With its excellent variety of characterful and well-served towns and villages, wealth of countryside and things to do, and superb transport connectivity, Berkshire is proving to have a tremendously active property market.
Housebuilders are very busy trying to meet demand through regeneration and the creation of new communities, and there are opportunities for house-hunters to find out more about a number of these new developments this coming weekend, Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 April.
First time buyers looking for a new home in Slough can explore how they could secure themselves a new apartment with just a 5% deposit at Novus Apartments through a Help to Buy event taking place on both days, from 10.00am to 5.00pm. Interested purchasers will have an opportunity to view two, newly unveiled show apartments – a studio, a one-bed and a two-bed – as well as explore the details of the Help to Buy scheme, with a dedicated member of the sales team.
Novus Apartments is the latest collection of homes from Slough Urban Renewal (SUR), comprising 64 highly specified properties at a central location within Slough town centre. The apartments, ready to move into, form part of the former library site, which is being transformed into a new destination.
Andy Howell, general manager, Slough Urban Renewal (SUR) said: “We have a range of homes available from studios to one and two bedroom apartments and with the current stamp duty holiday in place, now could be a great time to buy here.”
Prices at Novus Apartments start from £199,950. The new sales and marketing suite is open Thursday through to Monday, 9.00am to 5.00pm. Find out more at [email protected] or www.novusapartments.co.uk.
Bellway is unveiling its latest scheme, Long Acre, in Shinfield on Saturday 10 April. Situated just five miles south of Reading town centre, the development includes two-, three- and four-bedroom properties. Both three- and four-bedroom show homes will be available to view in July.
House designs offer generous spaces for a desk or study area and there’s ultrafast fibre broadband to each home. Kitchens come complete with a choice of gloss finish units, matching worktops and upstands. Executive master bedroom en suites featuring Roca contemporary white sanitaryware, neutral ceramic wall and floor tiling and Bristan brassware.
French doors spill out into the gardens which ensures every home has its own privacy and all properties have their own parking spaces. Most Long Acre residents will benefit from a garage, with several of the two-bedroom homes having this added advantage. Additionally, Long Acre has beautiful landscaped communal areas and local footpaths lead into the Berkshire countryside.
Emma Jones, sales director for Bellway Thames Valley, commented: “Interest in Long Acre is already high following the upturn in enquires that we have seen throughout the region following on from the pandemic. I believe that our initial release of homes will be scooped up extremely quickly as family homes are highly sought after in the area and all available with Help to Buy.”
Bellway is also launching a new phase at Keephatch Gardens on the outskirts of Wokingham. This includes some 300 new homes, each benefitting from either a private garden or balcony, and the scheme include communal spaces for residents.
As an example, the ‘Pullman’ house type is a four-bedroom, two-bathroom home, featuring a study essential for remote working. The open-plan kitchen has integrated Zanussi appliances and modern en suite bathrooms showcase crisp white sanitaryware. For a seamless transition from indoor to outdoor living, French doors open into the garden from the spacious kitchen/dining room.
Jones added: “We are thrilled to be building on the success of the initial homes at Keephatch Gardens, with this second phase. This sought-after location, known for its good schools, friendly community and open green spaces, combined with the variety of home types available here, means the development is an excellent choice for buyers at every stage of the homeownership journey.”
Guide prices at Long Acre are in the region of £365,000, and prices on phase II at Keephatch Gardens will start from £435,000 for a two-bedroom home. Find out more about current Bellway developments in Berkshire.
In addition to people buying a home for themselves, David Wilson Homes is asking property investors to consider an apartment at Cherry Blossom Meadow in delightful Newbury. The collection of contemporary two-bedroom apartments are all currently exempt from Stamp Duty fees and will be ready to move into in June.
For those making the investment here, there is a rental yield of 4.7% on the apartments, estimated between £900 and £1,000 per calendar month. There is also no ground rent to pay on the apartments, which is another financial benefit for prospective buyers. Findings from Nationwide Building Society shed some light on the potential prospects of property investment, as the annual house price growth had risen to 5.8%, the highest rate since January 2015. Prices were also up 0.8% on a month-on-month basis, after seasonal factors were taken into consideration.
Rob Allen, sales director at David Wilson Homes Southern, said: “Our properties at Cherry Blossom Meadow can make excellent buy-to-let investments as they are built using the latest construction techniques and are energy efficient, well-designed and offer a sought-after location to potential tenants. We make the entire process of buying and letting property as simple as possible, making it easier to enjoy the benefits of a buy-to-let property investment.”
Anyone looking to purchase one of the apartments at the development can make great savings from the very start. A mortgage subsidy of £6,000 is available on selected properties, which is in the form of a £500 contribution each month for a year. The two-bedroom apartments here are currently available with prices starting from £249,000. Find out more from David Wilson Homes.
A new phase has just been launched at Green Park Village, just ten minutes’ drive from the centre of Reading, so there’s an opportunity to book an appointment to visit the sales and marketing suite and show home, which are open on Saturday and Sunday from 10.00am to 5.00pm.
Developer St Edward is creating a tranquil modern village with a variety of homes, from one-bedroom apartments to four-bedroom, New England-inspired houses – in a lakeside setting and providing woodland walks and trim trails. It will eventually also benefit from a new primary school, a community hall and a contemporary market square, while Green Park Business Park – situated next to the development – offers additional public facilities such as a crêche, gym and various restaurants and cafés.
A new railway station at Green Park Village will make travel extremely easy, with services reaching Reading station in just six minutes for an array of direct services including Crossrail from the end of the year.
Prices at Green Park Village currently range from £293,000 to £540,000, with a selection available with Help to Buy. Find out more from St Edward.
Also just a few miles from central Reading and Wokingham is Nightingale Fields in Arborfield Green, where first-time buyers can enquire about Home Reach, a scheme which provides an opportunity to part buy-part rent. This means having all the benefits of homeownership at a fraction of the price. Qualifying first-timers here can start with the purchase of a 50% share of their new home and pay a rent on the remainder. Over time, when their finances allow, they can buy further shares until they own 100% of it.
Benefits include only requiring a small deposit and a much smaller mortgage, so it is a real boon to house-hunters on a limited budget. What’s more, the combination of mortgage and rent is likely to be less than renting something outright.
Currently available with this initiative at Nightingale Fields are two-bedroom apartments. Priced at £147,500 (full market value £295,000) and £149,500 (full market value £299,000), both come with open-plan kitchen/living/dining room with fitted appliances, two double bedrooms, a bathroom and large storage unit off the hallway. Each also has a balcony.
Find out more about Home Reach at Nightingale Fields.
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