First-time buyer Anasthasia McCarthy, 27, is currently living at home with parents in Iver, Buckinghamshire. She was born and raised in the area, and has lived there all her life.
Over the last few years she has been saving money towards a deposit for her first home, but had no idea when she would ever have enough money to do so, nor where she might eventually buy. Last month her dad spotted an advert in the local paper, advertising the Howarth Homes new build development, The Link, a collection of apartments being built opposite Iver station, launching on Thursday 8th March, priced from £249,995.
When she saw the advert she decided to do some research and look into what was on offer as it was around the price range she was hoping she might be able to afford one day, when she had a large enough deposit. She went onto the Howarth Homes website and registered her interest and then started getting the weekly updates from Howarth, drip feeding additional information relating to the launch.
A week or so before the launch, details of the payment plan were outlined,an initial deposit of £2,000 to exchange on a property, with further deposit payments staggered over two years, with the final balance due on completion. With Howarth’s staggered payment plan, it meant Anasthasia was potentially in a position to seriously consider about the possibility of buying one.
“Suddenly my dream of owning my own home was beginning to look it might become possible sooner rather than later. I sat down with my dad and we did some number crunching and worked out that as the deposit payments were staggered over a two year period, it allowed me enough time to save up the remaining funds I still needed.
“Once I decided to go for it and buy at the launch, I started to google ‘queuing for a property’ as I’d heard there might be queues. Then I read an article about a development in Hounslow where people slept overnight on the street in order to get their first home. It made me realise I was going to have to get there early.
“As it got closer to the date, I decided I would bite the bullet and head down to the launch the night before. My original plan was to arrive at 6pm, then I decided to make it a bit earlier - 5pm, and then 3pm, but when I woke up on Wednesday morning (the day before the launch) I just decided to head straight down there at midday! I was determined not to miss out. I went fully prepared for a night camping on the street – with my wellies, and umbrella, 2 chairs and stacks of food! Luckily for me, when I turned up outside the launch venue, a kind lady from Howarth Homes invited me to come and wait inside. Huge relief!
“I am so glad I went as early as I did, as literally an hour later the next purchaser turned up. He brought his laptop with him and worked through the afternoon and evening. Another four people turned up over the next few hours – so there were six of us, all planning to sleep overnight to secure our place in the queue. We all had chairs in the waiting area, and Howarth gave us access to a washroom and a small kitchen to make drinks. During the evening they brought down some sofas for some of us to sleep on. I was lucky enough to get a sofa – but sadly didn’t get a wink of sleep due the snoring around me! I drank a lot of coffee that night!
“I told my dad to come and join me in the queue a few hours before the sales launch started – it didn’t make sense for neither of us to get any sleep. So he bought more food with him on Thursday lunchtime. I was surviving on adrenaline – but the excitement of finally being able to potentially buy my own home was enough to keep me going.
“Buying a new build home has so many benefits, once finished it will literally be ready to move into, a blank canvas for me to turn into a home. My new flat comes with a kitchen fitted with all the appliances including cooker, washing machine, fridge freezer etc. All I need to save up for a sofa, bed and TV.
“I recently qualified as a train driver for the Elizabeth Line, and once it’s up and running I will be based out of Maidenhead. My new flat at The Link is opposite the station so I’ll be able to travel to and from work easily.
“Thanks to Howarth Homes my dream of owning my own home is finally becoming a reality!”
Anasthasia paid £299,995 for a one bedroom flat with an estimated annual service charge of £1,042 per year.
Linzie Howland, head of sales for Howarth Homes, comments: “We knew from the initial feedback from customers registering their interest, that demand for the apartments in The Link were going to be high. We therefore made provision for anyone wishing to arrive early so they could potentially sleep overnight at our office”.
Linzie continues: “After opening the doors at 3pm on launch day, we had reserved more than 50% by 4.30pm and were fully sold by 7pm. Because we had purchasers’ solicitors present on the day, contracts were exchanged on every property, to secure each sale.”
The properties were purchased by a mix of purchasers, investors and owner occupiers, including a number of first time buyers. The cheapest apartment sold for £250,000 and the most expensive apartment for just under £400,000. The properties were sold off-plan, two years in advance, allowing purchasers the potential to see a rise in capital value prior to completion.
Visit howarthhomes.co.uk for more information.