Calor launches dedicated housing developer team

Calor has further strengthened its offering to rural housing developers with the introduction of a new specification division, making it the only LPG supplier in the UK with a dedicated team for the housebuilder and developer market.

Matt Raybould has joined Calor as Specifiers’ Consultant for the North and Scotland while Ian Thornton has been promoted to Specifiers’ Consultant for the Midlands and South. The team is headed up by Ian Digby, Specification Manager who has worked in the LPG industry for over six years and manages larger and more complex installations for major housebuilders.

Ian Digby, said, “After reviewing our offering to the rural housebuilding market, it was considered that this important and growing sector required specialist resource. This is especially the case for sites where connection to the mains gas grid would not be possible or financially viable and where many housebuilders may have limited experience of the different off-grid fuel choices available.

“In these circumstances there needs to be careful consideration made around the heating method and fuel choice specified to ensure it meets a range of criteria, including capital equipment costs, installation time, its impact on standard house designs and its appeal to prospective buyers.

We are now able to work with the developer through the complete housebuilding cycle, from provisional site appraisal, to planning permission, to site development, to build process and completion, to providing aftersales support for the new homeowner.”

LPG can reduce development costs significantly when the capital costs of installing alternatives such as air source heat pumps, oil heating or electric storage heating systems are factored in; with contribution costs from as little as £500 per plot.

On newly built developments, LPG can be installed as a communal system, with the gas stored centrally underground and distributed through a network of pipes. Each property can then have its own meter to monitor the fuel used.

Calor is a proven and trusted LPG supplier to rural developments, having worked in partnership in recent years with major housebuilders such as Taylor Wimpey, Bloor Homes, Linden Homes, Hill and Biminster Homes as well as regional and local developers.