Berkeley Group offers school fee incentive at London site
Berkeley Group is offering to cover private school fees for buyers at its Trent Park development in Enfield, north London, as housebuilders deploy sales incentives amid weakening demand in the capital’s property market.
The developer will pay tuition costs worth up to £41,750 for a period of two years, according to reports. The package covers fees at a local preparatory and senior school, which range from £4,500 to £5,800 per term, including VAT.
Market context
Properties at the Trent Park scheme are priced from approximately £760,000 for a one-bedroom unit to £1.8 million for a five-bedroom house. The incentive comes as London’s housing market experiences a significant slowdown, with Land Registry figures last week showing the capital recorded the lowest annual price growth of any English region, with values down 3.7%.
The school fee offer represents one of several strategies housebuilders are employing to stimulate sales. According to new-build property technology platform Ldn.one, developers have introduced various buyer incentives including covered council tax, service charge payments, and part-exchange arrangements.
Sector-wide challenges
Last month, major housebuilder Vistry reduced asking prices by more than £100,000 on some properties, cutting prices by 17% as it sought to accelerate sales and raise capital. The broader supply constraints facing London’s housing market were highlighted in recent London Assembly figures, which showed only 8,184 homes were completed in 2024-25, against an estimated annual requirement of 45,500 units. More than 43,000 affordable homes that had commenced construction remained incomplete.
The deployment of non-traditional sales incentives by established developers signals mounting pressure on the London new-build sector, where pricing adjustments and buyer packages have become increasingly common tools to maintain transaction volumes in a subdued market environment.
