Move in on a top deal
IT’S a determined homebuyer who takes the plunge amid reports house prices will fall in the UK this year.As the property market slowly reopens, there are predictions of dips from three to seven per cent to come. But although buyers are facing social distancing restrictions just to get inside a property, those with mortgages already sorted can benefit from a range of developers’ incentives if they seal a deal soon rather than wait to see whether prices will fall.
The biggest benefit to look out for is having your stamp duty paid in part or in full. Stamp duty, or Land and Buildings Transaction Tax in Scotland and Land Transaction Tax in Wales, can seriously affect buyers’ budgets but at Buckton Fields in Northampton, Martin Grant Homes is contributing towards stamp duty bills and offering free carpets in the few remaining five-bedroom houses for sale at £474,950 (01604 438231; martin granthomes.co.uk).
Buckton Fields has its own primary school, shops and services plus open parkland near its 140 new homes, and a further 123 two, three and four-bedroom homes are being built in a further phase of the development.
Gardens at those five-bedroom houses also come with turf laid – and landscaping is another incentive to look out for.
At Rayners Green, a Cambridgeshire development of 68 homes on land previously used by Scotsdale Garden Centre, the first 10 buyers will receive £1,000 Scotsdale vouchers and £180 towards its garden design service.The mix of detached and semi-detached homes at Fordham, a small village five miles north of Newmarket, will launch tomorrow and there are plans for a play area and care home on the site.
Homes are for sale from £289,950 for a two-bedroom house (0808 168 7900; raynersgreen.co.uk), with 21 houses and apartments available for as little as £100,000 to key workers with local connections.
BENEFITS for key workers have increased during the coronavirus crisis, with Barratt Homes offering NHS and military personnel a five per cent deposit contribution worth up to £15,000.
These are available at developments including Dane View in Northwich, and J One Seven in Sandbach, both in Cheshire, where prices start from £244,995 and £229,995 respectively (0333 3558 474; barratthomes.co.uk)
Similarly, Storey Homes is offering a £10,000 reduction to essential workers on homes at its De Montfort Place development in Bedford and at Birch Meadow, near Royston, Hertfordshire. Staff in health and social care, education and childcare, public services, local and national government, public safety and national security, transport, utilities, food and other necessary goods, and some communications and financial services workers – as defined on the gov.uk website – may be eligible for the discount.
Storey Homes’ Harpurs phase at De Montfort Place is a gated development within a conservation area a stone’s throw from the centre of Bedfordshire’s county town. It has private parking, communal gardens, tennis courts and a play area, with three and five-bedroom houses for sale from £325,000 (01234 325777; storey-homes.co.uk).
At Birch Meadow, an exclusive development of 12 four and five-bedroom detached houses in the picturesque village of Barkway, prices start from £595,000 (01763 849709; storey-homes.co.uk).
Managing director Katy Jordan says the wide-ranging scheme shows gratitude to workers who have “held the country together” during the coronavirus crisis.
“Homes have never been more important,” she adds, “and we want to show our gratitude and offer support that our essential workers and their families might benefit from once we make it through this difficult time.”