Property and place services business Navana Property Group has been appointed to deliver estate management services on one of Berkeley Homes’ flagship regeneration projects – Woodberry Down in the London Borough of Hackney.
Woodberry Down is one of the largest single-site estate regeneration projects in Europe and among Berkeley Homes’ most high-profile schemes. Navana will provide estate management services for Phase One of the development including 860 homes, outdoor space and public amenities.
A rigorous tender process saw Navana compete against six other managing agents. Delivering best-in-class resident experience, enabling social value within the community and protecting long-term service charge affordability were key selection criteria for the business’ appointment. Woodberry Down residents and the community were closely involved in the decision-making process giving Navana a clear mandate from those that live on the estate.
Navana will deploy its technology-led approach at Woodberry Down, launching two proprietary tools designed to support management of complex mixed-use schemes and deliver a better experience for residents and the wider community. Leaseholders will use NAVTech, an application that provides real-time service charge budget tracking, instant messaging and updates on accounting and reserve funds.
Reflecting Berkeley Homes’ commitment to benefiting the existing community through the redevelopment process and the area’s history of community participation, Navana will also launch its resident and occupier-facing ANATech app at Woodberry Down. The bespoke technology will offer community updates, events and food & drink guides and a tailored newsfeed. ANATech will also generate valuable insights for Berkeley Homes and Navana, enabling engagement with residents and business owners. The data and resident feedback collected will inform the way the regeneration continues in the community interest and how the estate is managed.
These new technologies will be supported by community partnership managers and customer experience managers as Navana moves away from the traditional property manager role towards a team-based model of subject matter specialists. Based on the estate, the managers will work closely with residents and local stakeholders to understand the issues that matter to them, deliver positive change and become valued partners for the growing Woodberry Down community.
Harry Fenner, CEO of Navana Property Group, said: “We launched Navana Property Group to do property management differently. The traditional model deployed by most agents cannot, and will not, deliver the holistic approach required by the large and complex mixed-use developments of the future. This commitment from Berkeley Homes, a respected leader in homebuilding and regeneration, reinforces our view that the property sector is ready for a different type of people-focused and technology-led manager.”
Navana was launched in 2019 by Harry Fenner, Kelly Bream and Brent Stojanovic, using their diverse industry experience to deliver a more modern, technology-led and responsive property and asset management service for customers. Alongside these capabilities, the group also provides a range of investment, development and placemaking services.
