Help to Buy proves a hit at Kingshill Meadow

The latest government initiative to support sales of new homes is proving to be a hit at Berkeley’s Kingshill Meadow development in Cirencester.

Out of the 28 properties which have sold since the programme was launched in April 2013, 11 of them have been sold to buyers taking advantage of the Help to Buy scheme.

Help to Buy enables purchasers of new build homes priced below £600,000 to secure a property with a 5 per cent deposit, compared with the 20 per cent previously required on most schemes.

Savills research estimates that over the three year lifespan of the scheme, up to 400,000 credit worthy buyers will get on and up the housing ladder, which will in turn boost development. Of these, it is estimated that 40 per cent will be First Time Buyers.

Developer Berkeley is running a series of events on the site where a financial advisor will be available to discuss how this initiative can help buyers onto or up the property ladder. The next of these will run on Saturday 16th November from 10am – 5pm at the marketing suite.

Karen Mole and her team at Savills are marketing the properties. Karen comments, “The latest properties at Kingshill Meadow have proven exceptionally popular. The current phase – known as Chestnut Place – was launched earlier this year and has just two out of its 25 properties remaining.

“The draw of Help to Buy has without a doubt contributed to this and as a result Berkeley Homes has released its next phase early to purchasers wishing to buy off plan. Buyers taking part in Help to Buy now have up to nine months to complete on their purchase, which enables them time to secure their property before the build is complete.

“Berkeley has been helping buyers through the process with a series of events at the scheme where an independent advisor has been available to offer advice. This has proven popular with buyers who have heard about Help to Buy but are unsure whether they qualify and what the scheme can offer them.”

First time buyer Matthew Francis and his partner Emma are purchasing a property at the scheme through Help to Buy.

Matthew explains, “ My fiancée and I had been renting for a year and a half and were beginning to think about buying a property. We are both from the Cotswolds and I work in Cirencester so we knew the area well. By chance, we called into the Kingshill Meadow marketing suite when we were passing one day and we got talking to the staff there. We very much liked the properties on offer and we were talked through how Help to Buy works.

“It was the trigger we needed to put a deposit down on a two bedroom house at the development. Help to Buy offered us the opportunity to secure a new home which we thought would otherwise have been outside of our reach.”

Kingshill Meadow is located under a mile from Cirencester town centre’s boutique shops, department stores, cafes and restaurants. The Berkeley Homes properties have been individually designed and built in a traditional Cotswold style.