Help to Buy

Axminster site manager delighted to work for award-winning military employer

- 30 Oct 19

A former Royal Engineer who served all over the world, including the Falklands, Canada and Cyprus, says he is delighted to work for a housebuilder in Axminster which has a gold-plated commitment to the Armed Forces.

View a video of assistant site manager, Dane Brown, describing why he's proud to work for Bovis Homes. Click here:

Corporal Dane Brown, 32, who was in the Army for 12 years, is assistant site manager at Bovis Homes’ popular Cloakham Lawns, off Chard Road.

Bovis Homes has just achieved the highest award from the Ministry of Defence for supporting Armed Forces personnel – the Government’s Defence Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award.

Dane, who also served in Afghanistan, with 9 Parachute Squadron Royal Engineers, said: “I’m extremely pleased that Bovis Homes has achieved the Gold award from the MoD, and it’s one of the main reasons why I looked for a job within Bovis Homes.

“Bovis Homes is there to pick up and support people after leaving the Armed Forces, if they are right for the job, and military personnel are aware of how good this housebuilder is.”

Dane started out in the industry as a labourer before joining the military, which he left as a training regiment instructor.

He added that there were many transferrable skills to take from the Forces into housebuilding and he was pleased with progress at Cloakham Lawns, which has just started a new phase.

“We’re proud of the quality homes we produce here,” he said. “We’re very excited to start our new phase and urge any house hunters to come and have a look.

“Being able to build relationships with customers in Axminster and meet their needs is vital to this role and my time in the military has helped with this – helping to develop resilience, positivity, organisation and punctuality.”

Dane lives with his partner Melissa, a nurse, and has three children – stepson Jack, 10, and daughters Heidi, 9, and Freya, 3.

Bovis Homes’ Home Exchange and the Government’s Help to Buy – Equity Loan initiatives are both available at Cloakham Lawns to support buyers.

Home Exchange sees the housebuilder purchase the customer's current property, which means they can avoid all those estate agent fees and time-consuming, stress-building house chains. It also means that purchasers can stay in their current house until their new home is ready.

To part-exchange their home, a customer’s current property must be valued at no more than 75 per cent of the new Bovis Home they wish to purchase. Bovis Homes will arrange for the buyer's property to be valued, then make them an offer based on the valuation.

Using the Help to Buy – Equity Loan scheme, home buyers - both first-timers and existing home owners, need just a five per cent cash deposit, with the Government providing an equity loan of up to 20 per cent of the value of the property being bought. Purchasers then need to secure up to a 75 per cent mortgage.