I was fed up with paying my landlords mortgage, so decided to pay my own! 

Having lived in rented accommodation for three years in Wombwell, Barnsley, Bee Lokkit (30), a Programme Manager at a large bank decided it was time to purchase his own home. The landlord of his two-bedroom rental property was set to increase his payments by &pound;100 a month &ndash; the second rent increase that Bee had received notice for since moving into the property.
This set the wheels in motion for Bee, who decided it was time to think about paying his own mortgage instead of his landlord&rsquo;s, and he started investigating different home ownership schemes. Bee, who now owns a 25% share of a three-bedroom house at Willow Heights in Thurnscoe, explains:
&ldquo;My plan at first was to understand what I&rsquo;d be able to afford and see if I&rsquo;d even be able to get a mortgage. I applied for a mortgage in principle and was approved almost immediately &ndash; I didn&rsquo;t expect it at all! Once I had a clear idea of what I could afford in my mind, I then knew it was time to start searching and saving for my house hunt.&rdquo; 
Bee wanted to get a feel for the types of homes that he&rsquo;d be able to purchase with his mortgage in principle, so set up to receive New Homes alerts &ndash; which is where he came across a three-bedroom house at Willow Heights.
A new development in Rotherham, Willow Heights offers a collection of two-to-four-bedroom homes in the growing Dearne Valley community. Shared Ownership homes were available to buy at Willow Heights with Home Reach &ndash; where buyers can purchase a percentage share on the home, and pay rent on the unowned share, often making buying a property more affordable.
&ldquo;Quite soon after I got my mortgage in principle, I got a New Homes alert on my emails letting me know that there was just one Shared Ownership home left at Willow Heights. I googled the development, and it was only 10 minutes down the road from where I currently live, making it the perfect location. It almost seemed too good to be true, so I booked an appointment with the sales team immediately.&rdquo; 
Bee initially received a call from the Willow Heights sales team, who invited him to view the house on the same day. His application had been passed onto the Home Reach team, where a Shared Ownership assessment was completed, and Bee was approved to purchase his home.
&ldquo;Once my application had been approved and I&rsquo;d reserved the house, I then needed to think about my deposit. I was really determined to own my own home before the age of 30 so knew I needed to get to work and save as much as possible. I made an effort to spend as little as possible for around three months. The deposit was my end goal, so getting through the summer months knowing I&rsquo;d soon be in my own home was my motivation, and it was worth it!&rdquo; 
After three months of serious saving, Bee had a deposit of &pound;8,000 - 15% of the share he was looking to buy.
Bee says &ldquo;I&rsquo;m now living in a three-storey house, and my bedroom is set on the top floor with so much space. I&rsquo;ve always dreamt of having a super king-sized bed, and that&rsquo;s exactly what I&rsquo;ve got now! The space is also amazing &ndash; I&rsquo;ve got a separate kitchen with a table, and another table in the living room &ndash; an extended 6-person marble table to be exact. My sofa fits perfectly, and my friends are always amazed at the amount of space I have when they come over.&rdquo;
Commenting on the efficiency and support he&rsquo;d received from the Home Reach team, Bee says &ldquo;I received a compete end-to-end service and spoke to Selina at every stage of the process. She was extremely accommodating, even helping me shuffle my move-in date to work around current plans and annual leave.&rdquo;
Looking to the future, Bee says &ldquo;At the moment I&rsquo;m just so happy that I&rsquo;m finally paying my own mortgage &ndash; I wasn&rsquo;t sure I&rsquo;d ever be able to do this. One of the things that attracted me to Shared Ownership with Home Reach was knowing that I could buy more shares as and when I want to, so I&rsquo;ll definitely be staircasing when the time is right.&rdquo;

From army bases to a base of his own 

After joining the army at 16 from his family home in Bakewell, Phil Dragon, 36, spent many years being posted around the UK and Europe, serving for an impressive 16 years before being medically discharged in 2019.
Moving to Telford to live with his partner at the time, Phil ended up liking the town so much he decided to stay after the relationship broke down.
Phil says; &ldquo;I hadn&rsquo;t heard of the area before, but I settled in quickly, got a good job and enjoyed living here. I temporarily moved into a house share with three other people to save as much cash as possible &ndash; I basically chose the most affordable place I could as I knew I wouldn&rsquo;t be there long and it was just a case of save, save, save!
&ldquo;I started looking for my own place just before Christmas last year. I had looked at renting by myself, but then when I read about Shared Ownership I thought it seemed like the better option by far.&rdquo;
Having always wanted to live in a new build house due to energy efficiency credentials, Phil started scouring the property portals &ndash; and it didn&rsquo;t take long to find something he liked.
&ldquo;The Quarters in Redhill was the first development I came across. I saw the pictures, it was a 10 minute commute to work a completely new area. It felt like a fresh start.
&ldquo;I completed all the affordability criteria and was actually able to buy a higher percentage than I&rsquo;d thought - I&rsquo;d saved a good deposit while house sharing!&rdquo;
Phil bought a 60% share of a two- bedroom terraced house at The Quarters in Redhill, putting down a deposit of &pound;13,500. Built by Linden, the homes were available to buy through Shared Ownership with Home Reach &ndash; where buyers can purchase a percentage share on the home, and pay rent on the unowned share, often making buying a property more affordable.
Set on the edge of Telford, The Quarters offers a semi-rural setting for residents, with quick connections into the nearby town and surrounding countryside.
Talking about the buying process, Phil found the Home Reach team easy to communicate with and incredibly helpful throughout what can sometimes be a stressful time.
&ldquo;I had a fantastic Sales Associate at Home Reach called Tim who was super informative and helpful, it made such a difference. He called me every week and talked me through the process from start to finish.&rdquo;
Phil moved into his new home in June, with his new partner visiting often.
&ldquo;After being in the house share, it feels great to have so many rooms! We actually got a kitten who completely rules the house. It feels like a home &ndash; I&rsquo;m even working on the garden which is brand new project for me. The neighbours are sound too. It&rsquo;s a place to live.&rdquo;
Speaking about buying through Shared Ownership with Home Reach, Phil concludes he couldn&rsquo;t have bought a home outright.
&ldquo;If I had to get a mortgage on the full value of the house I just wouldn&rsquo;t have been able to afford it. Shared Ownership has got me a home I wouldn&rsquo;t have been able to have otherwise.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I would absolutely recommend both Shared Ownership and Home Reach to anybody. Everything they did was perfect. I spent years on bases - now I have my very own!&rdquo;

Home Reach by Heylo has been awarded ‘Highly Commended’ in the Best Supplier to the First Time Buyer Market category at this year’s First Time Buyer Readers’ Awards 2024

Our customer stories

I was fed up with paying my landlords mortgage, so decided to pay my own!

I was fed up with paying my landlords mortgage, so decided to pay my own!

From army bases to a base of his own