Three Members Of Family Buy Homes At Same Development
30 Nov 2021

A mother and her son and daughter have made moving home a family affair by all buying houses on the same development in Brampton.

Mum, Carol Bailey, and her grown-up children, George Glover and Jasmine Glover, are all looking forward to living within easy reach of each other in their new homes at Linden Homes’ Brampton Park, off Central Avenue in the village.

Carol, 49, said: “What we are doing is moving together to stay close, to be there for each other, to help out. In a way, we are going back to the old traditional family values where everyone stayed close and pulled together.

“We are very close family anyway and this will mean we can be a stone’s throw from each other and lend a hand when it is needed. This will be the first time we have all lived so closely since the children were little. It will be lovely.”

All three work in the family business in St Ives – Farm Club, which provides alternative education for seven to 11-year-old children who are struggling in mainstream education.
Carol started the business 12 years ago and is helped by George who works as farm manager and education provider and Jasmine, who is an education provider.

Carol said: “Vulnerable children come to us for a number of reasons including trauma, autism or being excluded from mainstream schools and we provide a safe environment where they can learn life skills through play in an outdoor farm setting where they also have access to animals for therapy.

“It is hard but rewarding work for us all. When we all move in at Brampton Park, we can car share and instead of turning up in two or three vehicles we can arrive together in one. That will help save the planet and we can have a staff meeting on the way to work.”

Carol only decided to move to Brampton Park after her attempt to buy the two-bedroom cottage she was living in in St Ives fell through.

“George and his fiancée Bella were looking at a property on the development and suggested I should go along and have a look at the houses,” said Carol. “I visited the site and loved the open spaces and the fact there were different styles of houses which meant it did not look like Legoland.

“I initially looked at a two-bedroom coach house but eventually ended up buying a four-bedroom Burnet – two doors away from George’s new home. I thought that the coach house would be ideal for Jasmine.”

Carol used the Help to Buy scheme and purchased her house for £360,000.

Under the Government scheme, which is now only available to first-time buyers, people can purchase a new-build home with just a five per cent deposit and 75 per cent mortgage – the remaining 20 per cent being provided as an equity loan which is interest free for the first five years.

In the East of England, the scheme is now available with new-build homes up to the new regional price cap of £407,400.

Carol said: “I put down a £48,000 deposit, the scheme put in £72,000 which left me with a £240,000 mortgage which means I will be playing £803 a month. This is just £8 a month more than my rent at the cottage and I’m investing in my own four-bedroom home.

“I would not have been able to afford a mortgage on this house without the Help to Buy scheme.”

George said he and Bella, 24, who works in account and events management, decided to move from their three-bed terrace house in Godmanchester when baby number two was on the way.

The 27-year-old said: “Bella needs an office to work from home and the third bedroom at our home now is no more than box so that’s no good. We knew we had to move to a bigger house with at least three good-sized bedrooms.

“We had looked at a couple of new-build developments then went along to Brampton Park. As soon as we drove in we were blown away by all the open green space. They have left a lot of the old trees on the site and we counted three or four parks which was a priority for us as somewhere to take the babies on walks.

“When they grow up, we will be able to walk our children to the primary school which is a lovely stroll across the fields. We knew straightaway that Brampton Park was where we wanted to live.”

The sales team at Brampton Park got to work and the couple took advantage of the company’s Home Exchange scheme where Linden Homes buys a customer’s existing home, taking away the stress of selling and also meaning there are no estate agent fees to pay.

George said: “They were brilliant. We dealt mostly with James but also with Jo towards the end and they made everything go smoothly and kept us informed every step of the way.

“We have saved £2,200 on the estate agents’ fees. We are going to use that money to have a landscaped garden with a patio built in. But the best thing about this scheme is that we don’t have to rent and can stay in our old house until the day we move into our new one.

“That has saved us having to pay for a six-month rent then having to move again – all with a toddler and young baby and two dogs.”

George, Bella, 15-month-old Violet, 11-week-old Suki and two Working Cocker Spaniels called Hendrix and Frida moved to Brampton Park in October.

The couple have paid £390,000 for a four-bedroom detached Moulton home and, having put down a £39,000 deposit, will have a £1,200 a month mortgage.

“It’s almost twice what we pay at the old house but the extra space makes it worth it and we will be able to afford it when Bella goes back to work,” said George. “We can’t wait to move in and for all of us to be so close to each other. We will have babysitters and dogsitters on hand and we will be able to be there for my mum and my little sister when they need us.”
Jasmine, 25, has also made the move onto Brampton Park after her mum paid the deposit on a two-bedroom coach house.

“Mum called me one day and said she had nice surprise for me,” said Jasmine. “We drove down to Brampton Park and she showed me the coach house and said: ‘This house would be perfect for you. I can make that happen.’ She said she wanted us all to live close by on the development.

“Mum knew all about the Help to Buy scheme but the sales team at Linden Homes were incredible. They just took control and helped us fill in all the paperwork. Now, instead of living in a rented house with two other people I have my very own home.

“I have bought a four-month-old Cockapoo puppy called Ruby and the best thing ever is for me to finish work and settle down on the sofa in front of the TV with her. I now live right across from a park and I walk Ruby there twice a day and it’s lovely.

“I used to live on the other side of St Ives to mum but now she – and George – are right on my doorstep and that’s fantastic.”

Linden Homes runs an Introduce a Friend scheme where people get a £500 voucher if they recommend as person who then buys a home with the company.

“George is getting one for introducing me and I am getting one for introducing mum but as she is not getting one, we are going to share them with her,” said Jasmine. “We are going to go along as a family and use the two £500 John Lewis vouchers to buy some furniture for all three houses. That’s what we do – we are a family who shares and helps each other out.”

There is a selection of four and five-bedroom homes currently available at Brampton Park.

For more information about homes at Brampton Park call the sales team on team on 01697 602063 or visit lindenhomes.co.uk/eastmidlands.

-ENDS-

Contact: Press.Office@vistrygroup.co.uk