Parents help family onto property ladder

Tina Utting-Morgan (32), her husband Jason (34) and their son Dylan (5) recently bought their first home: a four-bedroom terraced house at Barratt’s Maes-Y-Ffynnon development in the village of Abercynon, thanks to the help they received from Tina’s Mum and Dad.

The couple had previously been renting a small two-bedroom property in Caerphilly but were also saving to buy their own home. Tina’s parents contributed a significant amount of money towards their deposit.

Tina comments: “We were very lucky my parents could help us out; we couldn’t have done it without them. We bought our house for £106,000 and having a substantial deposit made our monthly mortgage repayments much more affordable. As my parents said, their money is much better invested in our property than in the bank where they were getting a very small return on their savings; it’s a win win situation for us all.”

Jason, a chef, and Tina, a secondary school teacher in Tonypandy, moved into their new home only six weeks after reserving. Tina adds: “There’s a great community here already, lots of people are moving now and we are constantly meeting new neighbours. This is a lovely-looking development. We like the fact that all the houses are different styles; it keeps everything individual and makes our choice of home feel more personal to us.

“The location is ideal. We’re close enough to Cardiff to make the most of all the city has to offer. It only takes us 20 minutes to get there on the train and the road links are great too with the A470 being literally a minute or two from our house. When we want to enjoy a quieter pace of life, the countryside is only a few minutes away.”
Jason says: “We felt it was a good time to buy; prices are more realistic and we have a property that is relatively maintenance-free. Barratt also included all the carpets and turfed the garden, which was a great help. We’ve now got plenty of space so Tina’s parents can stay overnight when they visit.

“We feel much happier paying our mortgage each month instead of wasting our money on rent. I’d recommend others trying to buy their first home to talk to Barratt; if they can get some help from their parents too, so much the better.”

Maes-Y-Ffynnon, located in the Cynon Valley, offers an excellent choice of attractive terraced, semi-detached and detached houses. Conveniently, the scheme lies just off the A470 at the confluence of the Cynon and Taff Rivers, around 15 miles north of Cardiff.

Adrian Bird, sales director at Barratt South Wales, adds: “We appreciate everyone is feeling the effect of the credit crunch and that they may think they cannot afford to move at the moment, so we have lowered our prices. We are also offering our Part Exchange scheme at this development, where we could buy your old home, allowing you to move into a brand new home at Maes-Y-Ffynnon; there’s no chain to worry about or estate agents’ fees.”

There is never a better time to buy than now with prices from £95,995 for a two-bedroom house with parking, £108,995 for a three-bedroom house with parking and £174,995 for a four-bedroom house with a garage.

The sales and marketing suite at Maes-Y-Ffynnon, Ynysboeth, Abercynon, Mountain Ash, Mid Glamorgan, CF45 4AZ is open Thursday to Monday, 11am to 6pm. For more information, visit Barratthomes.co.uk.