Home Reach wins at prestigious First Time Buyer Readers’ Awards 

<p>On Friday, we won the Best Partnership award with Barratt David Wilson on their site at Linmere at the First Time Buyers Awards 2023 ceremony held in London. A big thank you to all of the first-time buyers who voted for us.</p>
<p>Offering Shared Ownership homes on 21 one &amp; two-bedroom apartments located just North of Houghton Regis, the development has much to offer, including 90 acres of open green spaces, restaurants, shops and even a leisure centre, as well as having access to great commuter links to towns and cities including Milton Keynes, Luton and London.</p>
<p>Since 2014, and with Barratt David Wilson alone, we have been able to offer Shared Ownership homes at 136 developments across England &ndash; and have even more to come in the future!</p>
<p>We are proud of all the fantastic partnerships we have with a wide variety of prestigious house builders across the UK, and it&rsquo;s through these fantastic partnerships that we are able to help first-time buyers get onto the property ladder with Home Reach.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the Linmere development has almost completely sold out, with just one final apartment coming soon. But we have plenty of other fantastic homes available through Home Reach. You can search all currently available properties here: <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.homereach.org.uk%2Fproperties&amp;data=05%7C01%7Ccmorton%40heylohousing.com%7C64a28177fdbd4a63079a08dbaf81c423%7Cb5d686c456e14b8db023ddb54f2e537d%7C1%7C0%7C638296744099869623%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=iK3bS6XO9fMqicChYlk%2FWGJsZTyFEEXVlfsOilqnyP4%3D&amp;reserved=0">All Properties | Home Reach</a>.</p>

Our Top Tips to Take Care of Your Wildlife and Wellbeing 

<p>Did you know, that in England, all of the gardens across the country account for a total area that is larger than all of England&rsquo;s National Nature Reserves combined, according to <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/habitats/towns-and-gardens">The Wildlife Trusts</a>. This means looking after our own outdoor space is more important than ever!</p>
<p>This research goes on to explain that how we plant our gardens matters a great deal when it comes to supporting our wildlife, as well as our wellbeing.</p>
<p>With this in mind, we&rsquo;ve pulled together some helpful tips that you can implement, whether in your garden, on your balcony or even in a window box to create a haven for wildlife and to help support the biodiversity in your area.</p>
<h2><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Plant a variety of butterfly and bee friendly flowers</span></h2>
<p><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Diversity is key when planting your garden, as a range of flowers and plants will attract a variety of insects and other creatures to your garden. Having a mixture of plants that flower and fruit during different seasons, will provide food and nectar for insects and birds throughout the year while also attracting different species.</span></p>
<p>You can also choose plants and flowers that are known to provide nectar to pollinators like bees and butterflies throughout the year. One way of introducing a variety of butterfly and bee-friendly flowers into your garden is to plant a mini wildflower meadow with native British wildflowers. Letting an area of your garden grow a bit wilder can also bring other benefits to the wildlife in your garden as the longer grass provides a habitat and a place to nest for insects.</p>
<p>If you don&rsquo;t have a garden or are pushed for space, you can still give the pollinators in your area a boost by planting a window box or a pot on your balcony with wildflowers.</p>
<h2><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Add water</span></h2>
<p><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Adding a small pond, bird bath or even a pot of water to your garden can provide a habitat for amphibians such as frogs and newts to thrive in. This will provide a valuable source of water and a place to bath for the birds. In the summer months, a pond or water feature is not only a beautiful feature but can also attract dragonflies to your outdoor space.</span></p>
<h2><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Plant a tree or a shrub and leave existing trees and shrubs in place</span></h2>
<p><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Larger plants such as trees, shrubs and bushes are important habitats for a wide range of species as they provide shelter and a place to nest. Try to leave any existing trees and shrubs and consider whether there are places that you could plant new trees or bushes where there aren&rsquo;t already.</span></p>
<p>Many tree species produce flowers and fruits that offer nectar and sustenance to pollinators and birds. Try planting a crab apple, blackthorn or hawthorn tree, all of which produce blossom and fruit, and are native to Britain.</p>
<h2><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Make some small additions to your garden to support biodiversity</span></h2>
<p><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">There are a number of extras that you could consider adding to your garden to provide a habitat and a source of food for the wildlife in your area. Adding a bird feeder is a great way of providing food to your local bird population, particularly in the winter months when other food sources are scarce. You could even make your own bird feeder from a reused plastic bottle; go to the </span><a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/how-to-make-a-bird-feeder.html" style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Natural History Museum</a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;"> website to find out more about how you could upcycle your used plastic bottles.</span></p>
<p>A log pile is another great addition to your garden as it provides somewhere for small creatures to hide and hibernate in and the conditions for fungi to thrive. It is important to put the log pile in a shady part of the garden away from sunlight. For more tips on how to make a your garden &nbsp;just right for wildlife visit <a href="https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/gardening-for-wildlife/">https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/gardening-for-wildlife/</a></p>
<h2><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Create a compost heap</span></h2>
<p><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Similar to adding a log pile, adding a compost heap provides shelter to wildlife and the heat generated by the decomposition process makes a compost heap a warm place for small creatures to hibernate in the winter. Composting is also a great way of recycling the nutrients from your kitchen and garden waste into rich soil for the garden, reducing the amount of waste that goes to landfill at the same time.</span></p>
<p>To find out more about how you can create a compost heap using food waste from the kitchen and cuttings and clippings from your garden click <a href="http://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/make-your-own-compost-mix">here</a>.</p>

Looking for help to buy? Shared Ownership could be the answer

<p>We know purchasing a home can be an exciting, but sometimes daunting experience, especially for first-time buyers. The Help to Buy scheme had been a popular option for many hoping to get on the property ladder, but, now the scheme has come to an end, you may be exploring other affordable routes to home-ownership.</p>
<p>Home Reach is a Shared Ownership scheme offered on new builds across the country and we&rsquo;re committed to making housing across the UK more affordable and accessible for homeowners. So, Shared Ownership could be the answer if you&rsquo;re on the hunt for a home&hellip;</p>
<h2><strong>What is Shared Ownership?</strong></h2>
<p>Shared Ownership is a government-backed initiative that allows first-time buyers and those with lower incomes to purchase a share of a property, up to 75%, while paying rent on the remaining share. You only require a 5% deposit and mortgage for the share you purchase, helping to reduce the amount of savings and monthly income that you would need to buy a similar home on the open market.</p>
<h2><strong>Affordability</strong></h2>
<p>Many first-time buyers find Shared Ownership to be a great option, as it is often more affordable than buying on the open market. We know that with the rising costs of properties, and stricter lending criteria from mortgage lenders, many first-time buyers struggle to save for a hefty deposit and qualify for a mortgage.</p>
<p>Shared Ownership means you only require a mortgage to cover the share that you&rsquo;re purchasing, and the same goes for your deposit. This can really help to reduce the upfront costs, making it more feasible for you to take that step onto the property ladder.</p>
<h2><strong>Flexibility</strong></h2>
<p>As you&rsquo;ll only purchases a share of the property to begin with, you have the flexibility to buy additional shares over time. This is a process known as &lsquo;staircasing&rsquo; &ndash; where you increase your ownership in the property and build equity. You can staircase all the way up to 100% - then you own your home outright and no longer pay rent. So, the more you own, the less rent you pay. Staircasing can be done in stages, making it a really flexible option.</p>
<h2><strong>Desirable Locations at an Affordable Price point</strong></h2>
<p>Shared Ownership provides you with the opportunity to live in a location that could otherwise be too expensive to buy. This can be especially beneficial if you want to live close to your place of work, family, or even the best cafes, bars, restaurants and transport links!</p>
<p>Home Reach offers Shared Ownership properties throughout the UK, from Preston to Bristol, giving you the benefits of living in a sought-after area but without the premium price tag.</p>
<h2><strong>Added Support</strong></h2>
<p>You will be offered support and guidance throughout the buying process, including assistance with the application process and ongoing management of the property, which can provide peace of mind if you need that extra bit of support!</p>
<p>At Home Reach, we offer a variety of Shared Ownership homes across the UK - find out more about our available homes here.</p>

Could More People Be Benefiting from Shared Ownership?

<p>In the property sector, Shared Ownership remains something of a niche concept &mdash; but could this gap in knowledge be preventing aspiring homeowners from finding a house that is both affordable <em>and </em>desirable?</p>
<h2>What is Shared Ownership?</h2>
<p>Home Reach's Shared Ownership scheme allows buyers to up to 75 per cent of a property and pay a subsidised rent on the remainder. Over time, you may choose to increase your share by way of a process called <em>staircasing</em>, which would thereby reduce your monthly rent payments. Eventually, you may purchase 100 per cent of the property and stop paying rent entirely.</p>
<p>For example, let&rsquo;s say you&rsquo;re interested in a home worth &pound;200,000 and have decided to buy a 25 per cent share (&pound;50,000), as well as saved up a deposit of five per cent of that share (&pound;2,500). You would then pay off your mortgage on a monthly basis as you would under more traditional circumstances, but then also pay rent on the remaining &pound;150,000. The combined cost of mortgage and rent repayments can end up less than that of the mortgage repayments on a house purchased outright.</p>
<p>Home Reach has a number of eligibility criteria if you&rsquo;re interested in partaking in our Shared Ownership scheme, perhaps most crucially that your annual household income is not in excess of &pound;80,000 (or in excess of &pound;90,000 if you live in London). However, unlike similar schemes, we are not only open to first-time buyers but also both to ex-homeowners who can&rsquo;t afford outright home ownership at this moment in time and people who are currently living in a shared ownership property elsewhere.</p>
<p>Home Reach properties are new-builds available through housebuilders across England, complete with modern fixtures and fittings. So why don&rsquo;t more people know about shared ownership &mdash; and could they benefit from being made aware of it?</p>
<h2>A gap in knowledge</h2>
<p>Shared Ownership schemes were amongst the flagship housing policies introduced by former Chancellor George Osborne back in 2013. These were then carried forward under Theresa May&rsquo;s administration. However, despite the schemes having been around for seven years now, <a href="https://www.totallymoney.com/press-centre/shared-ownership/">research</a> by financial institution TotallyMoney in 2018 demonstrated that an astonishing 75 per cent of millennials don&rsquo;t understand how Shared Ownership schemes work.</p>
<p>According to TotallyMoney&rsquo;s surveys, a mere 28 per cent of 18&ndash;24-year-olds actually know what Shared Ownership is, in spite of the fact that they represent the very demographic that Osborne&rsquo;s 2013 policy was primarily aimed at. Furthermore, only six per cent of those surveyed had leveraged such a scheme to secure their first home.</p>
<p>Overall, notwithstanding significant investments in various first-time buyer schemes by the government and the associated publicity surrounding them, TotallyMoney found that just 19 per cent of property buyers had actually used a government buying scheme when purchasing their first home in the past 10 years.</p>
<p>It seems clear that a huge number of people &mdash; and not only millennials &mdash; could be missing out on the numerous and varied benefits of partaking in a Shared Ownership scheme. Despite TotallyMoney finding that 40 per cent of first-time buyers had required financial assistance from family and friends when securing their home, only a very limited number of them had utilised government-backed Shared Ownership schemes&mdash;and even fewer had considered options such as Shared Ownership.</p>
<h2>How could more people be benefiting from shared ownership?</h2>
<p>Home Reach&rsquo;s Shared Ownership scheme makes home ownership more flexible and more affordable than it&rsquo;s ever been, giving buyers the ability to purchase a share in a property as small as 25 per cent, with a deposit as little as just five per cent of said share &mdash; as opposed to a deposit worth five per cent the value of the entire property. Rent paid on the remainder also tends to be lower than on the open market. Rent is generally 2.75 per cent of the share of the property that you <em>don&rsquo;t </em>buy.</p>
<p>In our previous example, in which we considered a hypothetical 25 per cent ownership of a property worth &pound;200,000, annual rent would therefore be &pound;4,125, amounting to just &pound;343.75 a month. What&rsquo;s more, Shared Ownership properties offer much more freedom when it comes to decorating and other home improvements than do rented properties, enabling you to truly make your house your <em>home</em>.</p>
<p>If your circumstances change at any point, Home Reach will help you up and sell with no strings attached. Perhaps best of all, Heylo housing&rsquo;s Shared Ownership properties are new-build and, if you&rsquo;re the first person to live in your house, it probably comes with a warranty, meaning that any fixture or fitting that is broken or otherwise defective maybe covered on your warranties.</p>
<p>Here at Home Reach, we believe passionately that Shared Ownership is often the best way of getting one foot on the property ladder if you don&rsquo;t have the funds to take out an entire mortgage right now. We believe that home ownership should never be shrouded in jargon, exclusivity and hidden fees, which is why Home Reach is available with over 90+ developers across 250 sites in England, with teams onsite to help you find the homes that are right for through Home Reach&rsquo;s Shared Ownership schemes on new builds. <a href="http://heylohousing.com/getintouch">Get in touch</a> with us today and find the house you never thought you&rsquo;d call home.</p>

New Home Checklist

<h1 align="center" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; background: white;">What to do in your First 100 Days of Living in a New Property<o:p></o:p></span></b></h1>
<p>When someone starts a new job, it&rsquo;s often the first 100 days in their role where they can start to understand the lay of the land, what their priorities are and how to make the changes that are necessary. The biggest job in the world, the US Presidency, has a new incumbent, and he&rsquo;s already signed executive orders on the distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine, re-joined the Paris climate agreement and more.</p>
<p>Now, we know moving into a new home isn&rsquo;t quite as important as assuming the US presidency, but it is the centre of <em>your </em>universe. So, here&rsquo;s our list of what you can do in the first 100 days of you moving into your home, to make it as comfortable for you and as suitable to your needs as possible.<u> </u></p>
<h2><strong>Make a list of your priorities </strong></h2>
<p>Then start ticking them off one by one. This list should include all the essential tasks for the first 100 days of living in your new home. With this to-do list to hand, you won&rsquo;t forget any crucial steps, which set you back time and money if they go unnoticed and un-tackled in the long term.</p>
<h2><strong>First month - safety and functionality</strong></h2>
<p>In the first month after becoming a homeowner, you should focus on issues which ensure the safety of your property and the wellbeing of your loved ones that live in it. As well as turning to issues of safety, it will be important to address functionality too.</p>
<p>Safety issues to address will include your home&rsquo;s electrics and water meter. You&rsquo;ll first want to check that they&rsquo;re working as they should be, and that there are no issues compromising its safety. PropertyChecklists.co.uk have a <a href="https://www.propertychecklists.co.uk/articles/how-to-check-your-home-electrics-are-safe">helpful resource</a> to enable amateurs to confirm whether their electrics are indeed safe and working as they should.</p>
<p>You&rsquo;ll also want to confirm that your water is running as it should be. Check all your taps are working properly, including outdoor taps. If your water is flowing freely, it&rsquo;s also prudent to confirm that your boiler is functioning efficiently, so that you have an appropriate water supply available for drinking, showering and to heat your radiators in the winter.</p>
<p>Once you know your electrics and water are working properly, you might want to check your broadband is up to speed. Carry out a speed test to ensure your upload and download speeds are as advertised, using any number of free-to-download broadband speed test apps on your smartphone.</p>
<p>When all the above is ticked off the list, it&rsquo;s time to meet and get to know the neighbours! Being on good terms with your neighbours is always handy, as they can keep an eye on your home, and they provide a friendly face in the neighbourhood.</p>
<h2><strong>Second month: Unpacking and organising</strong></h2>
<p>Now you&rsquo;ve ensured your home is safe and functional, it&rsquo;s time to really bed in by starting to organise your spaces and consider some room d&eacute;cor ideas and design or layout changes which will help make the most of your space.</p>
<p>If you want to put your own stamp on your property, you can. With a Home Reach property, you&rsquo;ll face none of the restrictions that renters are plagued by. This means you have the freedom to redecorate.</p>
<p>Firstly, you&rsquo;ll need to unpack, or you could have a box room in your home for weeks, months or even years to come. It&rsquo;s time to start unpacking non-essentials. Yes, they&rsquo;re called non-essentials for a reason, because you don&rsquo;t use them every day, but if you took them to your new home, they must be worth something to you. When sorting through your non-essentials, you might find that you have bought things with you which you really don&rsquo;t want or need anymore. In which case, give them away to friends or family, or list them on a freecycle website.</p>
<h2><strong>Third &amp; fourth month &ndash; stock up on DIY supplies</strong></h2>
<p>Research and buy the supplies you need for any interior design changes you&rsquo;d like to make. We hope you enjoy the opportunity to decorate your living spaces. When you&rsquo;re spending more time at home during and post-pandemic, you&rsquo;ll want a comfortable and relaxing environment, where you can feel safe.</p>
<h2><strong>Start planning!</strong></h2>
<p>Your first 100 days in a property are essential to set yourself up for success during your Journey in your new home. With Home Reach, it&rsquo;s up to you how you choose to live in your home, so it&rsquo;s never too early to start planning home improvements!</p>

The official Home Reach blog

Seven Reasons why Shared Ownership could be right for you

Home Reach wins at prestigious First Time Buyer Readers’ Awards

Our Top Tips to Take Care of Your Wildlife and Wellbeing

Looking for help to buy? Shared Ownership could be the answer

Could More People Be Benefiting from Shared Ownership?

New Home Checklist