Help to Buy

Rural lifestyle the key to record month for Devon housebuilder at Axminster

- 06 Nov 18

The last month has seen a record number of buyers moving into a popular new-build location in Axminster.

And there are a real mix of customers moving in to Bovis Homes’ Cloakham Lawns, with upsizing families and downsizing retirees among the new faces at this popular community – with all of them moving from other Devon locations.

Stacey Banfield, regional marketing manager at Bovis Homes, said: “Cloakham Lawns is so popular at the moment and all our buyers are local – the furthest away are from Taunton.

“They love the rural lifestyle here, there is a lot of green space compared to nearby towns and cities. There’s also a public footpath by the River Axe, that can be accessed from the development and it goes into town. It’s a beautiful place to be.

“Commuters can catch a direct train to Exeter and you can get to London Waterloo in less than four hours.”

The buyers have all used one of Bovis Homes’ purchasing schemes; Help to Buy, Smooth Move or Home Exchange.

With the Help to Buy - Equity Loan scheme, home buyers need just a five per cent cash deposit, with the Government providing an equity loan of up to 20 per cent.

They then need to secure up to a 75 per cent mortgage, which opens the door to more competitive lending rates.

Those using Smooth Move get support from Bovis Homes throughout the process, with the housebuilder working to find movers the right buyer and paying estate agent fees.

With Home Exchange, Bovis Homes will purchase the mover's current property, meaning they avoid those fees and complicated house chains.

More than 30 three and four-bedroom homes are set to be released next month as part of Cloakham Lawns’ latest phase. Two-bedroom apartments will be available next year.

Stacey said the four primary schools and one secondary nearby were also a draw for home hunters, plus the quality of local shops.

“Axminster’s local schools are all rated ‘Good’ or above by Ofsted and Axe Valley Academy has a great gym and swimming pool,” she said. “Axminster has mainly independent stores and there are two supermarkets for those who want to do a bigger shop.”

“We are all so impressed with how Cloakham Lawns is performing and are hugely excited to be launching more homes as part of our new phase, very soon.”