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Dream home bought on a mobile phone! Key worker family first to reserve on new portal

- 22 Jul 20

View our video: Two key workers in Oxfordshire are the first in the country to reserve a new-build property on a mobile phone using a housebuilder’s innovative new online system.

Teacher Jamie Green and his wife Lucy, a mental health nurse, from Witney, used Bovis Homes’ online sales portal to reserve a spacious four-bed home, and the couple and their two young daughters are now getting set to move into Bovis Homes’ Faringdon Fields location, in Faringdon.

The housebuilder’s portal includes a simple six step process to move from registering personal details to reserving a home and paying the deposit.

Jamie, who teaches and lectures in Witney, said: “It feels incredible that I was able to just pull out a phone and reserve our new home. It’s so much easier than having to make an appointment and fill in paperwork – it was just so seamless, so fluid, so fast.

“The online portal was really easy to navigate, I could find everything I needed and zoom in if I wanted to. There wasn’t a huge amount of detail to fill in on each screen nor too many screens, so within a few moments I found myself having reserved a brand-new property on my phone.

“The virtual way of doing it meant I didn’t have to drive anywhere, we didn’t have to sign any physical paperwork – we could just do it all online. Without even thinking twice, I pulled my phone out, clicked on the email and started filling everything in.”

The Greens are moving into a four-bedroom detached house with their daughters Florence, three, and Josie, one, and they said that Bovis Homes’ sales team and the housebuilder’s special Key Worker Scheme, which offers discounts to those in key worker jobs, made the home-buying process stress-free.

The couple recently visited the location, off Coxwell Road, following rigorous safety procedures based on Government guidance, and soon saw their dream new-build home.

“The sales team were very good at suggesting a property we might be interested in,” Jamie said.

“We were happy to hear that in lockdown you can still go and view properties. When we turned up to view the house, it was appointment only. Social distancing was adhered to, there was hand sanitiser that we used – it was all very safe and meant we could enjoy the property and fall in love with it the way we did.

“Being key workers has meant we've continued working throughout lockdown, balancing children, family life and work. Bovis Homes' Key Worker Scheme means we can afford a new home to start a new chapter for the girls and us.”

Debbie Hulme, group customer experience director at Bovis Homes, said: "We have responded to our home buyers' needs for flexibility and choice in the ways in which they are purchasing their home. Providing the capability to review and update all the information needed to complete a reservation within six simple steps is one of the continuing improvements we are making for our customers."

Bovis Homes is looking to recognise key workers, and the army of volunteers in the county who have recently signed up to help the NHS, by offering them a special house buying package, which will run until the end of the year.

The special package includes £500 off for every £25,000 of the purchase price and flooring up to the value of £3,000 – and as a new-build property these could be combined with access to the Government’s own popular Help to Buy, five per cent deposit scheme.