Family Buys Its Dream Home In Hailsham Over Email

A family has taken its first step on the property ladder in Hailsham after buying a new home over email during the first lockdown.

Zoe and Lee Roberts had been saving for several years to buy their first home and used Help to Buy to purchase a new four-bedroom house at Bellway’s Pelham Place development in the East Sussex town. The scheme means they’re now paying less in mortgage payments than they were in rent on their old two-bedroom cottage in Eastbourne.

The whole homebuying process was completed over email and the couple didn’t even get to meet their sales advisor or see their house until the lockdown lifted, two weeks before they were scheduled to move in at the end of August.

Lee, 45, head chef at an Eastbourne hotel, said: “As we found Pelham Place during lockdown, Katy, the sales advisor, had to send us details and photos of the plots available over email. We kept asking so many questions but every time she would answer them quickly and professionally.”

Zoe, 39, a private care worker, said: “We built up a great lockdown relationship over email as we were unable to visit the development and we’ve been saying that we wouldn’t have bought this house without Katy, she’s the reason we’re now living here.”

Now the couple and their daughter Scarlett, 12, are loving their new-found space in their new four-bedroom Bellway home.

Zoe said: “We were previously renting a two-bedroom cottage as we saved up to buy our first home. We’ve wanted to buy for three years but it’s only this year that we’ve been in the position to be able to afford it.”

The Roberts family purchased a four-bedroom ‘Penshurst’ house type at Pelham Place which features a large living room with French doors to the garden, three double bedrooms – with an en suite shower room to the master – ample storage space and an integral garage.

Lee said: “We were originally looking at a three-bedroom home as we didn’t think our budget would stretch to a four-bedroom house but after speaking with Katy and putting in an application for the Help to Buy scheme, we were able to afford our dream home. It’s even cheaper than renting our two-bedroom cottage as our monthly mortgage payments are about 20% less than our rent.”

The Help to Buy scheme allows buyers to purchase a new-build home with a 5% deposit and 75% mortgage. The remaining 20% is provided in the form of a government equity loan which is interest free for the first five years.

“It feels like the final achievement, owning your own home,” Lee said. “We’ve been able to get out of the rental market and save money and have some security for the future.

“We’re also now able to do things we never could before. We’re planning on extending the patio in the garden and making that a good space for the summer, we now have a garage which we’ve never had before and we can’t wait for Christmas because we’re able to put lights on the house as we haven’t had the chance to do that with a rental property.”

Now the family have had a chance to settle in, they say it was Bellway’s customer service that was the key to buying their home.

Zoe said: “Both Katy and our site manager Adam have been faultless. We received a welcome gift when we moved in, Adam is always available if we have any problems, and we couldn’t be happier. Katy even lives on the development, so we know she trusts the product herself and in turn that gives us peace of mind because we trust her.”

Pelham Place currently has a selection of homes available, starting from £312,995. Find out more from Bellway.

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