After renting for several\nyears, John and his wife, Scarlett, knew they wanted to get onto the property\nladder but weren\u2019t sure that they could afford to buy on the open market. A\nconversation with Scarlett\u2019s brother had sparked their interest in Shared\nOwnership. John says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019d been renting in Billericay for about five years. We had a nice\nplace, just five minutes from the high street, but it was always at the back of\nour minds that we wanted to own a property. I was speaking to my brother-in-law\nlast Christmas and he was telling me about how he was looking into Help to Buy,\nand suggested that I look at other alternative home ownership schemes.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n John and Scarlett have purchased a 25% share of a two bedroom\ncoach house through L&Q\u2019s Shared Ownership scheme at Beaulieu, Chelmsford. <\/p>\n\n\n\n John explains how the couple knew\nimmediately that Beaulieu was right for them: \u201cWe came across Beaulieu on the L&Q website and there actually\nweren\u2019t any properties available at the time, so we drove up there and had a\nlook around ourselves, and we absolutely fell in love with it. A couple of\nmonths later, the next phase was released and we went to view a two bedroom\nhouse, but unfortunately didn\u2019t get allocated a property. We didn\u2019t want to\ngive up on Beaulieu, so we waited for the next phase and went to view again a\nfew months later.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis time, we went and viewed the property on the Friday and by the\nMonday we were told it was ours! Happily, the house we were offered was\nactually the show home that we\u2019d viewed a few days before, which meant we\ndidn\u2019t have to buy off-plan and knew exactly what we were getting.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe sales team at L&Q were really helpful \u2013 I spoke to a sales rep\nevery day and she would let me know what was happening and how the process was\ngoing. She even offered to put us in touch with a financial advisor, who would\ncome to our house to do the financial interview.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Delighted with their new home,\nJohn describes what drew him to Beaulieu:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat really stood out, apart from the actual house, was the sense of\ncommunity. There\u2019s already a new community centre, new shops, a lovely nursery\n\u2013 where Scarlett works \u2013 and there is talks of a restaurant coming soon. There\nis also 180 acres of open space at Beaulieu and great transport links to London\n\u2013 what more could you ask for?\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe get two allocated parking spaces at Beaulieu, which you don\u2019t\nalways find with other Shared Ownership homes, and there\u2019s loads of parking across\nthe entire site \u2013 perfect for when guests come over. My favourite part of the\nhouse is the open-plan living and kitchen area; it\u2019s modern and bright. That\u2019s definitely\nwhere I spend most of my time!\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking to the future, John\nand Scarlett know they\u2019ll be at Beaulieu for the long-term: \u201cWe love the stability of owning our own\nhome. It feels like we have more control, and there\u2019s a sense that we\u2019re\nputting down roots in a community, rather than just jumping around rental\nproperties.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur aim is to\nultimately buy more shares, hopefully within the next two years. We\u2019ve\ndefinitely put down roots here \u2013 you never really feel 100% that you \u201cbelong\u201d when you\u2019re renting,\nbut I can tell, that we\u2019ll still be here in 10 or 20 years time. If we ever\ndecided to move, we\u2019ll definitely stay in Beaulieu!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After renting for several years, John and his wife, Scarlett, knew they wanted to get onto the property ladder but weren\u2019t sure that they could afford to buy on the open market. A conversation with Scarlett\u2019s brother had sparked their interest in Shared Ownership. John says: \u201cWe\u2019d been renting in Billericay for about five years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1357,"template":"","tags":[15],"yoast_head":"\n