Getting Out of the Rental Trap Thanks to Help to Buy

Having rented since she was 18, and now a 33-year-old single parent with two primary-school-age children, Charlotte assumed that she was stuck in the rental trap with no way out.

But when she visited Bellway’s The Brambles, off Blackberry Lane in Coventry, to find out about Shared Ownership options at the development, she discovered that she could afford to buy her own place instead, thanks to the Help to Buy scheme.

Charlotte says: “I kept thinking about all the money I’d wasted on rent, but I never thought I would afford to buy on my own. When I found out it was possible with Help to Buy I was over the moon.”

Charlotte has been living in the same rented house for the past five years with her children Harrison, 9, and Chyna-coco, 6, just a few streets away from The Brambles. Her home is close to the children’s school and her family, and she was keen to stay within the local community. Since reserving her three-bedroom new build house, Charlotte has been saving hard – working Monday to Friday in her main job, doing weekend shifts in A&E or in the crisis team, and running her own aesthetics business on Saturdays and evenings.

She continues: “I’ve been working so hard, six or seven days a week for a few months, to get the deposit together. A family member helped me out with £2,500 and I’ve just built on that. When you see something within reach you just do what you can. I don’t mind working hard – I’m not letting this opportunity go. Bellway have been really good to me. Everyone has been really helpful.”

In fact, Charlotte credits the Bellway sales advisor at The Brambles, Kirt, as the reason she’s about to move into her own place.

She says: “I wouldn’t be getting a house if it wasn’t for Kirt – I really owe it to him. He took the time to talk me through everything and show me it was possible, and he was really friendly, polite and informative. He helped me so much. He’s kept me informed, been on the phone to me on his days off and organised for me to look round the house as it’s being finished. I’m so grateful to him.

“The site is well maintained, and all the residents are really nice. I’ve got a friend who lives opposite the house I’m buying. It’s right by the park and there’s the little green on site as well – it’s the perfect location.”

She’s also looking forward to saving money each month thanks to the fact her mortgage payments for her three-bedroom house will be less than her rent for a similar-size property just a few streets away.

Charlotte finishes: “I would say to other people who think they can’t afford to buy: go and have a look. I’m a single parent with two children – if I can do it then other people might be able to as well. If they see someone like me doing it, they might realise they don’t have to be stuck in the rental trap.”

There’s a choice of new homes currently available at The Brambles, with more information available at bellway.co.uk.