Couple swap apartment living for four-bedroom family home

When homeowners Alan Quinn and Sara Sheavills needed more space, they didn't have to put their property on the market - instead they simply traded it in for a brand new four-bedroom home. The happy couple, each owned an apartment, but dreamed of having a detached home where they could raise a family in the years to come.

"We had been living in Sara's two-bedroom apartment in Lower Earley," explains Alan (31), who now rents out his apartment in Reading as an extra investment. "But we are both a couple of petrol heads - Sara has a motorbike and I have a BMW Z4 - and missed having a garage, and the extra space of a house.

"At first we looked at George Wimpey's Jennetts Park development, because it's so close to where we were living, but when we visited georgewimpey.co.uk to see the local properties available, we found there were more suitable ones for us at The Parks development."

Alan, a self-employed consultant helping businesses with the running of their call centres, and Sara, who works for an investment company, were able to look around the four-bedroom ‘Rowan' viewhome at the development - decorated in neutral tones without furnishings to reveal the blank canvas a new property provides.

"We both really liked the ‘Rowan' and it met all the criteria we had for our new home," adds Alan. "George Wimpey purchased Sara's apartment from us through its Part-Exchange scheme and using their House 2 Home removals service, all our belongings were packed, transported and then unpacked ready for us in to our new home. It was very straightforward and moving was no hassle at all."

The ‘Rowan' housetype which Alan and Sara chose is currently available at The Parks priced from £369,995. Alternative three and four-bedroom homes range from £289,995 to £460,000.

In addition to incentives for homeowners such as George Wimpey's Part-Exchange scheme and House 2 Home, the leading housebuilder offers a First-Time Buyer Initiative in association with Government agency, English Partnerships, offering the opportunity to purchase a property with a mortgage for half the new home's price and a low-interest loan to help make up the difference.

Bracknell is a modern and vibrant town, with a pedestrianised shopping centre and a choice of cafes, bars and restaurants. A £750m regeneration of the town centre is also underway, creating new leisure facilities, transport links and healthcare services. Homes are within easy reach of the centre and a choice of supermarkets.

Local schools have an excellent reputation, with pupils attaining results higher than the national average.

For commuters, the railway station is less than half a mile from the development, offering regular services to London Waterloo in 60 minutes, and Reading in just 20 minutes. The M3 and M4 are a few minutes away by road.

For more information, log on to Georgewimpey.co.uk.