House Proud
If you’ve ever found yourself admiring some of the newly built homes and renovated old buildings in and around the Surrey Hills, you could very well have been looking at the work of Latchmere Properties.
Based in Dorking, the business is run by brothers Mark and Stephen Eshelby and was set up by their late father in 1972. It has remained a family-owned enterprise throughout its 50 plus years, and we caught up with Mark to hear all about it.
“The company started life converting cottages in Southwest London, but we’re now focussed on niche schemes in and around Surrey.”
“No two schemes are ever the same, and we like to focus on quality whilst ensuring each scheme naturally fits in with its surroundings. We love the beauty of The Surrey Hills – it’s a wonderful place to live and work, even if it does make securing planning that much more of a challenge.”
That’s quite an understatement, given the work it takes to turn a piece of land or a derelict building into a beautiful place to live. If you think it takes time to make a house a home after moving in, imagine building them from scratch!
The number of hoops and hurdles developers face is remarkable, particularly in and around areas like Dorking, where the rich architectural heritage, stunning landscape, and local lifestyle are so highly treasured.
Local planning laws, zoning peculiarities, national building standards, energy efficiency rules, conservation work, keeping up with evolving technology and then navigating the inevitable surprises and logistical challenges takes a lot of research, discussion, and vision.
Building homes is far from easy money and certainly not for the faint-hearted or the casual hobbyist. You need flexibility and patience in spades.
And if your desire is similar to Mark and Stephens, in “building homes that both provide a home and leave a lasting legacy”, then you need to understand the aspirations of local buyers, as well as the complexity of planning system.
“We’re both homegrown, so to speak, having been born and bred in Surrey. Stephen lives in Godalming, whilst I’m in Gomshall. We’ve had offices in Dorking since the mid-1980s, and we now have several commercial investments in and around the town.”
Mark and Stephen have been involved in property since they were children. They both initially worked on building sites whilst growing up. Mark qualified as a chartered surveyor in 2000 before joining Latchmere in 2002. Stephen became a chartered accountant and then spent 14 years in various leadership positions at the global real estate firm JLL. He joined Latchmere in 2018.
These deep local roots and wide-ranging industry experience make a real difference when buyers want to know how qualified and invested the builder is. So while there’s that wheeler-dealer side of spotting a good deal, it’s a developer’s demonstrable competence that gives buyers true comfort.
And that competence is giving Latchmere Properties industry recognition. At Chantry Quarry, which is Mark’s favourite development to date, they built 15 contemporary houses in a former quarry. “We won best UK development at the International Property Awards as well as best development in the borough at The Guildford Design awards.”
With those awards tucked safely into their tool belt, Mark and Stephen are now moving on to their latest scheme. They’ve recently started building five detached houses at their new development, Woodlands Rise, near Polesden Lacey where prices will start from £1,250,000. Drop them a line if you want to know more, or if you have an opportunity with hidden value that needs unlocking.
Contact Latchmere Properties on
01306 876 006 or email
mark@latchmere-properties.co.uk