hires per site going forward. 

The 100th completion took place on our Whitchurch development - ‘The Orchards’ - in Shropshire and was the final home to sell on the 50-home scheme.

From the outset, We have been bold in our approach and successful in offering a quality product for home owners. Our first scheme in 2015 was in Fulwood, Lancashire, and at 24 homes was a significant development for a new house builder.

Based on King Street in Manchester, Hollins Homes has an active pipeline of schemes and ambitious delivery targets of 55 homes delivered by April 2021, 100 in April 2022 and 150 by April 2023.

Managing director Mark Chadwick, said: “Reaching this milestone is a real joy and testament to the whole team’s dedication to crafting quality homes, that are centred around our customers and the surrounding environment.

“When we started Hollins Homes just five years ago, it was very much based on a desire to create homes that buyers were proud of, and our focus on personalisation of properties to the customer and carefully creating welcoming new communities is what has enabled the company to thrive.

“Myself and the team are proud of what we have achieved and to hand over our 100th home to a delighted customer was wonderful. 

“We are looking forward to the next chapter; delivering desirable and well-placed homes and welcoming new members to our team.”

The company now has active developments in Shropshire, Cheshire, Greater Manchester and Lancashire and is continuing to assess new modern methods of construction, to deliver homes more efficiently and sustainably.