Playing the odds in the housing market

Award-winning housebuilder, Gladedale, is openly challenging prospective housebuyers at the moment with an unusually wide array of incentives to stimulate the market.

Richard Jones, Sales Director for Gladedale in North East England, says, "We fully understand that people are nervous and getting mixed messages from the economy but the variety and extent of incentives available to purchasers at the moment are as good as I have ever seen in the last fifteen years.

"The challenge for buyers in this climate is to take a view on when is the best time to buy. We are certainly doing everything possible to tackle any areas where lack of confidence may be an issue but buyers should be in no doubt whatsoever that the current incentives are highly attractive and very temporary.

"The economy does not benefit from the housing market stalling so there are unusually attractive opportunities for buyers around at the moment. It would be well worth anyone's time to visit their targeted developments sooner rather than later as they will probably be very pleasantly surprised at the value and flexibility available.

"For instance, I believe the government has unwittingly made things worse by saying it might suspend stamp duty sometime soon. Our response has been to step in and decisively say we will cover stamp duty costs now. All our efforts are designed to remove uncertainty and I believe people would be very wise to explore and take a view on the opportunities currently available."

Apart from standard incentive packages, the array of extraordinary Gladedale incentives available on selected developments and plots at the moment, include;

* Part-exchange on an existing property.
* Shared equity.
* Where you pay only 75% of the value of the property for ten years.
* Finance Fuel package, offering both £1,000 towards heating costs plus £1,000 towards vehicle fuel costs for the first year after purchase.
* Stamp duty paid in full by Gladedale.

First Start for first time buyers; covering the 5% initial deposit required, £400 towards legal costs and the cost of the first survey.

Richard Jones concludes: "There are good reasons for buyers to be highly choosey at the moment but we would hate buyers to miss out on some extraordinary deals which they should be in no doubt will disappear as soon as things start to improve. The challenge is to explore the options available at any given time and get the deal which works for you."

For more information, log on to Gladedale.com.