Harry and Henry’s homeownership story!
After initially moving into rented accommodation, Harry, 24 and Henry, 21 decided they wanted to stop wasting their money on rent and to start putting it towards a deposit, so moved back in with Henry’s parents to maximise their savings. On discovering their Gleeson development the couple were thrilled to find out that homeownership was much more achievable than they had originally thought, especially after realising renting a one bedroom flat worked out to be more than a monthly mortgage cost for a 2-bedroom Gleeson home.
Now moved in and settled, the couple are eager to start putting their own stamp on their home, which they are documenting on their Instagram, @harryandhenryinakerry!
We spoke to the couple to learn more about their home buying journey together.
Development: Willows Park, Accrington
House type: 2-bedroom semi-detached Kerry.
When did you reserve your home? July 2022.
When did you move in? December 2022.
Purchase price: £144,995
Mortgage cost: £436.93
What was your living situation prior to owning your Gleeson home? After meeting during the first lockdown we decided to move into a rented flat together, however, we didn’t have the best experience! Our rented flat which cost £450 per month was cold, damp and had mould climbing all the walls which was severely affecting our mental and physical health! As a result Henry’s parents kindly let us move in with them, which allowed us to save the deposit for a new home much faster!
Which house type did you buy and why did you choose it? We chose the 2-bedroom semi-detached Kerry which is the perfect size for us, plus we really love how large our garden is!
We came across Gleeson early last year when the first phase of homes was released, however, our plot wasn’t ready to be reserved! We were constantly checking on the website every day until we saw the yellow dot and we managed to reserve our dream home within the first week of it becoming available!
How does being a homeowner compare to renting? So much better, we finally have a place which we can call our own! The cost of owning our own home is cheaper than what we were paying to rent, and we’re only paying £436 per month, which is an amazing feeling as we are now investing in ourselves, and not paying off someone else’s mortgage!
Also with a new build we haven’t had to deal with any of the issues we had in our rented accommodation, so that has improved our overall health both mentally and physically too!
We have also found that we rarely need to put the heating on as the house is always warm, which is fantastic as this will be saving us money on our energy bills, compared to what we were spending, or if we had gone for an older renovation project!
Why a new build home? We wanted the guarantee that everything was brand new and unused, also if something went wrong we knew we had the two-year Gleeson warranty! It also put our minds at ease knowing the builders are just over the road if we ever needed advice with anything. We also love the location of our development, we are close to a lot of open green spaces and parks which have some nice walks, we are yet to go on them all!
How was the process of buying your new home for you? The process was very straightforward right from the beginning. We used the recommended solicitors (PLS Solicitors) who were helpful and knowledgeable and they made the whole legal process a breeze.
Gleeson was equally very helpful, the Sales Executives kept us informed with frequent updates on the build process and were always happy to answer any of the questions we had! Due to our jobs in the Telecommunications industry, we also received £1000 which we were able to spend on the amazing optional extras range, which was a bonus!
Do you have any tips for anyone looking to move into a Gleeson home? Do not worry, everything will go to plan. If you can access a scanner or a printer, the whole process will be even easier and quicker. (the lovely Sales Executives at our development let us know that we would be welcome to borrow theirs if we ever needed it!)
Most importantly, if you have any questions for either Gleeson or the solicitors, you can pick up the phone and ask them, they will always do their best to help and no question is a silly question!
What do you love the most about the interior of your home? We love how spacious our home is, even for a Kerry which is one of Gleeson’s more modest house styles! We love our kitchen choices and our Sales Executive, Ginell helped us out with this as we are both colourblind. Ginell made sure that our kitchen didn’t look like something ripped straight from a Dr Seuss book! We love warm/cosy vibes, with natural woods and dark colours, our aim is to keep everything grey, brown and brass!
What do you love the most about the exterior of your home? Our favourite part of the exterior has to be our garden! We love how much space we have, going from a flat where we had no outdoor space to this is amazing! We can’t wait to start adding some levels and grass in the summer. We love that our garden came as a blank canvas which has allowed us to be creative and design it how we want to.
We also have a bat box on the side of our house which Gleeson installed as part of their sustainability initiative and we absolutely love it, we are now just waiting on some new friends to move in!
Are you enjoying life on your development? Tell us what the community feel is like! We used Instagram and found several people moving into the development. We have already met some of our neighbours including Jack and Mitchell who we regularly go around for drinks and board game nights. We don’t feel like we would have got this community feel if we hadn’t moved into a new build development, which was really important to us.
Is there anything else you want to add about your home buying journey? Gleeson provides great quality and affordable homes which are very difficult to find. We are so happy to finally be on the property ladder and never want to look back at the days when we were stuck renting from someone else!
Fancy sharing your Gleeson home buying story with us? Just email [email protected] and you could feature on our Customer Stories.
Inspired by Harry and Henry’s story? We have over 80 developments located across the North and the Midlands and with prices starting from £102,995, what are you waiting for?! Find your Gleeson home today, click here to get started.
Follow Harry and Henry with their Gleeson journey via Instagram: @harryandhenryinakerry
