Case Study - Green and affordable!
Andrew Cooke, 43 and Debra Wills 44, weren't even thinking about buying a property until one day her landlord hinted that he wanted to sell. This forced them into searching for a new place to live. Debra said, 'when we first saw our new home we fell in love with it, everything was perfect. The only trouble was we couldn't afford it.'
Andrew and Debra and their two sons Craig, 17 and Ryan 15, were worried because the landlord started coming round without their knowledge. Debra said, 'we didn't know what to do because we thought we couldn't afford to buy our own home'. They even resorted to phoning Gloucester City Council. Andrew said, 'they told us we had no chance of getting a council home as we weren't a high enough priority.'
Debra and Andrew, who both work at Wincanton in Brockworth, learned of a Government scheme called Open Market HomeBuy. A friend mentioned to them that they could get Government help in the form of an interest free loan for 25% of the property purchase price. Andrew said, 'we needed three bedrooms because there is me, Debra and our two sons. We used to pay £650 in rent, but the new mortgage is costing us £756'. Their old rented home was nearly double the size, but they were still glad to move. Andrew said, 'the thing that was killing us was the electricity and gas bills; we got behind and they were taking over £130 per month in electricity. Now we have a smaller home our bills are cheaper. We also saved over £2,000 a year in bus fares because Craig and Ryan can walk to school now.'
Debra said, 'we did not have a deposit, so we got a mortgage for 75% and the Government paid 25%. However, when we sell, we have to pay back the 25%, but the good thing is there are no interest charges. Andrew said, 'it was really easy, we had a financial advisor, who helped us apply for a mortgage.' They were worried that they would have trouble obtaining a mortgage because of the current climate. Andrew said, 'the Northern Rock issue was just breaking as we were applying for a mortgage; it did add to the worrying.' Debra said, 'I used to work at Gloucester Royal Hospital; I was worried I wouldn't qualify for the scheme as I am not a key worker anymore.'
The Government Agency that runs the scheme in the South West is called 'New Futures.' They are making sure that every applicant has a green home and are replacing the light bulbs with low energy bulbs that cost around 70% less to run. Graham Phillips, HomeBuy Agency Manager, said, 'we are passionate about providing low cost homes but we all need to do our bit when it comes to saving energy and the environment.'
At one point it looked like the couple weren't going ahead with their purchase because the survey said that the property was a 'Hawkesley'. Debra said, 'being a Hawkseley construction we need to eventually replace our Gable ends, but we are looking at doing lots of home improvements anyway. We decided to continue with the purchase we just needed to convince the mortgage lender that the property was sound.'
They are both overjoyed at owning their own home, Andrew said 'at my time of life I was starting to think I would never own my own home.' Graham Phillips, HomeBuy Agency Manager for New Futures, said, 'I would urge anyone who is having trouble buying their own home to apply on our website so that they can be considered for Government funding that is available this financial year.'
