The Group was founded in 1954 by Edward Morris and has grown organically ever since. It's diverse portfolio provides the foundation and financial backing to pursue exciting development ventures.
Gavil Group is passionate about building dwellings that people can be proud to call their home and continually seeks development opportunities in London and the South East of England. We design and build high quality developments that create fantastic environments to live in and complement the surrounding community. The group has an in-house team of expert property professionals. The team manages projects from start to finish with the utmost attention to detail. From architectural design, planning and construction, we have professionals in all areas and we strongly believe that managing every stage ourselves enables us to deliver a product that is carefully designed and delivered in the best way possible.
As a landlord we take great pride in ensuring our tenants receive the impeccable service they deserve. Our tenants are reassured that they are supported by our quality maintenance staff who provide the highest professional standards of maintenance and technical services. Our locally based friendly and efficient teams guarantee to respond to any property issues within 24 hours and to keep our tenants fully informed as jobs progress towards a satisfactory conclusion. The management team’s philosophy is simple; we aim to constantly improve our accommodation, our services and support for the benefit of our tenants. We are proud of our reputation as being the most experienced and attentive landlord in Surrey.
Gavil Group History
The Woodgavil Group was established by my father EJ Morris in 1954. Born and brought up in New Malden, Eddie had worked as an apprentice for a local estate agent and thought that the only way he could enjoy his role as a rent collector would be if the rents due were owed to him and not his boss’s clients! Eddie formulated a plan and set himself up as a developer, building modest house extensions to learn the building trade. His business grew and before long he had built a number of blocks of flats in the New Malden area. In the early 1960’s cash flow had improved sufficiently to allow him to retain certain flats in Charter Court as investments. He had begun to fulfil his dream.
In partnership with a local estate agent, Eddie then saw an opportunity to develop war damaged commercial premises. Properties of this type were not subject to the onerous planning regime and red tape that followed the 1947 Town & Country Planning Act. Eddie quickly established a considerable commercial portfolio in New Malden and sought to diversify geographically when he swapped a small estate on Coombe Hill for various commercial premises in Exeter and East Devon. At that point he decided that, whilst he would continue to maintain cash flow by the development and sale of residential units, he would never sell his commercial portfolio which he would establish as the cash cow for the continued growth of the Group. Up until the mid 1980’s, residential investment was governed by the Rent Act legislation whereby rentals were restricted to fair rents established by local Rent Tribunals. As well as controlling rentals well below true market values, the Rent Acts offered tenants security of tenure for their entire lifetime. Eddie’s bias towards commercial premises under the less onerous Landlord & Tenant Acts was entirely understandable. Nevertheless Eddie had the foresight to retain a number of substantial residential investment blocks that still form the nucleus of the Gavil Group portfolio today.
In the 1970’s, in an effort to maintain a sensible geographical diversity, the Group acquired commercial investment properties in Reigate & Ashford whilst retaining a considerable residential building program. The rental return from the commercial portfolio allowed Eddie to pursue his development activity without significant financial gearing. As a result he was able to survive the various cyclical downturns that proved the death knell for so many of his property contemporaries.
The 1980’s saw the gradual loosening of Rent Control in the residential markets. The new style Assured Tenancy emerged whereby occupiers still retained security of tenure but landlords were able to charge market rents for their properties. Still seeing lifetime security of tenure as a significant obstacle, Eddie realised that if he sought to satisfy the growing demand for student accommodation in the Kingston area, the transient nature of his tenants would provide significant comfort. Woodgavil become one of the first registered Assured Landlords in the UK and quickly established the significant student portfolio in which Gavil Group continues to specialise today.
The downturn that followed the late 80’s boom also provided some excellent opportunities for the Group. With the banks trying to reduce their exposure to property, credit was extremely tight and commercial property values spiralled. A cricketing chum introduced a significant good quality and well let industrial portfolio that was acquired for less than it would have cost to build the units – analysing the deal, the cost of the land was free and the quality of the tenants (including Barclays Bank and several other “blue chips”) completely ignored. Our lack of gearing and excellent relationship with our bank manager allowed us to pursue a number of similar opportunities in the early 1990’s, before a stronger market heralded a period of consolidation for the Group.
By the turn of the century Eddie saw the need to seek advice in relation to IHT planning. Aware that his brother and individual family members working for the Group may wish to pursue different interests, he sought to establish independently controlled individual companies. As a result, the portfolio was divided into 3 sub groups with our part of the portfolio (most easily recognised as the Woodgavil Group) controlled from the original Walton on the Hill offices.
In recent years Gavil Group’s philosophy has evolved from the original acquire/develop/hold principle to a more dynamic approach to financial management. The Group now recognises that it remains an option to sell low yielding investment properties with little opportunity to create value, to assist in the funding of projects that can yield 20% and much more. Our expert team of employees, agents and consultants have allowed us to develop a program of projects that will optimise the value of our retained portfolio as well as allowing us to pursue significant profits from the acquisition and development of major new sites. The recent introduction of a new trading arm will add another significant element to the Gavil Group portfolio.
What We Do
Gavil Group owns manages and develops properties in Surrey. The Group’s portfolio consists of 60 % private tenants, 30 % student accommodation and 10% commercial premises. The business is constantly searching for new opportunities to build, re-develop and to expand. Please look at our ‘Projects’ section to find out about our most recent projects and our future plans.
Our Philosophy
Our goal is to be honest, straightforward and easy to deal with in all of our transactions. Our mission statement sets out the aim of the group, which is to grow its portfolio income of between 5% and 10% annually, whilst maintaining a low level of gearing. Gavil Groups rental properties aim to provide affordable, uplifting homes with a bright and contemporary feel that our tenants are proud to call their home.
In recent years the group has changed the way it operates, bringing more resources and expertise in-house. Gavil Group now manages the day to day lettings and maintenance of its properties, as well as on the new build side, managing a project from start to finish with it’s in-house architectural services and experienced construction team. The belief is that the more control we have over every aspect of the business we operate in, the better the service and quality we can deliver.
Will Morris
Managing Director
David Pay
Commercial Director
Mike Currie
Head of Maintenance
Debbie Yarnell
Head of Compliance
Lee Fogg
Head of Property Management
Curt Guven
Building Surveyor
Michelle Hill
Property Manager
Chen-Ru Harriss
Accounts