When AVID Property Group (AVID) acquired Queensland’s successful Villaworld Homes brand five years ago, its vision was to produce affordable, quality homes that offer customers real peace of mind. These are just some of its successful goals that have taken the business to a new level.

Peter Wood, AVID General Manager of Housing, reveals some of the firm’s points of difference that are so outstanding, the team won the prestigious 2024 HIA Australian Professional Major Builder Award.

Sum up the history of the business.

Peter Wood: AVID is one of longevity and transformation. The Villaworld Homes brand has been a household name for 39 years. It commenced as an ASX-listed volume builder of affordable new homes on the Gold Coast in 1986. In 2019, the company was acquired by leading Australian residential developer AVID.

How do you attract prospective customers?

The primary customer that shapes the design and construction of Villaworld Homes is a young family, either a first or second home buyer. They favour the ease of a fully completed new home with quality finishes and floorplans carefully designed and styled for today’s lifestyle.

Over the years, extensive customer research conducted by The ThinkGlobal Institute has reflected and reinforced our customers’ needs and wants in today’s highly attuned buyers’ market. AVID’s mission is to bring people together in like-minded communities where they experience a sense of belonging and connection.

We recognise that our existing customers are our best advocates. Our AVIDRewards program recognises – and financially rewards – our customers, encouraging both referrals and repeat purchases.

What are some of your points of difference?

In a challenging consumer and construction market, our affordable quality-designed home solutions offer customers peace of mind when purchasing, with the guarantee of a fully completed and landscaped home in a curated lifestyle community in a strategic growth corridor. This approach is invaluable to risk-averse buyers, especially in the current Australian property market.

We provide a stress-free building process, with all decisions about interior and exterior finishes and colour palettes selected and matched by design and trend experts.

We support our customers by offering a low-deposit, single house-and-land contract and no-progress payments plus a fixed-price contract.

We know that purchasing a new home is one of the biggest decisions in our customers lives, so building trust and maintaining authenticity is essential. AVIDConnect is our customer service program that conveniently delivers key information to our customers at pivotal moments of their home buying journey – through this program we aim to reduce typical pain points that come with building and deliver a better experience.

Sum up some of your proudest achievements.

Although the industry has been hard hit by material price increases, supply chain disruptions, trade shortages and rising interest rates, Villaworld Homes has not just survived but thrived.

Our research revealed a strong appetite for a more affluent buyer seeking completed homes. As a result, we launched the first premium Exceed-level specification homes from our new Core Product Range at Amara and a new Exceed-level terrace home design at Harmony, which achieved above-industry capital efficiency and product quality.

Villaworld Homes has:

• kept new homes affordable by keeping construction input cost increases 14 per cent lower than the industry average of 37 per cent, helping maintain profit margin expectations 
• built new homes 87 days faster than the industry average of 259 days
• exceeded already above-industry key performance indicator (KPI) for housing quality
• completed construction of Sphere Terraces on the Gold Coast
• sold out three months before the final stage of construction commenced on the last stage of our 74-terrace home development
• undertaken a comprehensive review of the existing Core Product Range and commenced developing new products for future AVID communities that would comply with major changes to the National Construction Code
• maintained nearly 96 per cent employee retention and long-standing relationships with our valued subcontractors and suppliers.

How do you enhance your leadership skills?

We explore insights through the customer journey and path to purchase through qualitative and quantitative means. AVID is a customer-led organisation, giving our customers a seat at the table to inform our products and services.

Villaworld Homes by AVID has a transparent, inclusive and collaborative culture that values its employees, suppliers and sub-contractors. We encourage fresh thinking, honest communication and diversity of thought. We have a comprehensive set of KPIs to track and measure our success across every part of the business.

Real-time reporting and a strong culture of information sharing ensure everyone understands the business’s mission, vision and goals and their contribution to achieving them. This clarity instils confidence and certainty, particularly about our future pipeline of work for all staff, suppliers and sub-contractors.

We care about people; we invest in them through learning, growth and support initiatives, and celebrate their successes. We also inspire loyalty and reward it, as well as prioritising the promotion of staff within our own ranks. We also maintain relationships with suppliers and sub-contractors who honour our mission and values and share our commitment to delivering quality homes.

How do you incorporate corporate social responsibility?

Villaworld Homes prides itself on being a responsible corporate citizen in line with its values. We do this by operating ethically and sustainably and giving generously.

We set high standards of governance and ethical conduct beyond NatHERS Compliance. Where possible, we procure Australian-made and owned building products and source local sub-contractors and suppliers.

AVID has achieved ISO14001 Environmental Management Certification. Additionally, AVID’s developments are accredited with the EnviroDevelopment Certification, boasting 6-leaf ratings for best practices in community, ecosystems, energy, materials, waste and water management. Our housing developments, including Amara and Harmony, mark the beginning of a portfolio that currently includes 14 developments.

Over the past nine years, Villaworld Homes has raised more than $819,000 for our charity partners, Mates in Construction and Act for Kids. In 2022, AVID and Villaworld Homes entered a national partnership with the Property Industry Foundation (PIF) to help provide accommodation for homeless youths.

As a developer-builder, it was the perfect fit to invest our resources and leverage our expertise and industry connections where they could do the greatest good. In 2023, we decided to share our future fundraising efforts equally between PIF and Mates in Construction, while our staff volunteer paid time for active participation in this and other charities.

AVID and Villaworld Homes have an ongoing partnership with the global environmental organisation Take 3 for the Sea. Since its launch in 2018, the partnership has seen AVID and Take 3 deliver 18 events across seven communities, clearing more than 974kg of waste and engaging almost one million people.