Buyers sleeping in their cars to bag a home
DESPERATE house hunters have been sleeping overnight in their cars for more than a week to make sure they are first in line for homes at a new development.
Some hopefuls have spent up to nine nights camping out on the Hill Top Park estate in Rochdale, with relatives putting in shifts and bringing takeaway pizza and hot water bottles to help out.
The main attraction appears to be the price – although the properties are still being built, those in the queue claim they are being sold for a relatively cheap £160,000 for a three-bed semi and £100,000 for a two-bed.
If bought through the Government’s Help To Buy scheme, the cost of a 35-year mortgage would be as little as £54 a week, less than typical council house rents in the area. Among those sticking it out is 20year-old Kef, who has been sleeping in his Audi for nine days on behalf of his sister – and fears being there for six weeks. ‘We are doing eight-hour shifts, it’s so cold I’ve almost used all of my petrol on the heating,’ he said.
Some have even stuck handwritten signs in their car windows listing their place in the queue and the plot they are interested in to stop rivals from pushing in. In total 200 homes will be built on the site of a former primary school where the BBC drama Waterloo Road was filmed.
Gleeson Homes acknowledged the high demand but said it could not stop people sleeping in their cars. The developer added: ‘We have a huge demand for our homes on many of our sites because it is usually cheaper to buy a Gleeson home than to rent one locally.
‘The problem is that someone is always disappointed. We wish we could provide a house to everyone who wants one.’