First-Time Buyers Save Hard To Bag A Bicester Home

If you want to buy your own house well before you’re 30, then you need to prepare like you would for any ambitious goal, say first-time buyers Ben Harris and Emily Chalk.

“You need to have a plan,” said Ben (24), an estate agent, who has bought a three-bedroom Ashberry home in Bicester with partner Emily (23), a property sales advisor. “And you have to be very strict and very dedicated.

“We like nice cars and holidays, but we cut back on both for a couple of years. I think it was worth it, especially when you’re in your own house and feel very proud of it.”

It may also have helped with the saving up, that Ben had previously been living with his dad, and Emily with her parents. So when the organised duo moved into their own home, it was romantic as well as practical – their first home together.

Ben and Emily, who both work in Bicester, have bought a beautiful, three-bedroom detached ‘Lysander’ design home at Ashberry Homes’ Royal Retreat development in Kingsmere, Bicester.

The ‘Lysander’ has an open-plan kitchen/dining room and a separate living room, both with French doors to the garden. There’s also a utility room and a cloakroom downstairs. Upstairs, bedroom one has an en-suite shower room and there’s also a family bathroom.

Ben and Emily moved in on 30 January; the first people on the Royal Retreat development, though not the first on Kingsmere, a new neighbourhood for Bicester which will eventually have its own parks, play areas, sports facilities and schools.

“We’d been looking for a house for about three months when this Ashberry home popped up,” said Ben.

‘Lysander’ house type

“It was the location that attracted us at first. It was the right place in Bicester – about a seven-minute drive to the town centre – and we bought it off-plan, because we could pick our own specifications and choose a good plot; this was a corner plot with a nice walled garden.

“Both being in the business helped I suppose, because we had a good idea of what the house would be like without having to see it.

“Inside, the living room has windows front and back and the kitchen/dining room also has windows front and back and there’s an en suite to the master bedroom.

“There were no surprises when we saw the actual house. I was very happy, Emily was delighted; we’re both really pleased.”

The couple used the government’s Help to Buy scheme. Ben said: “Help to Buy helps you buy a bigger house to start with and you don’t have to move so often – each move costs money.”

So now Ben and Emily can relax in their new home? “Yes, we’re very happy,” said Ben. “But we’ve actually got a 10-year plan!”

There’s a selection of two-, three- and four-bedroom homes currently for sale at Royal Retreat. Prices range from £297,000 to £474,500. The sales office is open 10.00am to 5.00pm Friday to Monday and noon until 7.00pm on Thursday.

Find out more at ashberryhomes.co.uk.

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