Case Studies

What our customers say:

Sandie – bought a house in Buxton

 “Thank you for all the help you gave me in purchasing my new house!  I am now well on my way to having the home I had really hoped for, and it might never have materialised had I not been provided with all the information and advice you gave me along the way.  The whole house buying process went really smoothly for me and with very little stress, something that I am told is quite hard to avoid when buying a property these days, and I'm sure that your efficiency at Plumlife helped with that immensely.  So, thank you, I am very grateful!”     

Helen and Matt – bought an apartment in Manchester

Despite being just 21 and 23, Helen and boyfriend Matt were so keen to become property owners that they moved back in with Helen’s parents so they could try to save a deposit. Although Matt has a good job as an electrical engineer Helen is studying law and history and their budget was around £80,000.

Helen says “It was upsetting.  My parents live in Sale, but the cheapest terraces there are £160,000. We look everywhere – north south and east of the city – but the only things we could find were run-down houses. We are both young and did not want to have to spend every evening and every weekend doing a place up in an area where we did not want to live.  We wanted something we could just move into.  My mum read about the shared equity schemes and we looked first at a site in Timperley, then went to Moho, Urban Splash’s Castlefield scheme and absolutely loved it. It is exactly the sort of place we want to live in the right location.”

They have bought a 50% stake in a £144,000-plus one bedroom apartment and will be paying out £500 on the mortgage plus £150 a month rent.  They will also have to pay a monthly service charge. Helen said “It is a little bit more than we used to pay in rent, but at least this is ours. In three years time, when I have graduated, we hope to be able to buy the other 50 per cent. I think it is great way to help people like us on to the ladder. And the great thing about the Moho deal is that all your furniture, your sofa and bed and wardrobes and dining table are included so we have not had to buy anything extra. It is wonderful!”

Soaring divorce rate have created a new breed of buyer.  Tens of thousands of newly-separated people are finding themselves in the same position as first-time buyers, struggling to get back on the property ladder. The most obvious difficultly is for the partner who has lost his or her home as part of the settlement and has to start again. That is true for both partners if they don’t have enough to put down on another property.  The big hurdle is finding a place each can afford at an age when they don’t want a big mortgage.

Deborah has a 60 per cent share in a two-bedroomed flat in Manchester. A recently-divorced nurse, she is still living in the marital home until the new flat is ready for all her occupational needs.

“I just could not afford a market price apartment on my salary of £24,000”.  She says. “As a single girl again, safety was also an issue”.

She adds: “I admit that I was lucky to find this deal.  My advice to anyone in a similar position would be to look out for shared ownership deals – but not to jump into anything – and to look at other areas he or she might not have considered”.