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House move a dream come true for ex-renter

A 26-year-old surveyor has just picked up the keys to his own home after deciding he would prefer to pay his own mortgage rather than continuing to pay rent.

Luke Bowditch has finally realised the dream of owning his own home after he moved into a two-bedroom coach house built by Persimmon Homes South West in Plymouth.

Two years ago, Luke decided he had had enough of renting and moved back in with his mother so that he could save enough money for a deposit to buy his own place.

He said: “It was the best thing I could have done. I had worked out how much money I had spent on rent in the previous 18 months and realised that if I had saved it instead I would have enough to buy my own home. Why pay for someone else’s mortgage when I can buy my own place? It made financial sense.

“I decided to look around and discovered Saltram Meadow. The sales advisor put me in touch with a financial advisor and I realised that through Help to Buy I could afford my own place. It was a dream come true.

“When the coach house was released for sale, the advisor got in touch with me. It was really straightforward as I had the deposit and there was no chain and I jumped at the chance to buy it.

“Compared to my current mortgage payment, I paid £200 more to rent and now find myself living in a house that is spot-on for me.”

“The whole process only took about nine weeks from the day I said yes to the day I got the keys. The sales advisor handled it all and helped me with absolutely everything. It was brilliant and I could not recommend Persimmon enough.”

Saltram Meadow comprises a range of one, two, three, four and five-bedroom houses, cottages, and apartments and is part of the redevelopment of Plymstock Quarry.

Nina Hester, sales and marketing director for Persimmon Homes South West, said: “It is very rewarding for us when you hand over the keys to someone like Luke who has worked hard to buy his own home. Schemes such as Help to Buy mean there is the opportunity now for first-time buyers to move into their ideal home.”

Under the Government-backed Help to Buy scheme, buyers only need a 5% deposit along with a 75% mortgage. The rest is made up with a 20% equity loan, which is interest and repayment free for the first five years.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lee Southen .