With the credit crunch biting it's becoming harder to get a mortgage, especially for first-time buyers, but those who are successful are finding builders are falling over themselves to attract them with a variety of incentives, including Hometech vouchers. Other 'freebies' range from part exchange, shared purchase and help with getting a mortgage to luxuries like Harvey Nichols' vouchers and dinner for two, in what is increasingly becoming a buyers' market.
Almost every housebuilder is offering some kind of incentive at the moment so it's in buyers' interests to take a good look around at the deals available. Among those offering part exchange is Applecross, which has launched an offer where the housebuilder purchases a buyer's existing home for 105 per cent of its market value.
Lianne Bootland, Head of Sales says: "With the 105 per cent part-exchange offer, Applecross take responsibility for selling the homebuyer's existing property, which removed the stress, hassle and associated costs of selling a home. Homebuyers have the certainty that they will get a fair price for their existing home, five per cent above the independent valuation for the property".
One of the Applecross developments to benefit from the offer is Eskbridge near Penicuik, where detached and semi-detached villas, terrace houses and apartments on the site of a former cotton mill by the river Esk start from £220,000 for a three-bedroom home.
Another housebuilder offering 105 per cent part exchange is Richmond Homes at its Cupar development in Fife, where buyers are also being given £1,000 towards their mortgage for a year on five-bedroom properties starting at £525,000, until the end of the month, where there is a minimum of £100,000 price differentiation.
Sales and Marketing Director of Richmond Homes, Deborah Talbot, says: "We have never been busier with viewers keen to purchase, however with the current market slow-down some would-be buyers are nervous about committing to a purchase without having sold their own home first. Richmond Homes sales incentive will take away all of the uncertainty and give home owners extra money each month toward their mortgage".
Meanwhile Cala Homes is also offering part exchange, guaranteeing the sale of a buyer's existing home, with no estate agent fees, based on independent valuations, plus cashback, flooring and stamp duty paid. In addition it is offering a fixed rate mortgage of less than 6 per cent on homes throughout the UK, whereby eligible buyers can take a preferential mortgage of 5.99 per cent (then 7.0 per cent variable rate for term of the loan, 7.3 per cent APR) fixed rate until July 31, 2011 at a loan to value of up to 90 per cent, plus a refund of the arrangement fee.
Sarah Stranger, Sales and Marketing Director at Cala Homes (East), says: "We are particularly pleased our purchasers will be able to take advantage of a mortgage rate that is fixed so that it will not increase until 31 July 2011. This remarkable new mortgage will help many people get on and keep moving up the property ladder. The lack of mortgage liquidity is hampering the housing market. This package enables us to offer a fantastic opportunity to purchase our new homes on preferential terms".
Assistance packages aimed at first time buyers and young professionals can be found at Love Leith in Salamander Street where Strathclyde Homes has some of the best priced homes in the capital from £135,000. These include a £99 deposit and move in with nothing else to pay until completion, and a shared equity scheme where buyers own 100 per cent of the property, paying 80 per cent of the actual cost and deferring payment on the remaining 20 per cent for up to ten years.
"These are great deals for people who want to own a brand new property but who have concerns about the initial costs" explains Neil Gaffney, Sales and Marketing Director at Strathclyde Homes.
Gladedale also has a shared purchase scheme, newly introduced at its Lomond Way development on Hawthorn Drive at Auchenback in Barrhead where prices start from £132,995. This allows buyers to pay 75 per cent of the purchase price, while owning 100 per cent of the property. The remaining 25 per cent can be paid back in 10 years time or earlier if they decide to sell up and move on.
Tricia Malek, Sales and Marketing Director for Gladedale (Central Scotland) says, "Our shared purchase scheme is an ideal solution for many first time buyers as it means they can afford the home they want in the area they want now, without having to save for years in advance".
As well as part exchange, shared purchase and fixed rate mortgages, housebuilders are wooing buyers, particularly those at the pricier end of the housing market, with those little luxurious extras, from sound systems to Harvey Nichols' vouchers and free meals.
At the launch of its Wood of Coldrain development in Perthshire, where prices range from £374,000 to £1.2m, Richmond Homes was offering a brand new Land Rover Discovery, his and her golf and spa membership at nearby Gleneagles, £20,000 worth of travel vouchers or £5,000 worth of Harvey Nichols' vouchers and the services of a personal shopper, while tekkies will be in heaven at Allanfield in Tullibardine, by Gleneagles, where West Residential is offering a £10,000 Hometech voucher for all sales concluded before 31 August. A development of 15 detached, four and five-bedroom villas, Allanfield has homes from £549,950, with schools and shops in Auchterarder two miles away and Edinburgh and Glasgow within an hour's drive via the A9.
The multimedia home entertainment package includes a Nuvo audio system that allows an iPod to be plugged in throughout the house, a cinema system and an Apple TV to set up slideshows of photographs on a plasma screen with music from a digital jukebox. Technology options in the villas include ceiling speakers, wall-mounted TV screen, touch panel controls and Sky and broadband throughout.
And finally, at the Park Court development of two and three bedroom homes on Carmyle Avenue in Glasgow where prices start from just £142,000, Merchant Homes is treating new buyers to a year's worth of free dining at G1 restaurants across the city - including Corinthian, Catch 22, Arta and Tusk - with a deal that includes a monthly voucher for a meal for two.
Who says there's no such thing as a free lunch?
