The issue of home ownership is a hot topic at the moment: The Planning Minister Nick Boles last week insisted that there is no aspiration so deeply ingrained in the British psyche than owning your own home – and announced that 270,000 new homes need to be built to try and ease the housing crisis in the UK, even if it means building on green field sites.
And although home ownership in the UK is falling (in 2011 it fell for the first time in sixty years from 68% to 63%) a recent survey by British Social Attitudes found that given a free choice 86% of people would rather buy their home rather than rent.
All the statistics point to the fact that the majority of people want to buy their own homes – so what is stopping them?
It could be the perception that it is difficult to get a mortgage – but Adam Champion from the New Homes Group says the mortgage market and lenders’ attitudes are changing. Alongside this, the government led NewBuy scheme*, introduced last March, is proving to be a great option:
“Interest rates on the NewBuy scheme have dropped since last March. For example, Nationwide, is offering NewBuy for 4.34%. When the scheme began, NewBuy interest rates were at 6.09% - so that is a drop of 1.75% in less than a year. I don’t think it is overstating it to say that if you use NewBuy at the moment, either for a first property, or if you are already on the property ladder, then there has probably never been a better time to buy.
“It’s not just Nationwide either: Most lenders are getting much keener to lend money and many people are finding that when they apply for a mortgage now, the criteria are far less rigorous than in the past.”
With financial backing easier to come by, this is an ideal time to have a look at Linden Homes’ Burntwood Square in Brentwood. Ten apartments have just been released in the latest phase of the development. The properties consist of one and two bedroom apartments and duplexes (duplexes are arranged over two floors, giving them a real sense of space).
Burntwood Square has been built on the site of the old Victorian Highwood and Little Highwood hospitals in seventeen acres of landscaped conservation area: Roseanne Bullen is the regional sales and marketing manager and says the development is a clever combination of old and new:
“Many of the old red brick buildings at Burntwood Square have been preserved and converted with imagination and care into modern homes, smart apartments and beautifully proportioned detached and terraced homes. Elsewhere we’ve sensitively created new homes around the old buildings.
“This area is very familiar to people in Brentwood. It is part of the town’s history, so we are always very pleased when visitors, who have seen how we’ve turned the site around, say how impressed they are with what we have done.”
The development is conveniently close to the centre of Brentwood with its shops, restaurants, cafes and bars. And London is only 18 miles away. So you can live in a Victorian home surrounded by beautiful gardens – yet be just 35 minutes from Liverpool Street Station.
Not only that, these properties have been built by Linden Homes – named Best Large Housebuilder by What House? in November and, in common with all Linden Homes, are well designed, and beautifully finished.
To find out more about the new phase of apartments at Burntwood Square, or for more details about the NewBuy scheme* please call 01277 201812.
*conditions apply
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For further information, contact Claire McCowan or Tracy Mannion at Remarkable Public Relations on 01962 893 893 or Claire.McCowan@remarkablegroup.co.uk
