Fairview New Homes has launched an incentive to encourage young professionals to purchase their dream home with a friend, providing a helping hand with the offer of legal fees and expert advice paid up to the value of £2,000, and a lifestyle gift worth up to £500.
While Fairview’s national survey of first-time buyers revealed that over two-thirds (70%) are not able to buy on their own and over half (54%) want to buy their first home with a partner one day, Fairview is advocating for all independent and/or single people who are just as entitled to homeownership.
The housebuilder’s findings revealed the top reasons why almost half (43%) of first-time buyers believe they are unlikely to buy a home with a friend:
- One in four (25%) fear it would risk their friendship
- 24% wouldn’t want to make a long-term commitment with a friend
- 23% do not think it is sensible financially
- 17% do not think it its sensible legally
- 13% say their friends are reluctant
- More than one in 10 (12%) don’t know how to buy with a friend
Fairview has launched Buddy Up to help first-time buyers understand the feasibility and benefits of buying with a friend, paired with expert legal advice and first-hand experience.
The Buddy Up incentive is available to friends (definition, and terms and conditions, apply) who purchase a home together with Fairview, and includes a lifestyle gift they can enjoy together to celebrate becoming joint homeowners. Buyers can choose from:
- ODEON memberships for two years
- £500 Westfield Shopping Centre voucher to share
- £500 for a Spa Pass and Afternoon Tea for two at ESPA Corinthia London
Despite a portion of the nation’s aspiring homeowners having various scepticisms over buddying up, friends Dani and Danielle haven’t looked back since buying their two-bed flat at NewHayes in Hayes last year. First-time buyer nurse Dani, who bought with her friend and fashion technician demonstrator, Danielle after renting together said: “I had been renting in London for three years, and I was fed up paying someone else’s mortgage, when I could be paying my own. I saved as much as I could, and worked really hard, picking up extra shifts in my role as a nurse throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, but I was still not eligible to buy on my own. Without each other, Danielle and I would not have been able to buy a home by ourselves in London.”
In recognition of the top reasons why first-time buyers are hesitant to ‘Buddy Up’, Fairview has teamed up with PCS Legal, property lawyers regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, to offer expert advice giving friends the confidence and guidance they need to buy together.
Daman Singh, conveyancing executive at PCS Legal, said: “Buying with a friend is largely no different to buying with a partner or a family member. We’d always advise parties buying together to get a Trust Deed, also known as a Declaration of Trust, a legally binding document which outlines how much money each person contributed and what happens in various scenarios such as the property being sold or one buying the other out. We advise buyers hold the property as Tenants in Common, so they can detail different shares and enter a Declaration of Trust.”
Dani added: “I had a huge amount of trust in our decision to invest in buying a place together as friends, especially after the legal advice we received which was great, and the whole process was very straightforward.”
Dani hopes to inspire others to purchase a home with a friend, if doing it alone isn’t possible: “If you cannot afford a property you love and have a very close and reliable friend, buy with them so you can both get you out of the renting cycle! If you’re unsure of the process, get trusted legal advice, and have every potential awkward conversation with your friend in advance, on all of the situations that could play out, to prevent trouble in the future.”
In addition to the Buddy Up incentive, exclusive monetary incentives are available at each development in London and the Home Counties, ranging from a 5% deposit top-up and £5,000 John Lewis voucher at Epping Gate (Loughton), to Stamp Duty paid and £5,000 furniture pack at Brentwood Acres (Brentwood) and NewHayes (Hayes).
In Loughton, Essex, Epping Gate comprises of spacious and modern one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, two- and three-bedroom duplexes and two- and three-bedroom houses priced from £325,000.The desirable development offers residents the best of both worlds. Located in leafy Zone 6, Debden station is a nine-minute walk away, meaning residents can travel into central London within 30 minutes via the Central line.
In Brentwood, Essex, Brentwood Acres comprises of 81 two-, three-, and four-bedroom houses and 22 one- and two-bedroom private apartments. The one-bed apartments are now sold out and remaining plots are priced from £375,000, split across two sites. The first site, The Square, is made up of both houses and apartments and launched with a collection of two- and three-bedroom houses available to purchase from 11 June. London Liverpool Street is just 38 minutes away from Brentwood station on the Elizabeth line.
NewHayes, located just a 12-minute walk away from Hayes & Harlington station in west London, comprises 331 studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and duplexes, each with its own private balcony or terrace and priced from £300,000.,
Find out more about current Fairview New Homes developments.