Shared Ownership is Saving Me £400 a Month at Belgrave Village in Birmingham

A 37-year-old Estate Agent has shared how he is saving &pound;400 a month living in a brand new apartment at Belgrave Village in central Birmingham.
Michael Swords has recently moved from the Birmingham suburb of Erdington to the &pound;106m development, which will feature a total of 438 houses and apartments when building work completes in spring 2025. Accessed off Belgrave Middleway (A4540), just outside the city&rsquo;s Ultra Low Emission Zone, the 12-acre regeneration project is being delivered by Wavensmere Homes, in partnership with Galliard Homes and Apsley House Capital.
While prices for one-bedroom apartments currently start from &pound;208,000, Mr Swords purchased a 30% share via Home Reach&rsquo;s Shared Ownership scheme, where buyers can purchase a share on the home and pay rent on the unowned share, often making buying a property more affordable. The 5% deposit was &pound;3,000. He pays a &pound;330pcm mortgage repayment, together with &pound;360pcm rent for the remaining 70% of the new build property. 80% of the Belgrave Village homes have already been matched with purchasers, and the cost to rent an equivalent apartment at the popular scheme is &pound;1,100pcm. &nbsp;
Melissa Toomey, Director of Sales for Home Reach, comments: &ldquo;The Home Reach team are very excited to be partnering with Wavensmere to deliver Shared Ownership homes at Belgrave Village. Offering prospective buyers the chance to step onto the property ladder through an alternative route with Home Reach, we are proud to be offering a selection of fantastic homes alongside one of the most reputable housebuilders.&rdquo; 
Micheal Swords, Belgrave Village resident and a Senior Lister for Connells Estate Agents in Birmingham, said: &ldquo;I specialise in the valuation and preparation of sales particulars for lived-in homes coming onto the resale market, so I hadn&rsquo;t got first-hand knowledge of Belgrave Village before choosing to buy there. I have two dogs, so green space and peaceful surroundings was as important to me as a quick commute into the office. When colleagues in the new homes team spoke about the development, it was just what I&rsquo;d been looking for.
&ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t afford to buy on the open market, due to the level of deposit required to obtain a decent mortgage offer. Shared Ownership with Home Reach opened up the opportunity for me to get on the property ladder with just a &pound;3,000 deposit. Until I received the calculations, I had no idea what a saving it would be, compared to renting. My friends and family can&rsquo;t believe I&rsquo;m paying less than &pound;700 a month. As it&rsquo;s an energy-efficient new build, the bills are very low too. There&rsquo;s no gas here, and electricity and water costs me a total of &pound;80 per month.
&ldquo;I feel like I&rsquo;ve really landed on my feet here. Walking the dogs round all the open spaces is a great way to meet the new neighbours. I&rsquo;m looking forward to the on-site gym and screening room opening in the next few months. Having not previously known much about Shared ownership, I am so pleased it was available to me. I like the thought of increasing my Ownership stake via staircasing, too.&rdquo; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Four two-bedroom apartments are still available via Home Reach&rsquo;s Shared Ownership scheme. The full value of each 648 sq ft property is &pound;265,000, with part-purchase/part-rent available for at or upwards of a 30% share.
Speaking on his experience with Home Reah, Micheal comments, &ldquo;I was surprised at the range of homes available through Home Reach&rsquo;s Shared Ownership scheme, and it really did broaden my housing options. Instead of draining all of my savings for a property that ticked just some of the boxes, Home Reach has allowed me to find the home of my dreams without breaking the bank.
&ldquo;From the beginning, the Home Reach team made it clear about how the process worked, and helped me with any questions I might have. I have only good things to say about my experience buying a home at Belgrave Village, and would recommend purchasing through Shared Ownership with Home Reach to anyone looking to get onto the property ladder.&rdquo; 
A three-bedroom show house and two-bedroom apartment have recently been unveiled at Belgrave Village. The houses on the development benefit from eco technology including air source heat pumps, and design features such as three-metre-high ceilings within each floor of the houses.
The first residents moved into the expansive development last summer, with 95 Belgrave Village houses and apartments now completed and occupied. A further 150 homes will be ready to move into before the end of this year. A selection of newly finished plots are available to move into straight away. &nbsp;&nbsp;
Donna Smith, Sales Director for Wavensmere Homes, said: "The show house interiors are geared to city professionals, like Michael. Located for such an easy commute, it is ideal for those seeking a peaceful, community-focused living environment when the working day is done. Belgrave Village balances professional and family life, with ample open spaces and residents&rsquo; amenities to foster strong neighbourhood connections.&rdquo;
Belgrave Village incorporates natural ventilation and low energy appliances, to enable occupiers to lower their carbon footprint and household bills. Apartments feature electric heating, while the houses are installed with air source heat pumps. The 174 two-, three- and four-bedroom houses are EPC-B rated, which qualify for green mortgage rates. Each house is sold with a parking space, while purchasers have the opportunity to buy parking with the 238 one- and two-bedroom apartments, which are situated in striking new buildings, rising to 11-storeys high.
All homes feature contemporary fitted kitchens with integrated appliances. Bathroom suites are by Geberit with coordinating Bristan brassware. Flooring is provided as standard throughout each home, consisting of a mix of luxury vinyl tiling and fitted carpets. Once complete, Belgrave Village will offer residents access to a gym, co-working space, screening room, and concierge service. The scheme design and mix of apartment and house types enables occupiers to care for small pets.
For local journeys into the city&rsquo;s business, shopping, and cultural quarters, cycling and E-scooters that are readily available for hire are the preferred methods of transport for most residents, although bus stops are positioned close to the new development. Moor Street station and New Street station are both around 1.5 miles away, offering frequent services across the UK rail network. Trains from New Street to London Euston take 63 minutes. The A4540 leads to the Aston Expressway (A38M) and provides easy access to the national motorway network.
The Belgrave Village site was previously Joseph Chamberlain Sixth Form College and Birmingham Sports Centre, but had lain derelict for 20 years. Headquartered in Edgbaston, Birmingham, Wavensmere Homes has close to 3,500 new homes either in production, or planning.&nbsp;
For further information on Belgrave Village, or to view the show homes, contact Connells&rsquo; Birmingham office on 0121 212 0800, or email <a href="mailto:info@wavensmere.co.uk">info@wavensmere.co.uk</a>
For more information on Home Reach&rsquo;s available properties, call 0203 744 0415 or visit <a href="https://www.homereach.org.uk/">https://www.homereach.org.uk/</a>.

Matthew’s Journey to Homeownership: How Home Reach Made His Dream a Reality

Matthew Iskandar, a 33-year-old Account Executive at Outra, a market research company that uses property data to target customers, and his fianc&eacute; Stacy embarked on their journey to homeownership with the help of Home Reach&rsquo;s Shared Ownership scheme.
Before purchasing their two-bedroom apartment in Campbell Wharf, a Crest Nicholson development in Milton Keynes, Matthew and Stacy were privately renting just 2.5 miles away. As their tenancy was nearing its end, the couple faced an important decision - either to continue renting or take the leap into homeownership. With savings in hand and a desire to settle down, they chose to invest in their future and assess their options.
Matthew has been based in Milton Keynes for the past 25 years, developing a deep connection to the area. He appreciates the city&rsquo;s strong transport links, making commuting and visiting nearby cities easy.
&ldquo;Milton Keynes is a great place to live, especially with its central location and good access to major roads and rail networks. Stacy and I were solely focused on finding a home within Milton Keynes. We wanted to stay in a place that we&rsquo;ve come to love and where we&rsquo;ve built our lives, ensuring we could continue enjoying all that the city has to offer.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Our journey began in October 2020,&rdquo; Matthew shared. &ldquo;We initially explored purchasing a home outright but found that nothing met our budget or quality expectations.&rdquo;
After coming across Campbell Wharf on Rightmove, Matthew, already familiar with Home Reach due to his background in the real estate industry, found that this knowledge proved to be a game-changer.
Home Reach is a UK Shared Ownership scheme that lets buyers purchase a share of a property, usually 50-75%, while paying rent on the rest. Home Reach provides flexibility to buy more shares over time and helping people get on the property ladder sooner, buying from a leading housebuilder.
He explains, &ldquo;I always knew about Home Reach through work, but I never thought I&rsquo;d actually use it. When I visited Crest Nicholson&rsquo;s site, we saw how Shared Ownership could fit our needs perfectly.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Our search led us to a spacious top-floor corner apartment, and we moved into our new home in February of 2021. It&rsquo;s the largest two-bedroom plot in the whole block, with a 16ft kitchen island, an enclosed balcony, and smart lighting throughout. The plush carpets and laminate flooring offer both comfort and style.&rdquo;
The purchase process was notably smooth, with the entire transaction completed between November 2020 to mid-February 2021. Matthew found the sales process straightforward, thanks to the efficient support from their Sales Advisor, Sasha.
&ldquo;The service was exceptional. Sasha and the team made everything easy, and having been in the industry, I appreciated their professionalism and efficiency,&rdquo; says Matthew.
Now settled into their new home, Matthew and Stacy are already considering their next steps.
Matthew explained, &ldquo;We are in the process of re-mortgaging and exploring the possibility of purchasing additional shares, staircasing the remaining 50%.&rdquo;
&ldquo;The best part of buying through Shared Ownership is the opportunity to get on the property ladder and build equity.&rdquo;
Matthew highly recommends the Home Reach scheme to family and friends, highlighting the ease of the online application process and the support provided throughout, saying &ldquo;I would recommend Home Reach 100%. The application was straightforward, and despite overcoming hurdles with documentation, the support we received was excellent.&rdquo;

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;

Our customer stories

Matthew’s Journey to Homeownership: How Home Reach Made His Dream a Reality

Shared Ownership is Saving Me £400 a Month at Belgrave Village in Birmingham

Matthew’s Journey to Homeownership: How Home Reach Made His Dream a Reality

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

From army bases to a base of his own