First-time buyers Adam King and Tayla Trigg have purchased their own dream home after six years of living together at Adam’s parents’ house.
The pair, who are both 27, used the Home Stepper shared ownership scheme to enable them to buy a four-bedroom Aslin home at Linden Homes’ Western Gate location, off Sandy Lane, Northampton.
Adam, a maintenance manager at a care home, and Tayla, a call handler for a medical supplies firm, started saving in 2017 – six months after they met.
“We decided that we were serious about each other and Tayla moved into my parents’ house in Northampton so that we could be together and save money for a deposit for a house of our own one day,” said Adam.
“It was great of my mum and dad to allow us to live there but we dreamed of the day when we would afford to buy our own place so we could have our own space. We bought a bottle of Prosecco on the day we started saving and vowed we would keep it and open it when we finally had our own home.”
The couple saved hard and in 2023 started to look in earnest for a home of their own.
“One day in June, Tayla was off work and spotted the four-bedroom Aslin home on offer for £171,000 through the Home Stepper scheme at Western Gate,” said Adam. “Tayla was so excited she went down herself and the sales advisor Rachel told her all about the initiative which meant we could buy a 50 per cent share in the house and pay rent on the rest.
“Tayla insisted we went to the development together the next day to look round the Aslin show home on site. The moment we stepped inside we fell in love with the place. It was fabulous. It was everything we had dreamed of and more.
“We sat down with Rachel and she explained how, thanks to Home Stepper, we were able to afford it. There was no way we could have bought this incredible place without that scheme. Rachel was brilliant and looked after us from day one and made sure it all went smoothly.
“We really can’t thank Rachel enough for the help she gave us in answering all our questions and the updates she gave us as the house was being built. These are lovely memories for us to look back on now.”
Home Stepper was launched by Linden Homes and Sage Homes to enable buyers to purchase a percentage share in a new-build home and pay rent on the remaining share.
The couple put down a deposit of £8,208 and are now paying £862 on the mortgage and £468 rent. They moved into their new home in November 2023.
“At first, we could not get used to having so much space,” said Adam. “Instead of waiting to use the bathroom or the kitchen we could just shower and cook whenever we wanted. At mum and dad’s house, we spent a lot of time in my bedroom as we wanted a bit of privacy to catch up with each other’s day after a shift at work but now we have a whole three-storey house to ourselves. We love the idea of a new build house and getting to make the home truly ours.
“Our bedroom on the top floor is our special place and it feels like a real touch of luxury to have our own en suite. We are using one of the other bedrooms as a dressing room and having another as a home gym with weights bench and a set of dumbbells in there.
“The remaining bedroom will be the guest room or ‘Tayla’s mum’s room’ as we call it because she is convinced that it belongs to her and likes to tell everyone that it is hers. She has been planning how the room will look and often sends Tayla ideas of things she likes for the room. It will be great to be able to have her stay over whenever she feels like it.”
The location of Western Gate is ideal as they both had to drive 25 minutes to work from Adam’s parents’ house, while they now only have a commute of 10 minutes each. With the location of the house, it also means that Adam and Tayla get to car share when going to and from work.
“On the second night at the new house, we cooked spaghetti Bolognese, watched Masterchef on TV and celebrated by cracking open the bottle of Prosecco we had been saving for six years,” said Adam. “It was bliss. To be honest, I am not sure when we will stop pinching ourselves because we still can’t believe that this amazing house is ours – all ours. It’s all we dreamed of and we love it.”
Linden Homes is part of Vistry Group, along with Bovis Homes and Countryside Homes.
There is currently a choice of two, four and five-bedroom new homes available to reserve at Western Gate, with prices starting at £170,000 with the Home Stepper scheme for a 50 per cent share.
For more information about the all the properties at Western Gate, visit lindenhomes.co.uk.
