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Housing Manager Finds Her Own Dream Home In Hook

Posted 28 September 2020 by Keith Osborne

After saving up for three years, housing manager Sian has achieved her dream of buying her own home before she turns 30...

After saving up for three years to achieve the goal of owning her own home by the age of 30, Sian Edwards has managed to find the perfect place at Bellway’s Bartley Square development in Hook, Hampshire.

Sian, 29, from Wimbledon, wanted to escape the expense of life in the city and live somewhere she could easily commute to her job in Surrey, where she works as a housing manager for a Local Government Authority, which helps homeless households into long-term temporary accommodation.

After searching across the South East, including Bellway developments in Kent, Sian finally settled on Hook, situated in the Hampshire district of Hart – one of the top three places to live in the UK in 2020 according to a Which? Survey, due to its quaint village feel and residents’ above average life expectancy.

Sian, who’s set to move into her new home at the beginning of October, said: “I’ve been living with my mother in Wimbledon as it was always my goal to get on the property ladder and avoid renting to save money. Being able to afford a home before the age of 30 has been a massive personal achievement and it feels great that I was able to achieve it and save up the money on my own.”

Sian chose to use the government-backed Help to Buy scheme, which enables buyers to purchase a home with a 5% deposit and 75%  mortgage. The remaining 20% is provided in the form of an equity loan that is interest free for the first five years.

She said: “Without it I wouldn’t have been able to afford a home in the time frame I had. For me personally, it was definitely the most cost-effective way to buy a home. I weighed it up with shared ownership, but I wanted to purchase something that was 100% mine and not have to pay rent and a mortgage.

Michaela and Sian“Bartley Square actually came up by chance. I was looking at Bellway because I like their homes and the finish of them and looked at two different developments in Chatham and Otham, but they were too far away to commute to work easily. Bartley Square is situated just off the M3 – although you wouldn’t be able to tell as you can’t hear it or see it from the development – and is half-an-hour away from where I work.

“When I went to Bartley Square and met Michaela the sales advisor, I could tell she truly cared about what I wanted. She took me on site and showed me two different types of one-bedroom apartments and didn’t pressure me into making a sale. She now regularly updates me on the build progress and is genuinely very excited for me.”

Sian chose a one-bedroom apartment with an open-plan kitchen, living and dining space, a large double bedroom, and a balcony.

She said: “The apartment I chose is in a block full of first-time buyers and younger people so I know I’ll have a good community of neighbours all in the same situation as me.

“The lounge and kitchen space is laid out so well and even though it’s open plan, I don’t feel like the kitchen encroaches on the living space. It also has a large balcony which feels like my own little garden and the development has underground parking and an intercom system with cameras which were my biggest priorities.

“The location of the development is excellent. There are good amenities in the village and easy access to the M3 if I want to travel to the shops in Basingstoke or Reading. It also has nearby National Trust parks and great outdoor spaces which have become so important after the lockdown.

“I’d definitely recommend Bellway and Bartley Square. The sales advisors have made the experience so exciting and I can’t wait for a change of scenery and a new chapter in my life where I have a home I can call mine.”

Bartley Square, off Station Road, in Hook currently has just three homes available within the first apartment building, with prices starting from £222,500 and Help to Buy available on all plots.

Find out about current Bellway developments.

 

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