All Hail the Family-Run House Builder

On the road again for The Herald Property Awards for Scotland , visiting and judging projects all around the country and once again I find myself admiring the work of the smaller family-run house developers.

Chapelton Development by Hope Homes, West Kilbride - Picture by Denham Youd

I've been judging for the Herald for many years now, and I've learned a lot about the Scottish built environment along the way. If you listen to my podcast, you'll know I make no mystery of the fact that I'm not a fan of the UK's large volume house builders. Don't get me wrong: with the housing shortage we're in, we need builders capable of putting up homes like mushrooms across the country. But what I find with smaller, family-run businesses is that they simply seem to care more — about what they build, and about the impact their homes will have on communities and on people's lives.

You'll also know I have a problem with new builds. The big volume builders have a tendency to pack everything to the brim. Buy a home from them and you'll get a garden you can cross in five steps, overlooked by everyone around you. The bedrooms will be claustrophobic, because a four-bedroom house sells for more than a three-bedroom one even when the square footage is exactly the same. And the living space will be tiny, because most of the ground floor has been eaten up by the double garage you'll be wanting to convert within a year of moving in.

Buy from a smaller, family-run developer instead like the ones I've had the fortune of judging over the years, notably Hope Homes' Chapelton in West Kilbride, or a couple of this year’s entries and you'll find homes designed with real care. Houses that not only look so much better, but also work better for the people who own them.

It really doesn't take much. It's about caring. Caring about the people who will live in those houses, about the communities those new homes will create, about how they'll sit in the landscape they're joining.

As Martin McKay , chief executive of Clyde Gateway, told me in my interview for Design Lives Here: large volume house builders need to be more innovative and stop being fixated on house types. Look at how people actually live in these houses, and build accordingly. Give people homes that support their wellbeing, their families and their communities.

It won't cost more. It won't be less profitable. It's just about caring.