Not only did she purchase a starter home here when the Deepcut site launched two years ago, but she is now moving to a new, larger home within the exciting second phase of works which launched this January.
Maria Aspinall (32) and her fiancé, landscape gardener Oliver Smith (30), had been renting within the area for 10 years, steadily saving for a deposit. When baby Paisley arrived in 2015 and beagle, Winnie, also joined the growing family, they knew it wouldn’t be long before they’d need to get on the property ladder.
Maria recalls: “I had been working at Cala’s Kings Barton development in Winchester when the opportunity came up for me to transfer to its new site in Deepcut. As we were renting a property in that area, I jumped at the chance to work closer to home. Whilst we had always liked the area and had plans for Paisley to attend Heatherside Pre-School, working at the Mindenhurst development made me realise straightaway that this was somewhere we would love to buy.”
Situated on the former Princess Royal Barracks in Deepcut’s Surrey green belt, the development offers a collection of spacious three and four bedroom homes, surrounded by picturesque woodland and open spaces.
Maria continues: “The site launched in December 2018 and we took the opportunity of buying a two-bedroom semi-detached home. Buying off-plan enabled us to choose exactly what we wanted and we opted for a plot in a little cul-de-sac with a south-facing garden.
“We took occupancy the following year. At that point, plenty of others had moved in and a really lovely community was starting to form. It’s a particularly lovely place for families as all the children are friends and play together. It feels really safe and harks back to the wholesome playtime of yesteryear when you see them out on their bikes and scooters together.”
Having not long settled in to their new home, the couple discovered they were expecting their second baby. With the new arrival due in January 2021, Maria and Oliver started planning an urgent move. Maria explains: “We were going to need to use Help to Buy to help us move to a larger home. We knew we needed to act fast as the scheme is set to change soon.”
Currently designed for both first-time buyers and home movers, the Help to Buy scheme sees the Government provide an equity loan of up to 20% of the purchase price of the property, meaning buyers only need to find a 5% deposit and secure a mortgage for the remaining 75%. From April 2021, the upper limit to buy a property in the South East with Help to Buy is being reduced from £600,000 to £437,600 and will only be available to first-time buyers.
Maria comments: “Due to the forthcoming Government changes, we needed to select a plot which would be built by the end of February next year. We chose the three bedroom semi-detached ‘Himscot’ for its spacious open plan kitchen/family/garden room, as well as a well-proportioned main bedroom with an en-suite bathroom for us to retreat to upstairs. We did shop around further afield but we didn’t want Paisley’s school to change. We looked at other housebuilders too but I’d grown accustomed to the quality specification and build that you get with a Cala home.”
With their purchase using Help to Buy secured, Maria and her family must now wait while their new home is built. To ensure they don’t lose the buyer of their existing property who wishes to move in ahead of Christmas, they have decided to expedite the sale of their property and lodge with family in the meantime.
“When people come into the sales office to enquire about availability, they love learning about my experience as a resident of Cala at Mindenhurst. It says a lot about the development that I’ve purchased two homes here and can personally vouch for all the amenities and sense of community that has formed over the past year. We can’t wait to move back in next year as a family of four, plus Winnie.”
Cala at Mindenhurst phase 2 is currently selling fast, where a range of three and four bedroom houses are currently available from £482,000. To find out more and enquire about Cala’s incentives such as Help to Buy and Part Exchange, call 01252 888 501 or visit cala.co.uk.
