Across the country, lockdown led to a surge in interest in moving home and the West Midlands region has seen a great deal of activity from people wanting something different from a home, with new build homes ticking many boxes.
Housebuilders large and small have been working hard to deliver homes to meet demand to the high standards buyers expect, and to accommodate a who range of buyers, from those purchasing a first home to people who need more space or are downsizing from a larger home to something more manageable.
The West Midlands has some impressive examples for sale right now, and some great deals open to those who secure them.
Lovell Homes has introduced a special offer to people reserving a home at Queensbury Park in Telford before Monday 21 December. The housebuilder is treating buyers who reserve selected four-bedroom ‘Castleford’ style houses to a £2,000 holiday voucher, subject to terms and conditions.
Show house at Queensbury Park
It’s a development of two-, three- and four-bedroom homes, located on York Road. The three-storey type as a fully fitted kitchen, generous living room, cloakroom and garage, a principal bedroom with en suite and fitted wardrobes, and three further bedrooms, one of which could easily function as a home office. Reservations made by 15 December 2020 can be purchased with the current Help to Buy scheme.
At Queensbury Park, current availability includes three-bedroom homes priced from £225,950 and four-bedroom homes priced from £285,000. Visits can be made by appointment only, Thursday to Monday, from 10.00am to 5.00pm. Find out more about Queensbury Park from Lovell Homes.
Plot 22 at Drayton Meadows in Market Drayton is a new release from David Wilson Homes. It’s a four-bedroom ‘Ingleby’ house type priced at £280,000. This is a detached home that has a ground floor featuring an open-plan kitchen with dining and family areas, along with French doors lead out onto the garden. The first floor features two double bedrooms (with an en suite to bedroom one), two single bedrooms – one could make an excellent home office – and a family bathroom. It comes with a single garage and driveway parking.
The 'Ingleby' at Drayton Meadows
Drayton Meadows is a lovely collection of four- and five-bedroom family homes close to the town of Market Drayton and surrounded by open fields, providing a rural feel and peaceful outlook. The canal towpaths nearby are perfect for a leisurely bike ride or a quiet walk with your dog. The pedestrianised town centre, just a brisk walk from home, has some lovely coffee shops and a great outdoor market.
There’s limited availability of the current Help to Buy scheme at this development, with just two homes qualifying for it, but the housebuilder’s NHS deposit scheme remains until summer 2021. Prices here range from £320,000 to £380,000. Find out more about Drayton Meadows from David Wilson Homes.
Nicol & Co has launch City & Suburban Properties’ Portland House in Great Malvern It is a development of 12 luxury apartments in converted Georgian-style building. Portland House – renamed as The Portland as part of its redevelopment – was originally one of a pair of houses built in the late 1840s on Church Street, later becoming a hotel, then offices.
The Portland
Georgina McGorrigan, new homes sales manager at Nicol & Co, said: “We are so excited to be marketing such an immaculately restored landmark building as The Portland. “We’ve got great confidence in marketing this superb development by such an experienced and highly skilled developer. Most of the apartments have outside space or a terrace and the location is perfect – it’s just a couple of minutes from Waitrose, the theatre and a great mixture of independent retailers.
There are nine two-bedroom/two-bathroom apartments with private outside space, and three two-bedroom apartments, with prices ranging from £260,000 up to around £425,000. All unitts had been fitted with high-end Elgar Kitchens units and come with parking spaces, a lift to all floors and panoramic views of the Malvern Hills and across the Severn Valley. Find out more at [email protected].
Agent Davidson Estates has announced the first sale at its brand new Sydenham Place development in Tenby Street in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter. It’s the conversion of a Grade II-listed building by Urban Rise Developments and comprises a pair of three-bedroom duplex apartments, three two-bedroom apartments, and a large, executive one-bedroomed apartment. There are also three townhouses, each with three bedrooms, with four offices on the ground and lower-ground floors. Prices range from £299,995 to £599,995.
Sydenham Place
Director Ben Davidson said: “Sydenham Place is a stunning development and we’ve been busy handling a number of keen enquiries from potential buyers. We’re delighted to have got the first sale over the line and are now looking forward to selling and completing on the other units.”
Andrew Chan and Israr Iqbal, co-founders and directors of Urban Rise Developments, said: “We’re thrilled to have got the sales and completions of Sydenham Place off the mark and are very grateful to Davidson Estates for their hard work. We knew this gated mix of old and new properties with guaranteed parking spaces in such a prime Jewellery Quarter location would be very popular, and we look forward to reporting on more sales soon.”
Construction on phase one of Sydenham Place is due to complete by the end of this month, with phase two scheduled for completion by Spring 2021. Find out more at [email protected].
Case study: Mary and Keith
Downsizers Mary and Keith Woodward have ticked moving to a brand new bungalow off their bucket list and say they’ve found their ‘forever home’ at St Mary’s Garden Village in Ross on Wye.
The couple have moved from a three-bedroom terraced property, where they’d converted the garage into a living room, to their first new build home, a three-bedroom property built by Edenstone Homes.
“When we moved into our old home in 2003 there were five of us living there because we had teenagers at the time, but they have since flown the nest and now in their 30s so we didn’t need so much space,” Mary recalled. “It was time for us to start thinking about our forever home and while we had looked at a number of bungalows over the last couple of years, we hadn’t found anything suitable until we came here.”
They chose a three-bedroom ‘Bournemouth’, with open-plan kitchen and dining room; separate lounge and utility. One of the bedrooms has direct access out onto the garden and another has an en suite. They bought at a stage where they could choose some options to personalise their home, such as finishes in the fitted kitchen.
“We wanted a home with all new kitchen appliances built in, with a garden and a garage as my husband is a car fanatic,” Mary explained. “We also wanted a view and somewhere to walk and this bungalow ticked every box.”
They had been due to move in at the end of April but were delayed until the end of May by Coronavirus restrictions.
The Edenstone team kept in touch with the Woodwards, making sure they were okay and updating them of when the site was reopening, and when they would be able to move.
“It couldn’t have been an easier move to get us in and since we have moved in everyone has been amazing. They have been helpful and supportive even though they’re under stress themselves. I couldn’t speak highly enough of the whole experience,” Mary added.
It’s not just their human neighbours the Woodwards have been getting to know. “Ducks come up to the door and we feed the geese every day,” Mary laughed.
Current availability on the Edenstone phase of St Mary’s Garden village includes two- and three-bedroom bungalows and four-bedroom homes set out over two floors. Find out more at edenstonehomes.com/ross-on-wye.
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