Ideal First Home Thanks To Saving Through Lockdown
A couple searching for a new home are taking a first step on the property ladder after saving enough money over lockdown.
Matt Welsby, 28 and Charlotte Davis, 22, are first-time buyers who are planning their wedding next year, and while living with her parents in lockdown they were able to save for their deposit on a three-bedroom house at Twigworth Green, a Gloucestershire development from Bovis Homes.
They have found the buying process particularly easy thanks to the housebuilder’s bespoke online portal, which provides a step-by-step service to assist purchasers, using their smartphone and tablet.
Matt, an internal sales manager at a Cheltenham-based engineering firm, said: “We can’t wait now, we’ve been saving up and searching for the perfect place and now that we’ve found it, we just want to move in. Twigworth Green is an ideal location for both of us as I work in Kingsditch, which is 15 minutes, and my fiancée works the same distance away, in Gloucester, so it’s close enough for both of us, and we’re near family. We’re also by the motorway and there are plenty of green fields to enjoy, so it’s great on all fronts.
“The online portal was very easy to use. Everything was clear in terms of what you needed to do and navigating your way around and it cut out the need for any paperwork. This is our first time buying a house, so to have the portal with everything in the same place, and to be able to use the platform from our own home, it’s just been great.
“We’re getting married next year and that’s one of the main reasons we went for a new-build, we don’t want to have to worry about trying to get the house sorted. We can move into a house where everything’s brand new and there’s no work that needs to be done to it, so we can just concentrate on planning the wedding and saving up for that as well.”
Matt, a keen golfer, said he was looking forward to the couple, who didn’t see each other for 12 weeks due to the first lockdown and restrictions, having a garden to make their own – and also so he could hit a few balls into his golf net!
He added Bovis Homes had made the whole house buying experience easier with a great level of customer service and the arranging of a mortgage advisor.
“I can’t fault Bovis Homes, they’ve been great – any questions we’ve had, they answered them straightaway and they’ve always been helpful and really looked after us,” he said. “With the team and the portal, it’s just been a great experience and as first-time buyers, it couldn’t have been better.
“We used Help to Buy and a mortgage advisor who was recommended by Bovis Homes, which has been great and no hassle at all, I didn’t need to do any chasing or anything and they provided me with regular updates, it’s all worked very well.
“I can’t wait to get stuck into doing the garden, I want to get into a gentle project, and the garden is just perfect for that – to design, grow and unwind in. We can do the garden exactly the way we want, which is a great benefit of having a brand-new one, we don’t have to dig an older one up and start again to make it ours.”
Bovis Homes’ online portal includes a simple step-by-step process to move, from registering personal details to reserving a home and paying the deposit.
Prices for three- and four-bedroom homes at Twigworth Green currently start at £249,995. Find out more from Bovis Homes.
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