New scheme sees couple into their first home

A new housing scheme designed to get young people on to the property ladder has helped a young couple from Yorkshire to buy their first home.

Twenty eight year old Carl Riley and his partner twenty three year old Laura Robinson have just moved into Bellway’s development at Evergreen, part of the Leeds New Forest Village development.

Using the HomeBuy Direct scheme Carl a manager at a local garden centre and Laura a customer service advisor were able to afford a three bedroom townhouse costing £149,995.

“We had been looking around for a while, and then we heard about Bellway’s Homebuy scheme on the radio and thought we would take a look,” said Laura. “It was just what we were looking for and when Bellway explained how the HomeBuy scheme worked we realised that we would be able to afford the house. Bellway were really good and helped us through the qualifying process. It’s fantastic to have our own home; it’s not far from where my mum lives in Lofthouse and is handy for work.”

Laura and Carl took advantage of the HomeBuy Direct scheme which is jointly funded by Bellway and the Government. The scheme allows you to purchase a home for 70% of its market value without the need for a deposit. The remaining 30% is treated as an interest free loan for 5 years with a minimal charge there after for the remaining 25 years of the loan. Buyers can redeem the 30% loan in instalments at the current market rate, thereby staircasing to full ownership. Alternatively, if they sell their home, the equity loan is repaid by way of the sale proceeds. The scheme is open to all households earning less than £60,000 and who would not normally be able to buy a suitable home on the open market.

Sales manager, Melanie Smith, said: “Homebuy Direct is a great incentive for first time buyers, we are seeing increasing interest in the scheme as more and more people fall out of love of renting homes realising that buying a home of their own is a better investment and in some cases cheaper than renting.”

Bellway has a selection of 3, 4 and 5 bedroom family homes at Evergreen starting from £154,995 or as little as £108,496 using the HomeBuy Direct scheme.

For more information visit bellway.co.uk.