Vicki and Declan’s homeownership story
Vicki, 31 and Declan, 25, were dreaming of owning their own home after renting a small terraced house for several years. After the birth of their daughter, Ivy (who is now nine months), Vicki and Declan knew that they needed to upgrade their space and step onto the property ladder.
After heading to their local Gleeson development, Vicki and Declan were delighted to find that they could afford to buy a home that was much bigger than they had anticipated, and that their mortgage would be £520 per month, saving them £40 per month on their previous rent cost despite the house being almost double the size!
Since moving in, the family are super settled in their lovely new home, and can’t wait to see what the future brings.
We spoke to Vicki to hear more about their journey.
When did you reserve your home? April 2022.
When did you move in? June 2022.
Which house type did you buy? 3 bedroom detached Kilkenny.
Is this your first home? Yes, and we absolutely love it! Declan and I met four years ago at work in a local hospital, where I’m a Team Leader Receptionist and he is a Patient Records Manager and we have been dreaming of owning our own home together ever since.
We’d been saving for a number of years for a deposit, but this became even more important when our daughter Ivy was born in October 2021. We really wanted a home that we owned, so that we could give her the best upbringing possible in her own little bedroom with a garden for her to play in.
Prior to buying with Gleeson, our living situation was less than ideal! We were private renting a very small 2 bedroom mid-terrace with a tiny kitchen, a small courtyard for our garden and on-street parking. Despite us already knowing we wanted to own our own home, as soon as I became pregnant with Ivy, we truly knew something had to change. We were spending £560 per month on rent, and our bills were really expensive in the winter months as the terrace was not very energy efficient. In our 3 bedroom detached Gleeson home, with a garage, front and rear garden and driveway, our mortgage is £520 per month, and our bills are a lot more reasonable.
Why did you choose to buy with Gleeson? I’d lived in a Gleeson home before with an ex-partner, and loved the quality of the home, the look and feel of the developments and the brick built exteriors, so Gleeson was my go to when I knew we were ready to buy.
A lot of the new build homes in our area are super modern, with funky shaped roofs and abstract designs, which didn’t appeal to me. I want a home that looked like a home not a spaceship and I love how Gleeson homes look traditional but stylish too! Our local Gleeson development is in such a nice area, it’s very quiet and is surrounded by lush fields and stunning views, plus it’s close to our workplace, family and friends.
Gleeson homes are so affordable too, which really appealed to us. We originally thought we’d buy a 3 bedroom semi-detached Tyrone, but due to how affordable Gleeson homes are, it turned out that we could afford a 3 bedroom detached Kilkenny which was a fantastic surprise! We love that every Gleeson home has a front and rear garden, the outdoor space we have with our Kilkenny is great. We’ve also got a 12 year old rescue cat called George who loves his new home and sits looking out of the window at the garden.
Why did you choose to buy new? We wanted a blank canvas so that we could create our dream home from scratch. It was always going to be a new build for us as we love how no one has ever lived in the house before, and that you know what you’re going to get, there’s no nasty surprises to uncover such as dodgy boilers or rotten floorboards! With a young baby we didn’t want a house that needed loads of work doing, so our Kilkenny has been perfect.
Having the Gleeson two year warranty backed by the NHBC Buildmark warranty is a good feeling, we’ve only had one minor issue since moving in and we logged it on My Gleeson and it was sorted the very next day. We’re loving how energy efficient our home is and the fact that we’re no longer paying money to a landlord. We sometimes felt worry hanging over us that our landlord might decide to sell, but now we’re confident in the knowledge that our home belongs to us. We’re loving hanging photos on the walls, choosing décor and picking colour schemes. We’re always down at B&Q buying tester paint pots!
How was the process of buying your new home? The process was so easy! Not at all stressful in the slightest; we were kept well informed at all times, from first contact to ‘key’ day the sales team and Site Manager have been brilliant.
The turnaround from reservation to completion was only three months and everyone from the sales and site team to the mortgage advisor and solicitor pulled out all the stops to make the experience fantastic for us. I thought buying would be hectic, especially with a baby, but it was completely fine.
Due to us reserving when the build was quite far along, we didn’t get to choose our kitchen, but we did have lots of great incentives and extras included with our home, which was a great bonus. We received power to the garage, a security alarm, a towel warmer in the bathroom, boiler housing, our legal fees paid and a mortgage contribution!
What do you love the most about your home? There’s so much space in our kitchen diner, which has been amazing for entertaining friends and family. We’ve got a large living room to relax in and I adore the understairs cupboard, it’s so handy for storage. The staircase in our living room is very eye-catching and adds a good feature to our home, and I love that we’ve got a big landing with bedrooms off to either side. Our downstairs toilet is also in a really good place in the entrance hall, which is ideal. One of the things we love the most is the garage, it’s such a big bonus to have that extra space.
We love our development, we have a private Facebook community group and have enjoyed getting to know our neighbours so far.
Describe your interior style? In our rented home I’d gone for Mrs Hinch vibes with grey furnishings. In our Gleeson home, I wanted a totally different look, so I’ve upcycled all of my old furniture and painted it matte black, and added gold accents. I’m going for a monochrome and gold colour scheme with natural materials and neutral accessories!
Do you have any tips for people looking to buy their dream Gleeson home? I’d firstly say, don’t be afraid to ask questions, no matter how big or small, your Sales Executive will be happy to help.
Check out every single house type, you may surprise yourself as to what you like and what you can afford! Visit as many show homes as you can for inspiration, and follow Gleeson on Instagram, as well as other Gleeson homeowners who have an Instagram account for their home, you’ll get so many tips and tricks. You can follow my home account by searching @vickskilkenny.
How has life changed since moving into your home? Life has changed for the better! We’re saving money, we can decorate however we want, and have more space and storage. We’re in a proper family home now, and have achieved our goal of owning a lovely place to bring up Ivy in. We’re so proud to have saved our deposit completely by ourselves, we sacrificed birthday and Christmas presents in order to buy quicker, and we feel such as sense of pride and accomplishment now owning our own home. We can’t wait to see what the future brings.
Fancy sharing your Gleeson home buying story with us? Just email [email protected] and you could feature on our blog. Inspired by Vicki and Declan’s homeownership 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?!
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Give Vicki a follow on Instagram @vickskilkenny.
