By Rachel Dinning

ASPIRING surveyors have been given an insight into how new homes are built by a developer currently building 23 new homes in Thornbury.

The first year real estate students from the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) in Cirencester visited the Newland Homes’ Whitebridge Gardens development earlier this term.

It was an opportunity to learn how the property developer identifies and purchases potential land for new homes, as well as how the homes are built and sold.

Newland Homes say that the Whitebridge Gardens development was the “ideal place” for the budding chartered surveyors to learn first-hand about property development due to the site having homes at various stages of progress.

The development, which launched this summer, offers homes ranging from one-bedroom apartments to five-bedroom detached homes, some of which are already on the market.

The students will likely qualify as chartered surveyors after completing a degree accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and undertaking a two-year Assessment of Professional Competence (APC).

Andrew Billings, Newland Homes’ land director and former RAU graduate, said: “It’s always a pleasure having the next generation of surveyor and building professionals on site from the Royal Agricultural University.

“It’s a good opportunity to ensure they have a rounded impression of working in the new homes side of real estate and show them the interesting aspects of how we make communities form, often from where nothing existed before.

“Working in the new homes sector of the industry holds many exciting opportunities for them after they graduate and we’re pleased to show them that it’s more than ‘flogging two-up-two-downs’.”

Peter Smith, the real estate course manager, said: “It’s a great opportunity for students to be able to apply many of the things they have learnt from the Newland Homes staff to their first year studies.

“This will include valuation, planning and development, marketing, building construction, legal issues, and an awareness of energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.”