The West Midlands is gearing up to align with the government’s Housing Deal targets of delivering nearly 16,000 homes a year out of a total nationwide ambition of 215,000, which will help meet the increasing demand in the region by 2031.
To help drive this objective, The National Homebuilding & Renovating Show is returning to the NEC, Birmingham from 28-31 March 2019 to assist consumers and the trade with turning their property ambitions into reality. Over the course of four days, visitors will gain a wealth of industry knowledge from more than 500 exhibitors and 16 free daily seminars and masterclasses.
Birmingham’s largest homebuilding & renovating event will welcome for the first time Sian Astley, lady builder and TV presenter for BBC2’s ‘Watch This Space’. She will tackle topics ranging from fresh design ideas, cost-effective styling, mixing traditional style with a contemporary edge, to underfloor heating and insulation, due to the vast knowledge she gathered from over 22 years of experience.
Another premiere at the show will be marked by the introduction of Land Hub, a self-build stage in association with Plotfinder, the UK's land and renovation finding service, and Potton’s Self Build Academy. Through the Land Hub masterclasses visitors will be able to access everything they need to know about finding, assessing and buying a plot of land within bitesize sessions.
The event is a prime showcase of cutting-edge products and services by specialist companies from a broad variety of industries, including kitchens; bathrooms; doors and windows; extensions and conversions; eco and heating; architecture; design; financial services; planning permission and many more. People can also interact with real case studies to find out the most common obstacles they might face during their self-build and renovation process.
The Advice Centre, a drop-in clinic for personalised, impartial guidance, is open to people who are keen to run ideas past industry-leading specialists with years of experience in their fields. This section will see the return of the Ask the Builder area, where members of the Federation of Master Builders will offer tips to visitors on hiring accredited, highly-skilled construction workers.
Visitors interested in finding out more about the design, planning and construction process are encouraged to visit the Ask the Architect area, where chartered specialists from RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) will provide tailored advice via one-on-one sessions.
For personalised tips on all aspects of self-build and renovation, the Ask the Expert zone will offer 15-minute consultations via interactive sessions with the UK’s leading property experts. Visitors will be able to discuss their ideas, plans or problems with Michael Holmes (director of content and product development for Homebuilding & Renovating magazine); Jason Orme (editorial director of Homebuilding & Renovating magazine); Mariana Pedroso (interior designer and architect); Peter Richardson (construction director of Sennocke International); Tom McSherry (finance expert for Buildstore); Mike Cruickshank (self-build and construction expert for Homebuilding & Renovating magazine); David Hilton (building expert and director of Heat and Energy Ltd); Tim Pullen (eco-expert of Homebuilding & Renovating magazine); Bob Branscombe (building expert of Homebuilding & Renovating magazine); Andy Stevens (builder and managing director of Eclipse Property Solutions); Jo Dyson (home renovator and co-founder of Mae House Design) and Sally Tagg (planning expert and managing director of Foxley Tagg Planning Ltd).
To assist visitors in the pre-construction phase, Oakwrights Design Consultation and The Potton Lounge will be offering bespoke consultations with members of their skilled design teams across the four days. Attendees who are interested in these sessions can pre-book their entry in advance via the event’s website.
All attendees can navigate their way on site with the help of the show app, available on iPhone and Android. They will be able to schedule and receive alerts for key seminars and masterclasses, browse through the list of professionals available at the Advice Centre, and access the latest offers and information.
