That’s show business
WE ALL love a January sale but with property prices still going up in most areas the next best thing is to buy a property with added extras, which is what the new- build market excels in. Developers will often throw in sweeteners, which could be anything from John Lewis vouchers to stamp duty payments, when they are trying to sell the last few properties on a new estate.
But the prize buy is almost always the showhome, which will come with landscaped gardens at the very least – and increasingly much more.
Traditionally, showhomes were the last properties sold on a site but increasingly builders are selling them first. CALA Homes, for instance, has put its biggest- ever and most impressive Scottish showhome up for sale along with the other homes at its flagship Cults Park development in Aberdeen.
The five- bedroom detached house will be sold for £ 1,395,000 ( 01224 861270; cala. co. uk), including all its furnishings, styled by Haus Interiors, a turfed and landscaped back garden plus Scottish land tax ( LBTT) contributions.
Furniture includes an extra- wide media wall with a television flanked by shelves with integrated LED lighting, plus living room seating, a dining set, desk and leather chair in the study and a super- king bed with white leather bedside tables.
There’s even a furnished annex above the double garage, with its own bathroom and a kitchen.
“We really wanted to make a statement with this showhome,” says Fraser Carr, sales and marketing director. “It showcases the best of CALA and what we’re known for – producing market- leading, contemporary, design- led family homes.”
Similarly, the four- bedroom showhome at Old Halliford Place in Shepperton, Surrey, where much of the British film industry was based for decades, is for sale including all its furnishings, accessories and landscaped garden, for £ 735,000 ( 01932 485282; shanlyhomes. com).
THE scheme has 16 houses and eight apartments and the showhome will be sold with mid- century wooden furniture and a master bedroom with a built- in dressing area and shower room.
At Birch Meadow, a new development in Barkway, Hertfordshire, the four- bedroom detached showhome is for sale at £ 699,950 ( 01223 841842; storey- homes. co. uk), including all the furnishings and the offer of Storey Homes’ Assisted Move to help sell an existing home.
“The beauty of buying the show home is that the space has been designed as a whole,” says sales and marketing director Heather Holl. “The furniture, colours and fabrics chosen throughout the home carve out a cohesive look, which is really hard to create with a buyers’ existing pieces.
“The real value is also in the fittings, which are always installed with the highest quality finish to create an aspirational look.”
Ben Ivey, sales and marketing director of Berkeley Oxford & Chiltern, also points out that buying a showhome with its furniture means you get a professionally designed home interior, featuring the latest design trends, free.
“With the majority of properties occupied and the building works finished, a buyer will not only be moving into a ready- made home, but an established community too,” he adds.
Berkeley’s Brompton Gardens in Ascot, Berkshire, is a collection of new and refurbished homes within mature gardens, with apartments on sale from £ 495,000 ( 01344 894920; berkeleygroup. co. uk).
Snapping up a furnished showhome is a smart move whether you’re a first- time buyer or downsizer, says Ben Babington, director of development consultancy Trilogy, which is involved in Charters Park, a gated development in Sutton Valence, Kent, where the five- bedroom barn style showhome is for sale at £ 975,000 ( 01737 935971; trilogy. uk. com) including wallpaper, lighting fixtures and curtains.
He says: “It tends to either be first- time buyers, who have no furniture of their own, or downsizers, who either feel their current furniture is too large for a smaller property or simply want a complete fresh start for this next chapter of their lives.”