Berkeley was founded in 1976. They wanted to create a new bespoke house-building company aimed at a niche market. Our first property was an elegant, four bedroom detached house in Surrey, sold for £30,000. 

 

There were certain qualities that we held dear from the start and that have been hallmarks of Berkeley ever since: recruiting the best people; a niche strategy; individual service; and good design. 

 

We wanted purchasing a Berkeley home to be like buying a suit in Savile Row. Something special and particular. A cut above the rest.  

We developed fast during the ’80s and achieved a full listing on the London Stock Exchange in 1985. By 1988, we were the fifth fastest growing company in the country. 

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If you looked at British towns and cities during the ‘90s, they were full of abandoned sites with huge potential. The trick was to find a good location that was under-utilised. You looked for sites with the potential to be well-connected by public transport and well-served by local facilities. Places with character where you could create the kind of environment that people buy into. 

 

And we found them – at Imperial Wharf in Fulham, Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth, and many other locations. We took derelict, contaminated sites and turned them into desirable, high value locations, over and over again.

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Good development depends on four things: vision, tenacity, and financial strength, combined with an ability to collaborate. Those are the ingredients at the heart of our success. 

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• You need the vision to see the potential of a place. 

• The tenacity to cope with planning and the long-term nature of development. 

• Financial strength, so you make your own decisions and do what’s right at the right time. 

• And you must be happy to collaborate: this is not a game you can win on your own. 

 

After the Millennium, Berkeley was booming like the rest of the industry. But we took another crucial decision in 2004, changed strategy and pulled back before the financial crisis broke in 2007. 

 

It meant that Berkeley was not highly exposed and we could go back into the land market spending the next few years investing in some fantastic sites in prime locations across London. 

 

Throughout these years, a philosophy has emerged based on the idea of placemaking. We don’t think of ourselves as housebuilders. We are not a volume business. Our niche in the market is defined by quality and value creation. 

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Berkeley’s job is to create fantastic homes in amazing places. Our ambition on every site is to build a beautiful, successful place. 

 

Berkeley developments now range in size from a handful of homes in a market town like Cheltenham to complex, mixed-use regeneration schemes with 5,000 dwelllings. 

 

We can take run-down estates in London like Kidbrooke or Woodberry Down and work with local people to transform them into strong communities.

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Advice to readers and investors

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• Go for quality: buy from a trusted brand in a good location. 

• Look at the place: there’s more to it than just the apartment – look at the whole place and the facilities. Understand how it will be managed.

• Do your research: consider local property values and find an area either with potential to improve or somewhere that is safe and predictable; then your asset should perform well over time. 

• Understand the price: get on top of the detail and be comfortable with the full cost of purchase. There should be no surprises. 

 

This is not just a matter of re-housing people in slightly better homes. It involves reinventing the place. Bringing in shops and facilities. Designing handsome, useful public spaces. And thinking about how people relate to each other and live in a neighbourhood. 

 

We have done extensive research looking at people’s quality of life and the strength of community in the places we build.  

 

What it shows is that residents in Berkeley developments often feel safer, happier and more neighbourly than people who live in comparable places. They feel they belong. They regularly talk to their neighbours. And they plan to stay in the community. 

 

We think about these issues on every site – whether it’s prime central London or a gentle part of Sussex. And it matters because, fundamentally, Berkeley is about placemaking. About people and community. Not just housebuilding.