Andrew and Judith Frame are first buyers who have been able to buy with no deposit, and have done so for less than £400 per month, cheaper than what they were paying in rent beforehand. Andrew and Judith are buying their home from WJ LAW who have a long history of helping home buyers achieve the house of their dreams.

Andrew and Judith are buying their home at Avonmore Court, near Bangor, and have bought a 3-bedroom end townhouse for £140,000 and have been able to buy thanks to the help of Northern Ireland Co-Ownership. With Co – Ownership, buyers can rent half the home, and buy the other half with no deposit, making owning the house of people’s dream a reality.

Within the figure of £95 per week, is the cost of renting half the house, and the cost of buying half the house with a repayment mortgage; and is based on buyers having zero deposit, clearly if buyers have some deposit, the figures will get better and better.

www.co-ownership.org/

WJ Law held a “Home Buyers Workshop” on the 23rd October to assist buyers. Along with the homes to view, the builders, and the suppliers (such as the Kitchen manufacturers) were Mortgage experts to assist with the Smartmove Scheme, and help with how to buy through N.I. Co – Ownership, with no deposit.

Under the new Smartmove scheme, WJ Law defers 10% of the house price for up to 10 years. Along with the buyers 10% deposit, this makes the mortgage a maximum of 80% Loan to Value. So not only is there help with the deposit, the monthly payments are less too. Paying for only 90% of the house, gives buyers that little bit of extra help in the early years, as the 10% deferred payment to WJ Law is free for 2 years, thereafter a fixed interest rate of 5% APR will apply. Buyers will pay WJ Law 10% of the house value at the end of 10 years, or when the house is sold, whichever comes first.

Renowned for the Country Georgian character of many of their award winning schemes, WJ Law has consistently been at the forefront of innovation in the local housing market. Speaking at the launch of the new Smartmove scheme, Managing Director David Law said; “We have seen the cost of renting far exceed the cost to buy, simply because people could not get the deposit together. Working together with the Halifax we have the answer; luckily for us the answer includes buying one of our homes!”

Full details of the scheme may be found at www.wjlaw.co.uk/smartmove
Or with the Agents: Pinkerton Murray 028 9147 9393

Now WJ Law, one of Northern Ireland’s leading housebuilders, has teamed up with the Halifax to offer first time buyers a unique scheme that allows them to buy with only a 10% deposit. What’s more, the lending requirements of the Halifax are less onerous than many other lenders, which will make affording a new home within the reach of many more buyers.

Under the new Smartmove 2 scheme, WJ Law defers10% of the house price for up to 10 years, making the mortgage a maximum of 80% Loan to Value. Paying for only 90% of the house, gives buyers that little bit of extra help in the early years too, as the 10% deferred payment to WJ Law is free for 2 years, thereafter a fixed interest rate of 5% APR will apply. Buyers will pay WJ Law 10% of the value at the end of 10 years, or when the house is sold, whichever comes first.

Renowned for the Country Georgian character of many of their award winning schemes, WJ Law has consistently been at the forefront of innovation in the local housing market. Speaking at the launch of the new Smartmove scheme, Managing Director David Law said; “We have seen the cost of renting far exceed the cost to buy, simply because people could not get the deposit together. Working together with the Halifax we have the answer; luckily for us it includes buying one of our homes!”

Full details of the scheme may be found at www.wjlaw.co.uk/smartmove

Location

Avonmore Court is found within a short drive to Marks & Spencers at Bloomfield, Bangor, half way between Bangor and Donaghadee; the scheme sits in the tiny hamlet of the Cotton, giving the best of all worlds.

Context

The design of the scheme allows buyers to acquire a home in the countryside, without any of the usual drawbacks to such a purchase. The alternatives for rural buyers are often tired bungalows ill at ease in their setting, as opposed to the “Country Georgian” pleasing symmetry of Avonmore Court, a scheme at ease with its context.

Variety

Avonmore Court consists of 24 homes, the 4 detached “Mini Farmhouse” styled entrance homes, give way to 2, 3, 4, and 5 bedroom homes beyond in a rich variety of render, and handmade brick finishes. The scheme is inspired by the architecture of Hillsborough Main Street, a renowned blend of town and country with a pleasing streetscape, just as at Avonmore Court.

Planning Process – Green Space

The original land zoning was exactly 2 acres. High quality developments give over up to 20% in green space and buffer planning, diminishing the buildable area significantly: At Avonmore, a 10M deep and 100M long area was planted with native species, but crucially this was within the green belt, immediately to the rear of the site. During the 2 year planning process this area grew to provide a tremendous asset to the project, and yet at little cost to the developers. The area is maintained with steps from the homes into it, and with informal paths maintained through this little wood.

Design

The vernacular of Hillsborough Main Street provides the inspiration for the scheme. A pleasing terrace forms the backdrop for the site, centred with a stately pair of ‘Clock Towers’ in handmade brick, and finished in a pleasing and balanced way by the buttermilk and terracotta rendered cottages. The scheme is centred on a village green arrangement, with cottages with hidden parking looking on. Four detached ‘mini farmhouse’ dwellings form the gateway to the scheme, each with a walled garden for privacy given their front location.

Construction Interest

Avonmore Court is built on very poor peaty subsoil. All the dwellings were piled, but a novel solution was employed to support the drainage. The entire site was overladen with 2.5m of blinding and monitored for settlement. This ‘overburden’ provided a delightful working platform for the piling works, and squeezed the water from the peat to allow the ground to have sufficient load bearing capacity for sewerage. The “sinking” of the ground was monitored and when settlement was complete, 1.5m of blinding was removed to give formation level. This novel solution sets Avonmore apart as a discerning choice for the prestigious award.

The Extra Mile

Throughout Avonmore are details of thoughtfulness, which set it apart. The specification is exceptional at Avonmore and includes details such as sandstone cills, full sliding sash windows (with ‘skinny’ period glazing bars), steel doors (which don’t open up to jam or leak), period streetlights, period down pipes and hoppers. Further details such as the cast period door surrounds, design of the screen garden walling and discrete garaging are also exceptional, but not entirely unique. Avonmore is deserving due to a combination of the above, plus the hidden thought which one cannot readily see – the flawless paintwork, the lack of trades leaving issues behind for subsequent trades, and a happy working atmosphere. One example exemplifies this: The green area: The green is made up of drainage, stone and a 70% sand soil mix in the same manner as a golf course green – sewn out with the same hard wearing fescue and rye grasses. In this way children playing in the winter will not bring “gutters” into the house – a small-unseen thing where Avonmore again ‘goes the extra mile’.

Landscaping

Avonmore boasts a central village green, rectangular in shape, with feature Parre Terre’s in each corner. The Parre Terre’s are punctuated with Betula Pendula (silver birch) at each corner, and the effect is to ‘frame’ the central Clock Towers beyond which close the view of the visitor. Each Parre Terre is formed with buxus sempervirens (box) and planted with sedum (ice plant) giving year round interest and colour. To the rear of the scheme is a 1000m2 wooded area, maintained with informal paths through and given over to each of the relevant homeowners. Each dwelling has the benefit of a private gate and steps down to access this ‘buffer’. The “Quality Initiative” from 1996 has called for quality in housing developments, and made particular reference to landscape ‘buffers’. Avonmore may be unique in making this wood a central part of the finished scheme, rather than a sop to Planners, swiftly forgotten on site; once again making Avonmore Court quite exceptional.

The Market, and Mortgage Availability

Avonmore Court was launched in January 2009, at the nadir of the property value collapse. 18 homes out of 24 are now sold, with 7 complete. Of the 18, 12 have bought through the W J Law Smartmove Scheme, where the developer pays the 25% mortgage deposit. This level of commitment to the scheme on the part of the developer is unparalleled, and in no small part has led to its undoubted success.

Summary

Avonmore Court is an exceptional green field housing development, a category where currently only the best schemes will shine, and this is certainly the case with Avonmore Court. The reader is invited to view the website at www.avonmorecourt.co.uk

W J Law recently commissioned a report on house sales in Bangor. The results of the report clearly demonstrate the popularity of the Scheme with most purchasers of W J Law homes taking advantage of this amazing offer.

Click here to view full report.

In one of the biggest steps yet towards building confidence in the recovering property market, Lisburn firm WJ Law is set to build 24 houses on a new site at The Cotton in North Down.

And at a time when new builds have been put on hold across Northern Ireland, the Lisburn firm has already reported off-plan sales of Avonmore Court, where work is due to start this month.

WJ Law Director, David Law said: “There are two reasons people stopped buying and that is the risk of negative equity and the inability to get a mortgage.

We decided we needed to tackle both problems to get the market moving again and we did this by introducing our Price Guarantee and Smart Move schemes.

Since the launch of these schemes last autumn, we have seen a big increase in interest and sales across all our developments.

Avonmore is a great location and as there is a scarcity of new properties in the Bangor area, we decided to launch the scheme off-plan last month.

Since January 7, we are delighted to say that seven have already been purchased, five through our Smart Move Scheme.”

Through Smart Move, WJ Law will pay 25 per cent of the house price which the owner can then pay back at market value when they sell their home on or within 10 years, whichever comes first.

Through heir Price Guarantee Scheme, the company will guarantee a buyer that if the same type of home is completed on the same specification basis for a lesser price prior to December 31 2009, then the company will refund the difference plus the difference paid in stamp duty.

Avonmore Court is a mix of 24 modern, Georgian style homes located between 6 Roads Ends and Donaghadee. Prices start from £170,000 for a Russett Cottage terrace to £240,000 for detached at Chambers Cottage.

David Law added: “Sales are picking up elsewhere for us. Across all our developments – Summerhill in Banbridge, Ballantine Garden Village in Lisburn, Bishopshill in Dromore and now Avonmore Court in Bangor, there have been excellent sales this month with 25 homes agreed since January 5th.”