Why rent when you could buy in Rayleigh

Colin White, 43, lives with his 16-year old daughter Hannah and was renting a three-bedroom house in the market town of Rayleigh, Essex. His rent was high and the house needed renovating, so Colin decided to look around for a better alternative. He called into Barratt Eastern Counties’ Kings Gate development in Rayleigh to enquire about renting and was surprised to find that the incentives on offer meant that he could afford to buy an apartment instead.

Colin, who is an electrician, explains: “The sales team told me about Barratt’s Head Start offer and when I worked out the figures, I realised that my mortgage payments would be far lower than my current rent. I decided I’d be much better off buying a brand new two-bedroom apartment rather than renting a three-bedroom house that needed lots of work on it.”

Head Start, which is offered on selected homes, means that the purchaser pays only 85 per cent of the selling price. The 15 per cent balance is an interest free loan that doesn’t have to be paid back for ten years, or until the property is sold.

With help from Barratt’s recommended independent financial advisor, Colin secured a very good deal. Colin paid only £153,000 for his apartment with Head Start and also received five per cent towards his deposit and carpets throughout the home.

Colin and Hannah are delighted with their brand new home. Their first-floor apartment is fresh, modern and energy efficient. The open-plan living/dining/kitchen area has plenty of space for when Colin’s other teenage daughter and son come to visit or for entertaining friends. There are two double bedrooms and two bathrooms, giving plenty of privacy and avoiding queues for the bathroom. The kitchen is very well equipped and even includes a fridge/freezer and washer/dryer.

Living in a new apartment means that Colin no longer has to worry about renovations. He comments: “With busy lives, it’s a bonus having a brand new flat that doesn’t need any maintenance. Although we’ve now got two instead of three bedrooms, it really isn’t a problem. There’s plenty of space for us both and we never used our old spare room anyway.”

One of the reasons that Kings Gate is such a popular place to live is because of its central location. It’s within walking distance of Rayleigh’s picturesque High Street, which makes shopping and nights out very easy.

Transport links are also very good. Hannah works for the Royal Bank of Scotland in Southend-on-Sea and simply hops on to a bus for the eight-mile journey. The train station is close to Kings Gate, so Colin and Hannah can easily get around, and if they want to go to London, it’s just 50 minutes to Liverpool Street. Colin works for a social housing repairs company in Richmond, 85 miles away, but finds the long drive relatively easy because of the easy access to the M25.

Colin concludes: “Buying our flat has been a very good experience. I plan to stay here for at least five years, but when I do move, I’d want to buy from Barratt again.”

There are just 22 apartments at Kings Gate, housed in two attractive traditionally designed low-rise buildings and set in landscaped grounds. Each apartment comes with an allocated parking space within the development.

Over 60 per cent of the homes at Kings Gate have now been sold. The remaining two-bedroom apartments are priced from £182,950 and Barratt has a range of flexible incentives to help make it easy for people to move. These include Head Start, which is available for a limited time on selected properties. Barratt is also offering five per cent paid towards your deposit or its Agency Selling service, where if you have an existing house to sell Barratt will save you the expense of estate agent fees and the Home Information Pack, by marketing the property on your behalf.

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