Purchasers wanting to buy a home this Spring with access to an abundance of outside open space can purchase an apartment with access to either ‘secret gardens’ or elevated rooftop gardens and terraces available for sale in a collection of Weston Homes schemes in locations including Barking in London, Hayes, Southend-on-Sea and Maidstone.
Weston Homes have four new residential developments - Abbey Quay in Barking, The Venue in Hayes, Victoria Central in Southend-on-Sea and Springfield Park in Maidstone – which each offer residents access to outside space in the form of a secret garden, roof garden or rooftop terrace. All are conveniently located within Greater London or the Home Counties and benefit from access to local high streets and local amenities, alongside good connectivity.
Abbey Quay
Abbey Quay is a new £350m (GDV) riverside village in Barking which comprises 1,089 new homes sitting proudly overlooking the water. The new urban village is just a short walk from Barking's mainline and London underground station.
The apartments and amenities are carefully designed around landscaped podium gardens with steps down to an elevated waterfront promenade where residents can sit overlooking the River Roding. Each of the one-, two- and three-bedroom market sale apartments has a private balcony or a terrace and the homes overlook either the river or the green podium gardens that are interwoven throughout the development.
Abbey Quay will include a new pavilion restaurant, local shops, cafes, a gymnasium, and a community hub – which will be home to activities from yoga classes to wine tasting events. Many of these spaces spill out onto Loxford Plaza – Weston Homes' modern take on the village green, with plenty of outdoor seating. Creative and studio spaces will be available in the Makers' Yard, with cafes and delis and market stalls.
The leafy neighbourhood is complete with pedestrian promenades, tree-lined avenues, stunning vistas, and landscaping. The apartment buildings range from seven to 29 storeys, with expanses of glazed panels to help connect the homes with their surroundings.
Abbey Quay is delivering some of the most competitively priced high quality affordable housing in the capital. There will be 737 homes for sale on the private market and 352 affordable homes (of Discount Market Sale, Shared Ownership and affordable rent tenures).
Locals living or working in Greater London are able to apply to purchase a Discount Market Sale apartment. For first-time buyers wanting to take part in Abbey Quay's off-plan sales offering, Weston Homes has a First Time SecureBuy initiative, which enables a purchaser to secure the home of their choice, at today's price for just a £500 reservation fee and a 5% deposit upon exchange.
Suzanne Aplin, group sales and marketing director at Weston Homes says: "Abbey Quay is a new waterfront urban village adjacent to Barking town centre and Abbey Green Park. It is where greenery, waterside living and urban apartments meet creating a bustling, vibrant community."
Prices at Abbey Quay start from £324,000 for a private sale apartment and from £257,000 for a Discount Market Sale apartment for buyers who live or work in Greater London.
The Venue
Another Weston Homes scheme providing an abundance of shared outside space is The Venue, a £70.5m (GDV) collection of 181 new homes, part of the Old Vinyl Factory site in Hayes in the London borough of Hillingdon.
The Venue provides a trio of stylish apartment buildings (which reach seven storeys high) is the final residential phase of the regenerative masterplan of the new neighbourhood. The 181 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments all have either a private balcony or terrace and access to the central podium garden for residents only – a nod to the exclusive London square gardens of Belgravia or Mayfair. The apartments' private balustraded balconies overlook this leafy, secluded secret garden in the middle of the development, extensively landscaped with plenty of seating and places to meet.
The Venue is 16 miles west of Charing Cross and well-connected to London and yet close to nature with the Grand Union Canal running through the neighbourhood and linking it to Hayes town centre. Prices start from £349,995, whilst eligible local borough residents can save 20% via purchasing one of the selected Discount Market Sale apartments from £291,000. The first homes at The Venue will be ready to move into this spring.
Victoria Central
Down by the coast, buyers can survey Southend-on-Sea from the planted rooftop terraces of Weston Homes’ flagship coastal development Victoria Central (£53m GDV), in the heart of the seaside city.
The 217-home development is 95% and will complete in 2023. A one-bedroom home is 542 sq ft, and a three-bedroom home is 914 sq ft. At ground level there is a landscaped courtyard garden and a striking foyer through a double height glass facade which is a contemporary take on the grand Victorian seaside hotels of the 19th century. There is more outdoor space in the communal garden on the rooftop of the development – a sanctuary of open space in the sky.
The remaining apartments at Victoria Central are priced from just £185,000 and buyers can reserve their selected property by paying a £1,000 deposit. They are located just a five-minute walk from Southend Victoria station.
Springfield Park
Weston Homes' Springfield Park in Maidstone, fulfils the three golden rules of creating a tranquil residential neighbourhood with health at the centre of its ethos: it overlooks the river Medway, it is bordered by parkland, the 18-acre Millenium Park, and it offers views over open countryside, the Kentish hills and fields.
The 220 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments at Springfield Park have balconies and terraces and access to a spacious 1,462 sq.m communal terrace garden, where neighbours and friends can meet and mingle in the fresh air. The latest phase for sale comprises The Turner, The Colman and The Varley buildings, with the vast shared roof terrace garden connecting all three and offering serene planting and inviting seating areas. The new neighbourhood also has extensive landscaped gardens, providing further outdoor space in which to relax, socialise and exercise.
Suzanne Aplin, group sales and marketing director at Weston Homes says: "With both community and nature more important than ever post-pandemic, buyers are increasingly wanting homes with private outside balconies or terraces and also access to spacious, shared outside living spaces such as podium gardens and rooftop gardens where they can enjoy their surroundings together. Working-from-home, phone calls, face-to-face meetings and socialising are all being done outside as much as possible, when the weather allows."
Springfield Park is located at the northern edge of Maidstone in an area undergoing huge regeneration, bringing a new community to the area. The transport links to London have been improved, with direct trains from Maidstone East station reaching London Bridge in 46 minutes with an average of 100 trains a day, making the town a new hot-spot for commuters. The town centre has also been revamped, with improved public realm.
Apartments at Springfield Park start from £199,000 for a one-bedroom apartment and from £254,000 for a two-bedroom apartment.
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