The Only Way Is..... Out Of London (Northfields)
24 Jul 2014

According to the property pages this week, there are a growing number of property hotspots developing in the UK housing market. Predictably one of them is London, home of the contentious ‘property bubble’, which has once again seen substantial gains in house prices.

(Figures earlier this month showed that prices in the capital rose by an average of 20% in the last year while the UK average was 10.5%).

But commentators are identifying a shift in UK property trends: The south east, including Essex, is one area that is showing signs of a recovery in the housing market.

So what has triggered the shift in Essex?

Christie Alaimo, the sales and marketing director of Linden Homes Eastern says one of the catalysts may well be the Help to Buy scheme*:

“It’s a very interesting phenomenon: We have buyers coming to our Northfields development in Colchester who could only afford to rent a two bedroom apartment in London. With Help to Buy they have been able to move out of the capital and instead buy a three bedroom house with a garden.”

“Of course, in the past, people have thought about doing this, but its only now, with the introduction of the Help to Buy scheme that they have been able to do something about it.
I suppose you could say the Help to Buy scheme has released them from the escalation of London property prices.”

This phenomenon is being put down to different factors in different areas of the UK – in Salford, for example, it is because of the relocation of the BBC, which has created fresh demand and rejuvenated the local property market.

Christie concluded: “In the last year or so it has been the combination of Help to Buy and the fact that Northfields, and some of our other Essex developments, are so easily commutable that has had such an impact on sales: The station is just over half a mile away from Northfields and from there it takes less than an hour to get into central London.

“People are now starting to question why they should pay London prices to rent a property when they can use Help to Buy to purchase a home that gives them so much more for their money.”

Help to Buy is a Government backed equity scheme that enables buyers to purchase a new home with just 5% deposit and a 20% Government equity loan – a loan that can be repaid at any time within the first 25 years - and is interest free for five years

For more details of the houses and apartments available at Northfields, visit the Linden Homes website. Or call the sales and marketing suite on 0844 417 3904. The sales and marketing suite on site at Northfields in Colchester is open every day from 10am to 5pm.

You can find out more about the Help to Buy scheme and how it works – on the website or from your Linden Homes’ sales executive.


*scheme rules apply.

-ENDS-

For further information, contact Claire McCowan or Emma Cox at Remarkable Group on 01962 893893.

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.

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