Buyers demand quality, and many developers provide this. But builders are also finding little extra touches mean a lot. Anna Bowden looks at developments where special features can be found.
Buyers are becoming increasingly demanding. No longer content with just a roof over their heads, today’s buyers want quality, style, access to transport links, beautiful surrounding scenery, good local amenities, security, superb specification and a host of features that make life easier and more luxurious, including high-tech cabling systems, concierges, gyms, restaurants, NHBC guarantees and so on. For these buyers a new home is the ideal purchase. Not only are new homes developers doing their utmost to ensure most – if not all – of these features are present in each of their schemes, but they also generally offer stunning financial deals on mortgages, part-exchange, deposits and stamp duty. We take a look at some of the best options.
St George has announced the launch of an electric car club to residents at its spectacular St George Wharf development in Vauxhall, south London. Electric Green is a transport service offering the hire of electric cars on a daily or hourly basis. The cars are designed for short journey use in London and the service will encourage residents to be energy-efficient and environment-friendly.
Added benefits including free parking in central London boroughs and exemption from the congestion charge. And these compact cars fit into small spaces, making parking easy and more convenient.
St George has appointed Parking Partners to run the service from the St George Wharf car park reception. After initial enrolment bookings may be made by telephone, online or face-to-face. With an annual membership fee of only £30 and a charge of just £10 for each two-hour period, Electric Green is expected to be extremely popular with residents.
Stephen Embrey, managing director of St George South London, says, ‘Electric cars have proved themselves to be a very positive response to the problems of central London transport. Electric Green is a benchmark project supporting the St George commitment to creating sustainable communities. St George seeks to utilise natural resources that will respect the environment. Electric Green is an exciting new initiative for St George and we believe that it will be highly successful.’
St George Wharf comprises 618 private and 132 affordable homes built on brownfield land. Prices at the development start from £479,950 for apartments. For further information call the marketing suite, open Mondays to Fridays from 10am to 8pm and Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 6pm, on 020 7627 8699. Alternatively, email stgeorgewharfsales@stgeorges1.com.
Orion is the latest offering from Redrow Homes (Eastern) at its successful Odyssey development in London’s Docklands. From its position on the Isle of Dogs, the cylindrical glass tower of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments is lighting up the residential housing industry.
Each apartment provides buyers with a slice of the circle, including curved floor-to-ceiling windows in several of the apartments and in the penthouses, which provide a panoramic vista of the London landscape.
Apartments are high specification; Commodore kitchens are fully fitted with quality integrated Neff appliances, including fridge/freezer, dishwasher, washer/dryer and oven, hob and extractor fan. Bathrooms feature modern white suites complemented by Hansgrohe taps, while Amtico flooring features in kitchens and bathrooms, all made to fit the curvature of the property perfectly.
Current prices for remaining homes at Orion start from £258,950. To find out more call the sales office on 020 7531 6265 or visit odyssey.redrow.co.uk.
To give potential home owners the confidence to buy now, at a time of rising interest rates, Laing Homes is introducing an exclusive mortgage plan across all five of its regions. The plan includes an attractive fixed rate interest of 2.99 per cent for two years on selected properties around the country. Sarah Bailey, managing director of Laing Homes Thames Valley, says, ‘At Laing Homes we are well aware that, despite rising interest rates and increased prices, people will always need to move home; but people will also need to have control over their finances. We hope that the deal will give people the confidence to buy the property which fits their circumstances at a time that’s appropriate for them, and not be dictated to by the market.’
Laing will be offering this competitive mortgage deal through Johnhugh independent financial advisors, funded by Abbey. The deal offers a variety of benefits, including allowing customers to take out a 90 per cent mortgage loan on a maximum loan size of £1 million, which allows house buyers plenty of choice in organising their finances.
Laing Homes has a broad portfolio of new homes available throughout the country, ranging from apartments to detached houses. The mortgage offer is available only through Johnhugh and is valid until 31 December 2004. For further details visit the Laing website at laing-homes.co.uk.
Barratt is offering a subsidy to home buyers on selected properties across London and the South East – by holding its mortgage rate at 3.99 per cent for three years. And buyers of apartments and houses at The Oaks, the company’s new development at Benton Park in Witham, Essex, could be the first to benefit. At Benton Park luxury properties start at £239,995, which means the offer could be worth £10,000 over the 36-month period.
‘Interest rates remain at an historically low figure, and the cost of borrowing is still relatively cheap,’ says Barratt Southern chairman Clive Fenton. ‘Of course we recognise that many of our customers will want certainty as well as measurable savings. We have introduced this incentive – which has been hugely successful in the past – to bring that certainty to individual purchasers.’
He adds, ‘As well as guaranteeing to hold the rate below four per cent for three years, it makes a real reduction to the cost of buying. Setting up or moving home can be hard on the pocket, so we know this is a saving worth having. What’s more, customers may still be eligible for other long-running Barratt incentives, such as financial help with stamp duty, legal fees and moving costs.’
The Oaks is helping to regenerate Witham with a stunning collection of apartments and houses. The homes, in an attractive, traditionally built East Anglian style with contrasting red brick, white render and black ironwork, are accessed from the road by impressive entrance gates.
Gary Patrick, sales director of Barratt East London, says, ‘The Oaks has caught the imagination of home buyers, particularly those from the locality. As well regenerating a very pleasant town, the development is bringing much-needed new housing opportunities at value-for-money prices in an area of strong demand.’
All homes at The Oaks feature spacious bedrooms, fitted bathrooms, designer kitchens fully fitted with integrated appliances, central heating and double glazing. Prices for one-bedroom apartments start from £144,995. Call 01376 502945.
Space and flexibility are the buzzwords at Crest Nicholson’s Carters Grove development in Kings Hill, Kent. The two- and three-bedroom houses have been designed to fully maximise the interior living space and potential purchasers can marvel at amount of clutter-free, open areas available in the homes. The scheme comprises 37 properties, including two-bedroom apartments and two-, three- and four-bedroom houses. Kings Hill itself is a modern community of homes, businesses and leisure facilities near West Malling.
The smaller houses at Carters Grove utilise innovative design characteristics, such as under-stair cupboards, loft spaces and garages. Helen Devy, sales and marketing director for Crest Nicholson South East, comments, ‘With the two- and three-bedroom houses at Carters Grove we wanted to highlight that it wasn’t necessary to compromise on the interior space within the homes. With this in mind we have utilised expert design plans to construct two- and three-bedroom houses that demonstrate unique thinking and clever layouts and can benefit from such features as reading rooms and relaxing areas. We are incredibly proud of the results, as not only do the houses provide more than enough available space, but with the innovative corner windows and French windows leading to the gardens natural light gives the properties an airy and open feel.’
All of the two-bedroom houses provide large living and dining areas and all houses enjoy separate kitchens. The living areas within the ground floors of these properties span the width of the houses and all benefit from French doors leading onto the rear gardens. Some of the houses also incorporate a relaxing area, a separate room that can either be open-plan or closed off from the entertaining/living areas and include floor-to-ceiling corner windows, which flood the rooms with a natural and airy atmosphere. All of the master bedrooms to the two-bedroom houses enjoy separate en suite facilities and dressing rooms.
Prices at Carters Grove start from £210,000 for a two-bedroom apartment. Call 0870 755 9760 for further details.
Gleeson Homes’ customer service is one of the features which sets it apart from the rest. At its popular Knightwood Park development in Farnborough, Hampshire, a collection of 24 three-, four- and five-bedroom properties, the developer stepped in and bought a flat at the bottom of a chain when a buyer pulled out to enable a purchaser at Knightswood Park to complete on her purchase. Mandy Grundy explains, ‘When the first-time buyer fell out of my chain, Gleeson stepped in and bought the flat at the bottom of the chain – and they did this within a week of the problem occurring! I know that Gleeson is a business like any other but it really pulled out all the stops to ensure the sale went through and everyone in the chain purchased the homes they had planned to for months.’
Prices at Knightwood Park start from £270,000. Call 01252 377198.