Banner provides care and attention for young couple purchasing at The Gables

Banner Homes’ employee Paul Nelson, 27 and his girlfriend Claire Ireland, 23 had been together for three years and decided the time was right for them to take the next step and move in together.

After traipsing around various properties with estate agents to no avail, they were starting to give up hope on finding their dream home. However, when Paul heard that his employer Banner Homes was building some new apartments at a development called The Gables, located down desirable Chilbolton Avenue, he had a feeling that their luck was about to change.

Paul, who has been working as an Assistant Surveyor for Banner for just over a year, had always been keen to buy a new build property, he comments; “I have always loved the freedom that new build properties can offer and I am not just saying that because I work for a house builder. They are modern, well planned, with no DIY hassle, which means we can simply unpack our boxes and get on with enjoying our home.”

The couple have both lived in the Winchester area for many years and wanted to remain in the location. Paul comments; “The location of The Gables is fantastic as we are close to town for all our everyday needs and it is an added bonus that they are located on one of the best roads in the area – known locally as ‘Millionaires Road’.”

Paul explains; “Obviously, I’m more than familiar with Banner products however Claire had pre-conceived perceptions of new build properties and was a little apprehensive at first. In the past we had looked around other developers properties and they all seemed to be quite small, ‘boxy’ looking in appearance and had car parking issues - there always seemed to be a trade off!

“We had a look at The Gables floor plans and Claire was immediately impressed with the square footage and the design and layout available in each apartment. The fact that the apartment came with two car parking spaces was an added bonus.”

He continues; “We went on a tour of Banner developments in the area so Claire could gauge a feel on what they were like internally as a space to live. Once she had a look at the apartments in Providence Park, Southampton she was eager to purchase a property at Winchester, so we purchased off-plan immediately.”

Claire and Paul chose a ground floor apartment that came complete with a patio, which they are keen to make use of in the coming summer months. An added bonus to purchasing off-plan for the couple was they were able to have input into the finish of the property. They helped choose the tiles they wanted for the kitchen, en-suite and master bathroom which helped stamp more of their identity onto the property.

Claire and Paul also found the purchasing procedure of their first home to be nice and straight forward with lots of helpful advice from those at Banner throughout the process. Paul comments; “Everyone at Banner Homes’ were extremely helpful throughout the buying process. I had lots of hands on help from Nicki Dennis, the Sales and Marketing Director through the complicated mortgage maze that emerged and my Commercial Director John Kelly, along with the rest of my team were also fantastic support.”

Paul concludes; “One thing that really impressed me was the after sales service that we received and in my opinion it is of pivotal importance to first time buyers to receive this kind of service in what can be a daunting process. We had our very own after sales service manager who walked around our property with us and reported any snags we might have, he also showed us how all our appliances worked and we generally felt that the company was interested and cared about us after the sale. We only moved in a couple of weeks ago and it already seems like home.”

Properties at The Gables have now been all sold. Luckily, Banner Homes’ have built a variety of quality developments in the area including; The Beeches in Itchen Abbas and Providence Park in Southampton.

The Beeches is a development of ten properties ranging from two to five bedrooms. Prices start from £295,000 and rise to £595,000.

Approached via a sweeping drive, Providence Park is a luxury gated development of 77 apartments, 11 of which are exclusive to over 55’s, in addition to four designer penthouses and eight family homes. Only 6 age exclusive apartments for the over 55’s remain at the development. Prices start from £250,000.

For further information, visit bannerhomes.co.uk.