NewBuy – bridging the gap for home-hunters
Rightmove research recently revealed that raising enough of a deposit is the single biggest concern for 44% of home-hunters, but thanks to the Government-backed NewBuy scheme many people are still able to get onto the housing ladder.
Cristina del Cano Novales and her husband Ulrik are a perfect example of this. The couple have just moved into a detached family house at Bovis Homes’ Chiltern Dean development in Oxfordshire with her their daughter Alba. The couple admit that if it wasn’t for NewBuy, they would now be heading into their eighth year of renting a house they couldn’t make their own. Instead they are setting up home as a young family in their lovely detached property.
“We just didn’t have enough savings for a deposit,” explains Cristina. “We had been renting for the past seven years, and it felt that we were throwing away our money when we could be putting the same amount towards our own house.”
That’s when the 5% deposit required by NewBuy – the mortgage backed by the Government and the country’s major housebuilders and lenders – really made a difference and the couple were able to take up a loan with the Woolwich.
“NewBuy was the only option to buy the home that we wanted,” said Ulrik. “We calculated it would take us three years to save up the 20% down payment that would otherwise have been required but by then the house we liked would be sold. We’ve been careful with our budget calculations and made sure we have enough room to pay a bit extra into the mortgage every month. We’re also very happy with what we have paid for the house as there are very few detached three-beds available in Oxfordshire and even fewer new-builds, so the price is normally quite high, but this one was very reasonable.”
Cristina, 33, and Ulrik, 34, are now settling into their third month of life at Chilton Dene with their young daughter and are relishing everything that setting up in a first home entails. “Apart from setting up home and walking in our wonderful new neighbourhood we’ve been enjoying the garden a lot,” Cristina said. “We’re also very close to work now, so it saves us lots of time and fuel. It is very nice to be able to decide what you want the house to look like and what you want to do. The location, size, views, the garden, the type of house were all perfect – and we could afford it!”
Rightmove’s research found that around 3 in 10 people who don’t feel they are in a financial position to move feel more likely to buy a new home in the next 12 months thanks to NewBuy.
To find out more about how the scheme can help you, visit Rightmove’s NewBuy homepage – https://www.rightmove.co.uk/newbuy.
