Savvy Savers Secure Their Dream Home In Deeside
Beth and Nathan (both 27) saved £2,000 a month by ditching meals out and sacrificing a new car and holidays to secure their dream home at Countryside’s Dutton Fields development in Deeside.
After struggling to save for years, it was when Beth graduated as an occupational therapist last year that she and partner Nathan decided to get smart with their earnings. Thanks to their concerted efforts, in less than a year they raised the £15,000 deposit they needed to put a 5% deposit down on their new three-bedroom home.
Despite the average age of first-time buyers rising from 33 to 37 within the next 10 years, the couple were determined to defy the statistics. They stopped going out for expensive meals and cut down on takeaways. They also opted to shop in cheaper supermarkets to save on their weekly shopping bills. Instead of expensive coffee shops and restaurants they met up with friends and family for walks and visited them for a cup of tea and a chat.
Beth explained: “We'd been saving on and off for years, but it wasn’t until I left university in 2021 that we were able to get serious with our savings. We both moved in with my dad rather than into our own place, which was lucky because it meant we were able to save a lot more each month by not spending hundreds of pounds on rent. We still had to carefully watch everything we spent and made cutbacks wherever we could. We said no to nights out, spent far less on our food shopping and bought far fewer luxuries like new clothes.
“I had my heart set on a new car when I qualified as an occupational therapist as the job often involves a lot of travel. But when I finished my training, it just didn't seem sensible to take out car finance – we knew it would delay us being able to reserve a property as well as reduce our affordability from a lender's perspective. A new car would have been a luxury, rather than a necessity so we decided to manage without, and commute to work instead. We also didn’t book any holidays as we wouldn’t have been able to put away as much towards our savings each month.”
Beth and ambulance driver Nathan used the Help to Buy Wales scheme, which provided them with a loan of 20% towards the cost of a new build home and meant they only needed a 5% cash deposit and a 75% mortgage to make up the rest.
Beth continued: “We began house-hunting whilst we were saving so spent a lot of time researching areas and deciding the type of house we wanted. We were looking at new build developments for the Help to Buy scheme but we’re also conscious they are much more energy efficient. This was really important to us due to the increasing cost of living. When we saw Countryside’s show homes, we knew this was the type of house we were looking for and more.”
Dutton Fields
Mark Hadfield, managing director, Merseyside and Cheshire West, Countryside, said: “We always love hearing stories like Beth and Nathan’s, as we understand how difficult it can be for young people to get on the property ladder. It’s great to see young couples being savvy with their savings and taking advantage of support like the Help to Buy scheme to make securing a deposit more achievable. We look forward to welcoming Beth and Nathan to their new home at Dutton Fields.”
Beth and Nathan’s top tips for saving quickly for a deposit:
- Get savvy with savings: As we got closer to our goal, we started to think seriously about how to get a deposit for a house quickly. We cut out takeaways, nights out and shopped in cheaper supermarkets.”
- Make sacrifices: “When we set our minds to it, we soon realised that we could get the extra cash we needed by sacrificing nights out and holidays, as well as a new car we’d planned for.”
- Look at the help available: “We found out about the Help to Buy Wales scheme, which would provide us with a loan of 20% towards the cost of a new build home and meant we only needed a 5% cash deposit and a 75% mortgage to make up the rest.”
- House-hunt whilst you save: “We were looking at new build developments, mainly for the Help to Buy scheme, but when we saw Countryside’s show home we fell in love with it.”
- Do your research: “We knew a little bit about Help to Buy, but we saw that Countryside were hosting a Help to Buy event and decided to go along. The event was really informative.”
- Consider the bigger picture: “We were at the stage where we were ready to move into our own home and Help to Buy gave us the opportunity to do that. But there have been so many other advantages to buying a new build. The main one for us being that we had extra time to save (between reserving and completion) to buy a TV and new blinds.”
- Plan for the future: “We wouldn’t have had time to save for anything towards the house if we’d bought an older house. New builds are also more energy efficient, which is really important to us due to the cost of living.”
Prices at Dutton Fields start from £229,995. Find out more at www.countrysidepartnerships.com.
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