We’re in West Sussex this week (Picture: Eddie Mitchell)
Welcome back to What I Own – Metro’s property series where we hear from homeowners about their buying experience.
Last time, we spoke to Mike who owns a farm in Cheshire, but this week we’re chatting to Ant and Jennifer Williamson in West Sussex.
They put down a 98% deposit on their £1.2million home and hope to be mortgage-free in the next couple of years.
The couple bought their five-bed home earlier this year using the sales of previous renovated properties. Here’s what they had to say about their buying experience…
Tell us about yourselves.
I’m Ant, 38 and my wife Jennifer is 34. I’m a senior program manager and I commute into London three times a week and Jennifer is a secondary school teacher.
Where is your property? What do you think of the area?
Our new home is near Pease Pottage in West Sussex in Thakeham’s new development, Woodgate. We are less than three miles from Crawley and seven miles from Horsham – and we love the green space that surrounds the development.
We’re located on the edge of the 370-acre Tilgate Forest, other green spaces include the village green, play areas, trails, pathways and cycle routes that the kids love.
The transport links are also excellent, with Fastway bus services directly linking Woodgate with Three Bridges station, Crawley and Gatwick. From Three Bridges, fast trains run directly into London Bridge in 35 minutes, Blackfriars in 41 minutes and London Victoria in just 40 minutes.
They used the sale of previous properties to buy this five-bed (Picture: Eddie Mitchell)
When did you move in?
We bought our home in July earlier this year.
How much does your property cost?
We bought our five-bedroom home for £1.2million.
How did you save up for your deposit?
From the sale of our previous renovated properties, we managed to use the equity to put down a 98% deposit.
They were able to put down a 98% deposit (Picture: Eddie Mitchell)
What was the process of getting a mortgage like for you? Did you find any parts challenging?
We found the process very easy as we only needed a mortgage for 2% of the property.
Where did you live before this?
Our previous home was a period style 1930s property, which we had renovated.
How did you find this property?
We found the property while passing through the area and spotted Thakeham’s new development. It immediately caught our attention. We knew Woodgate was the one the moment we entered the development. The Woodgate Community Café is a favourite spot for us, the kids love it there. The prospect of a new community-led shop opening has us absolutely thrilled, we will have everything we need on our doorstep.
As a result they only have a 2% mortgage (Picture: Eddie Mitchell)
What is the monthly cost of living here now; both mortgage and bills?
As we have just moved in, we haven’t had our monthly bills come through yet, but we can already feel a difference in comparison to our older property in how our new home retains heat with the colder months coming in.
We only have a 2% mortgage as we used the equity from our previous properties to buy our new house, so outgoings for this are very low.
What made you choose a new-build?
After years of renovating period properties and experiencing the costs and maintenance that older homes often demand, the advantages of a new build home were appealing to us, especially the energy efficiency and eco-friendly features. These include water-saving taps, high efficiency boilers and WiFi-enabled thermostats to name a few.
‘As it’s a blank canvas we have lots of ideas to make it our own which is exciting’ (Picture: Eddie Mitchell)
How will you put your own stamp on your new home?
We loved renovating homes, but with a young family we wanted to focus on the children and enjoy our time together as a family. We have already added quite a few personal touches to our home which we love. This includes a few feature walls with acoustic panelling, feature wallpapered walls and shutters in our kitchen / living space. Our focus over the next year or so will be to add some character and features in the garden. As it’s a blank canvas we have lots of ideas to make it our own, which is exciting.
Do you feel like you have enough space?
Since we moved in, Jennifer and I have really fallen in love with the rural setting at Woodgate. We’ve got these lovely walking paths that guide you into nature, and that’s been a great encouragement for us to spend more time outdoors. We love the layout of the homes and the good-sized gardens, which you don’t often see with new builds. The roads are broad, the houses are well spaced out, and it’s clear a lot of careful planning went into designing this community. The build quality was the first thing which stood out to us as previous home renovators, the attention to detail is unparalleled.
Do you want to feature in What I Own?
What I Own is a Metro.co.uk series that takes you inside people’s properties, to take an honest look at what it’s like to buy a home in the UK.
If you own your home and would be up for sharing your story, please email [email protected].
Shall we take a look around?
The main open plan kitchen space (Picture: Eddie Mitchell)
They have water-saving taps, high efficiency boilers and WiFi-enabled thermostats (Picture: Eddie Mitchell)
‘The build quality was the first thing which stood out to us as previous home renovators’ (Picture: Eddie Mitchell)
A great family space (Picture: Eddie Mitchell)
The master bedroom (Picture: Eddie Mitchell)
The guest bedroom (Picture: Eddie Mitchell)
One of the kids’ bedrooms (Picture: Eddie Mitchell)
Do you have a story to share?
Get in touch by emailing [email protected].
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‘We found the process very easy as we only needed a mortgage for 2% of the property.’