Help to Buy Puts First-Time Buyer on the Housing Ladder in Shrewsbury

Using Help to Buy has allowed Danielle, who was previously living with her father in Radbrook, Shrewsbury, to become a homeowner at just 25.

Help to Buy is a scheme which enables purchasers to secure a new home with a deposit of just 5% - made it possible for first-time buyer Danielle Birch to move into her new two-bedroom house at Lovell Homes’ quick-selling Abbey Walk development in the Shropshire town. Over 90% of homes at the development have already been snapped up.

Danielle says: “I wouldn’t have been able to do it without Help to Buy. I had worked out it would be cheaper to have a mortgage than to rent but even with the help of my mum and having saved for a couple of years, I was a long way from having the deposit I needed.”

Through Help to Buy, Danielle took out a £123,000 mortgage and paid a deposit of £8,200 on her home which had a full price of £164,000. The Government has provided a five-year interest-free loan of £32,800 for the difference (20% of the value of the property).

She is now enjoying life at the development which is just a 15-minute walk from the town centre and only a 30-minute commute by road to her job as a physiotherapist at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, near Oswestry.

Danielle’s new home, Lovell’s popular two-bedroom Garston house style, is proving to be an ideal choice: “I’m in a cul-de-sac, so it’s pretty quiet and I’m not overlooked. I liked the room sizes of the homes when I looked round and was impressed by the quality of the finishing. My favourite room is the lounge because of the size. It’s big and I like the French doors to the outside. It gets the sun all day and is always really light and airy. I don’t have time to do somewhere up and wanted to buy somewhere that would be fresh, modern and new. This is perfect for me.”

Find out more about Abbey Walk from Lovell