With wedding plans very much at the top of the agenda, buying a new home was supposed to take something of a back seat for Charlotte and James.
But, as it turns out, six months before their big day, they were already the proud owners of a three bedroom semi detached townhouse at Linden Homes’ beautiful Cholsey Meadows development in the village of Cholsey.
Originally, when they first thought about buying their own home, the couple had looked at various properties in the Reading area. But, by chance James, who was visiting clients, drove past Cholsey Meadows in the south Oxfordshire village of Cholsey, and saw the signs.
It was the first time he’d heard of the development and, as luck would have it, soon afterwards the couple were driving out towards Oxford one Saturday and saw the signs for Cholsey Meadows again. They Googled the development from the car and, that afternoon, they decided to drive in and have a look.
James remembers the visit well:
“We met the staff, we saw the show home and we had the brochure. We looked around a four bedroom property: somehow for a casual visit it all got a bit out of hand. We really liked Cholsey Meadows but we knew it wasn’t the right time and we weren’t quite ready to take the next step so we decided not to let ourselves get too carried away. We knew there would be other options available at Cholsey Meadows in the future.”
Charlotte says that they looked at another local development on the same day for comparison:
“We saw some other new build homes locally but we didn’t like them as much as those at Cholsey Meadows. The Linden Homes properties felt more in proportion and we felt that with Linden Homes we were getting much more for our money. But it was interesting to compare the two.”
A month after their first visit to Cholsey Meadows, the couple returned. This time they saw several more homes. One in particular caught their eye even though it was still very much in the process of being built:
“We decided this time to go for it and were just about to put in an offer,” remembers James, “...and someone beat us to it. We thought our plans, for the moment, had been scuppered. But we didn’t mind too much because the idea had always been to wait until March or April of this year anyway. We decided what will be, will be.”
Their attitude paid off, a little while afterwards, they received a call from Linden Homes’ sales executive at Cholsey Meadows to say that the buyer who had put the offer in on their three bedroom home had decided instead to go for a four bedroom home. Their three bedroom townhouse was available again.
The couple now began to organise their finances in earnest. They obtained a mortgage decision in principle and decided to go ahead with the purchase on the NewBuy scheme.
NewBuy* is a Government led scheme designed to make it easier for people to buy new build properties. Working in partnership with major high street lenders, the scheme is designed to help you secure a fixed rate mortgage on a new build property with a 5 - 10% deposit. It’s available on all new homes up to the value of £500,000.
Looking back James and Charlotte agree that without the NewBuy scheme they wouldn’t have been able to afford such a valuable new build property at that moment in time, with most high street lenders typically requiring a 20% deposit on new build homes. James says that they have ended up with a much more substantial home than they’d originally envisaged.
James moved into their new home just before Christmas 2012. Charlotte is planning to move in as soon as she and James are married.
With the wedding just weeks away now, the couple are resisting the temptation to furnish their new home now: James and Charlotte are hoping that, once they’re married, their wedding list may play a significant role in helping them to turn their new Cholsey Meadows house into a home.
For more information about the homes at Cholsey Meadows, please call 01491 659012.
*conditions apply.
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For further information, contact Tracy Mannion, Claire McCowan or Emma Cox at Remarkable Public Relations on 01962 893 893 or emma.cox@remarkablegroup.co.uk
References to “we”, “us” or “our” are to the part of the Vistry Group (including Linden Homes, Bovis Homes, Countryside Homes, Drew Smith, Vistry Ventures or one of Vistry’s joint venture companies) from which you are intending to purchase a new home. References to "you” and “your” are to the prospective buyer or buyers of a new home from us.
All images are used for illustrative purposes only and are representative only. They may not be the same as the actual home you purchase and the specification may differ. Images may be of a slightly different model of home and may include optional upgrades and extras which involve additional cost. Individual features such as windows, brick, carpets, paint and other material colours may vary and also the specification of fittings may vary. Any furnishings and furniture are not included in any sale. Please check with our sales consultants for details of the exact specifications available at the development(s) for each type of home and the associated prices.
