We are Here to Help

Denis Rawlings
Denis has an almost evangelical passion for gardens, landscapes and sustainable building. He believes much more could and should be done to improve the design of new homes and that house builders should be much more creative in their approach. “I believe homes should be designed and built to the highest possible sustainable standards and very much for the people that live in them”. He advocates a more rounded approach to house building that takes advantage of the latest sustainable building technologies while enhancing the environment with well designed gardens and landscapes. Denis has been a publisher, written for several magazines and  launched the New Homes Garden Awards with David Hoppit in 2004.

David Hoppit
David comes from three generations of Essex house builders and has property in his blood. Graduating from local and regional newspapers he eventually became property editor for the Daily Telegraph and has since written for many national newspapers and property and gardening magazines. David has a tremendous interest in the environment and its relationship with housing development. He has campaigned for many years for the use of more sustainable building and building practices and as such has served on many property awards judging panels.

Michael Mapp
Michael has spent over 30 years of his working life in advertising and marketing. He learnt his craft with award winning national agencies as a media planner and buyer then moved into sales promotion with a major marketing agency. He has extensive experience of the property market both here and abroad and gained an encyclopaedic knowledge of the self-build industry during his tenure as Marketing Manager of Custom Homes, now one of the leading timber frame manufacturers in Britain. Along the way he has built show houses for major exhibitions and developed a passion for sustainable building methods and more imaginative building design.

Chris Heath
As chairman of Custom Homes, a self- build company established in the 1960s, and with over 25 years experience in the construction industry, Chris has a wealth of knowledge of all aspects of self-build and new construction technologies. He is also chairman of Sips Eco Panels, one of the leading SIPS manufacturing companies in the UK, which supplies SIPS to a variety of clients ranging from timber and oak frame companies to developers and individuals. Some of his team are on the board and advisory committee of the SIPS Association, created in response to the increased demand for SIPS as a means to help meet the energy efficiency and sustainability requirements of the future