First up, meet Laura Ostler (26) and Rhys Logan (29) who have recently taken their first step into property ownership, purchasing a new build property at Barrat Homes' popular Thrapston development, Charter's Gate.
Both first time buyers, the couple used the Government-backed Help to Buy scheme to move out of their parent’s homes and into a property at the Huntingdon Road development towards the end of last year.
Laura who is a Community Nursing Sister and fiancé Rhys who works as an Estate Agent, decided to set up the Instagram account @ourfirstnewbuildhome to share the progress of their property from building site to cosy casa.
Laura said, “I first started the account purely to follow other home pages for inspiration. My main inspiration and my favourite Instagram account to follow is Mrs Hinch. I love her cleaning hacks!”
@mrschinchhome is an account run by Sophie Hinchcliffe who became an online phenomenon after posting cleaning hacks and photos of her home. Hinchcliffe has since garnered 3.1 million Instagram followers and has published two books and a loyal following known as ‘Hinchers’ or the ‘Hinch Army’.
Laura, a self-confessed ‘Hincher’, continued, “I love taking photos of our home, especially the before and after photos where I can see how much the house has progressed."
“We chose the Helmsley house type due to the amount of living space it has which is perfect for having friends and family over. The storage space is an added bonus too!
“I can’t praise Barratt Homes highly enough, we had such a smooth move. I would one hundred percent recommend them to anyone looking to move home, so much so that my good friend and her partner have now purchased a house at Charter’s Gate and will be moving in later this year!”
Charter’s Gate is situated on the edge of the quaint market town of Thrapston which has a local primary school and other amenities just a short walk away, including a post office, pubs and restaurants
Barratt Homes currently has only three, four and five bedroom homes left at the development from £374,995.
For more information on properties available at Charter’s Gate or any nearby Barratt Homes developments visit Barrat Homes.
Next, meet Candice (25) and Marcus (26) who have bought their new home from Chestnut Homes.
Candice has been a contestant – and outpaced the fearsome Governess – on ITV’s pressure-chamber quiz show The Chase.
So, questions about buying a house must have seemed pretty straightforward to Lincoln-based police employee Candice McKane.
She and partner Marcus Goodridge a finance officer at the University of Lincoln, have just bought a new two-bedroom house at Chestnut Homes’ LN6 development near the heart of the city.
Unlike the quiz show, it wasn’t a long Chase!
“We’d not really been actively looking for a house for that long,” said Candice. “We knew we wanted our own house in Lincoln, we knew we’d like a new house – and there really is nothing as good as this development that’s so close to town.”
The LN6 development looks great as well as being convenient. It features attractive modern homes, open space, trees and a boardwalk.
Marcus and Candice, who met while both studying at the University of Lincoln, had previously been living together in a one-bedroom rented flat in the city.
“We’d outgrown living in a flat,” said Candice. “Living in a house not only gave us more space but was also economically sensible because it meant getting on the property ladder."
“And a rented place is never really your home. You can’t do certain things like painting a room or getting a pet. I’m looking for a kitten…”
The couple were able to look round the De Ros show home at LN6 before choosing their own place on the development.
“We loved the De Ros,” said Candice. “We liked the open-plan style downstairs and the fittings like the kitchen cabinets and worktops were of a high standard. There’s also a downstairs cloakroom."
“Upstairs, both the bedrooms are a good size, and the master bedroom has a really good built-in wardrobe.”
A city lifestyle was also important to the couple. All the attractions of Lincoln city centre are nearby – in fact within walking distance of the development.
“Marcus walks into work,” said Candice. “I tend to drive. But it’s nice to live in a city, especially one like Lincoln which has all the historical side – the Cathedral and the Castle – as well as all the shops andbars.”
And why did they buy a new house?
Candice said: “I think we really liked the fact that with a new build you get the chance to personalise it from the start and really make it yours.
“We’re both busy too, and not very into DIY. We didn’t want to buy a house and flip it. We’ve moved straight in here and it already feels like ours.”
Candice said she and Marcus were really happy with Chestnut Homes for the way they helped them as first-time buyers through the house-purchasing process. “Any little niggle has been really well handled,” said Candice.
And in summary, she and Marcus agree: “We’ve made a good decision. We’re really happy where we are.”
A choice of two-bedroom apartments and a three-bedroom house remain for sale at LN6.
To find out more visit chestnuthomes.co.uk.
Lastly, meet James (25) and Charlotte (25) who are lucky enough to be on the next run of the ladder and have chosen their second move to be with Bellway.
If a house is worth getting, it’s worth queueing for – and that’s how keen this young couple were when opting for their new home.
James waited for five hours at Bellway’s Greystone Meadows development in Undy, Monmouthshire, to make sure he was at the front of the queue when the sales office opened on the site’s launch day.
“We really wanted this specific plot,” explained Charlotte. “So, James got there before the development was open – at 6am on launch day – and was in his car, waiting for ages. The office didn’t officially open until 11am!”
Happily, Charlotte and James, who are both managers for Network Rail, did get the home they wanted – a three-bedroom detached Sherbourne design.
“It was absolutely what we were looking for,” said Charlotte. “We loved it from the outside. We really wanted a kitchen/diner, which it’s got, a separate utility room and a big living room."
“It’s got three bedrooms, which allows us to grow – and they’re good-sized bedrooms – and a detached garage which we also wanted.”
There’s even a decent garden for the couple’s two dogs; Reggie, a puggle, and Phoebe, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel.
“It’s also the perfect location,” said Charlotte. “I love Undy; it’s gorgeous here. it’s where I was brought up, and I really wanted to move back to the area."
“But James likes it here too. When we had reading weeks at university, we would always come to my parents’ house in Undy.”
The couple managed to get on the housing ladder early: at 25, they are already second-time buyers.
Charlotte said: “Before this house we were in a three-bed semi-detached in Glan Llyn – but it was basically a two-bed; the third bedroom was very small.
“We were there for two years and we had £40,000 equity from that house that became the deposit for this one.”
The couple also used the Help to Buy Wales scheme which helped reduce the initial deposit needed for Greystone Meadows.
The scheme provides a loan of up to 20 per cent of the new house purchase price – which is interest free for the first five years – leaving the buyer to find a five per cent deposit and a 75 per cent mortgage.
Throughout the buying process, the couple were greatly helped by Bellway sales staff Sharmaine and Angela who Charlotte said had been really good to them.
But why did they want to buy new?
Charlotte said she and James – who met as students at the university of South Wales – preferred a new house because they could make their own mark on it from the start.
With their Undy home, they have personal choices everywhere, from kitchen to bathroom, many of them inspired by the showhome on the Greystone Meadows estate.
“If I had to pick my favourite room it would be the kitchen/diner,” said Charlotte. “But I like everything. Genuinely, it’s the perfect home.”
Bellway is building two, three and four-bedroom homes in Undy, with prices for a three-bedroom home currently starting from £272,995.
For more information visit Bellway Homes.