Success Stories
Many purchasers have already bought a home through MyPlace. Their comments relating to their successful purchase through the New Build HomeBuy, Resales or Open Market HomeBuy schemes are shown below.
Name: Cheryl Wellington
Situation: Single parent family
Location: Poole, Dorset
HomeBuy Agent: MyPlace
Scheme: Open Market HomeBuy
When Cheryl saw an advert in an NHS staff magazine offering key workers the opportunity to buy their own homes, she called MyPlace despite fearing the deal was too good to be true.
Cheryl works as a public health practitioner for 11 schools in Dorset and, as a single parent, couldn't afford to buy a home of her own so was forced to rent. Before finding MyPlace, Cheryl's outlook was so bleak that she was looking at relocating to a different part of the country and away from her family to an area where house prices were cheaper.
Cheryl, along with her seven year-old son Joseph, now live in their own home in the neighbourhood they wanted, just down the road from Joseph's school and grandparents' house. All of this and Cheryl's outgoings are the same as when she was renting a property miles away.
This was made possible from the Government's Open Market HomeBuy initiative enabling those who cannot afford to buy a property on their own an equity loan to make up the difference.
Cheryl said: “This may sound a bit corny but getting this opportunity has made such a big difference to our lives. Renting was demoralising. We're so happy and my mind is now at rest because our future is secure.”
Name: Sarah Thompson & Tom Woodhouse
Situation: Married couple and new parents needing more space
Location: Bridport, Dorset
HomeBuy Agent: MyPlace
Scheme: Open Market HomeBuy
When Sarah Thompson and Tom Woodhouse had their first child, Stanley, 16 months' ago, they quickly realised their one-bedroom home was not going to be big enough for their new family.
Sarah said: “I was self employed at the time and because I had just had Stanley we only had Tom's salary coming in from his carpentry job, so we only just about managed to afford to buy our own one-bedroom apartment. Even that was out of the area we ideally wanted to live in and away from our families.
“We knew we needed more space and I remember thinking that the situation we were in seemed ridiculous – we were a hard working young family and it felt crazy that we couldn't buy our own home. I knew there had to be some help available to us, so I started to look at all the options.”
While searching on the internet, Sarah came across the MyPlace website, the HomeBuy Agent for Dorset. She said: “I contacted MyPlace and was so relieved – Open Market HomeBuy was just what we'd been looking for.”
Sarah and Tom own 75% of the equity in their home and under the Government's HomeBuy initiative, they qualified to receive a 25% equity loan for the remaining amount they needed.
Just seven months after finding MyPlace, Sarah, Tom and Stanley now live in a three-bedroom house with a large garden for Stanley to play in which has fantastic views over the Dorset countryside. Sarah said: “We're so happy – it's great that you can choose your own home as we've ended up with exactly what we wanted.”
Name: James and Suzanne Pickerell
Situation: Renting Privately
Location: Chard, Somerset
Developer: South Somerset Homes
Scheme: New Build HomeBuy (Shared Ownership)
James and Suzanne desperately wanted to own their own home after they found themselves living in a privately rented property with their one year old son Harrison. Realising that they wanted to give him as much stability as possible they started to look at the options available to them.
With prices of homes high in the area they wanted to live in they didn't think they would be able to afford anywhere suitable for their new family until they heard about South Somerset Homes. They were told about the Shared Ownership scheme and that they would be eligible to join.
"We were living in private rented housing in Chard but wanted so much to buy our own house but simply could not afford it. Buying our house through shared ownership has been the perfect solution for us as we are now on the property ladder in an affordable way. Having a brand new home is fantastic." said Suzanne.
They were able to buy a 50% share in their property and pay rent on the remainder with the opportunity to staircase up until they eventually own it all.