Founded on craftsmanship, attention to detail and a clear vision of what modern homeowners actually want, Stronghold Homes has steadily built a reputation for delivering high-quality, bespoke residential developments across the Midlands. Established in 2015, the privately owned developer has carved out a niche away from volume housebuilding, instead focusing on smaller schemes where design, layout and finish are central to the end product.
At the heart of the business is Karl Maughan, founder and managing director, whose route into property development began not in a boardroom but on site. Starting his career as an apprentice straight from school, Karl built a hands-on understanding of construction before progressing into running his own contracting business and, eventually, launching Stronghold Homes.
Throughout this article we focus on how Karl has refined his approach to building homes and has continually looked to deliver homes people want to live in, all whilst dealing with the day to day issues of being an SME builder.
I begin by asking Karl how he got started in property, he recalls. “As a child I was always drawn to property; I remember delivering papers and I would identify properties that needed renovation and look at them as opportunities to make money. I would even then try to work out the costs and calculate the potential return.
“Buying your first property doesn’t happen just because you see an opportunity and it took until 2009 until my real first opportunity arose. The property was not far from where I was currently living and was advertised in the local paper as a repossession that had fire damage so was only suitable to cash buyers. After it being in the paper for six weeks with no offer close to the £55k they were asking, I submitted an offer of £48,500. Fortunately, this was accepted on the condition that it completed in two weeks. I reached out to friends and family to help secure the purchase and was able to close on the deal within the needed timeframe. I was off!
“Though I made a great return on this first property which took many months of late nights and weekends to complete, selling at just under £100k is not even near enough to start to become a developer. I had a long way to go.
“During those early years I wanted to buy a property, but I dismissed it mentally as I felt I didn’t have any way of getting there, as most of the people around me weren’t saving or looking for opportunities. Once self-employed I started to realise that progress only happens with action.
