Strong demand for new homes at Bovis’ Woolley Grange development

Housebuilder Bovis Homes has seen a significant rise in recent interest from prospective homebuyers looking to secure a new home at Woolley Grange development in Barnsley.

The residential scheme features a wide selection of new apartments and houses for sale, ranging from two-bedroom apartments to six-bedroom detached family homes.

"Sales have been excellent at Woolley Grange in 2012 and the level of interest and appointments indicate we'll be kept very busy in the future," said regional sales director Alison Tindle. "There is more positivity out in the market at the moment and more help out there for buyers to make their move and that is making a real difference."

She added: "First-time buyers in particular have a number of options to them at the moment and at Woolley Grange we've got some starter homes that are perfect for people looking to make that first move."

Prices of two-bed apartments at Woolley Grange start at £119,995. Using the new Government-backed FirstBuy shared equity scheme, the buyer would need a deposit of less than £6,000 and their initial mortgage would not be more than £90,000.

FirstBuy is designed to get first-time buyers, or those re-entering the market, onto the property ladder. It works with a joint 20% loan from the Government and Bovis Homes, with the purchaser only needing a 5% deposit and a 75% loan-to-value (LTV) mortgage which will come at a much lower interest rate than higher percentage LTV mortgages in the market place. The buyer has 25 years to pay back the equity loan, of which the first five years are interest-free.

Bovis Homes will steer the homebuyer through the process, offering them access to an independent mortgage broker and Local Homebuy Agent who will check eligibility and talk through all the figures before any deal is secured on a new home.

"Once buyers have looked into the maths it is often cheaper to buy than to rent in the current market," said Tindle. "Woolley Grange offers a wide range of two-bed apartments that are attracting a lot of interest and represent a great chance to finally get on the property ladder.

"What's more, if buyers are looking at a property priced between £125,000 and £250,000 and they make their move now there could still be time to make the most of the Government's stamp duty holiday which means buyers can save up to £2,500 on a house purchase."

The stamp duty holiday comes to an end on 24 March 2012.