Young couple moved into new build 3-bed house six months ago but builders are still fixing faults
Natasha Paul, 21, and Marcus Healey, 24, picked up the keys to their new property in Sherbourne in December last year
A YOUNG couple from Dorset moved into their new-build three bed house seven months ago but the builders are still not quite finished.
Natasha Paul, 21, and Marcus Healey, 24, picked up the keys to their new house in Sherbourne, Dorset in December last year.
Since then the builders still have a set of keys and pop back to fix faults, such as a dodgy radiator or cracks in their walls.
But as the couple have a two year guarantee from the building firm on the property it doesn't cost them a penny extra.
And although they don't regret anything, the pair still can't wait for it all to be finished.
Every week we nose around a first-time buyers' pad - cribs style - in our My First Home series.
First things first, what's your house like and how much did you pay for it?
It's a new build semi-detached with three bedrooms in Sherbourne, Dorset.
We bought the house for £232,955 and we needed a 5 per cent deposit which was £12,000 between us.
We pay £680 a month for our mortgage which is what we would have spent on rent around here anyway.
We've got a small garden at the front and decent size one around the back - although we can't really use it yet because we're only just putting the turf down.
We've been here for about seven months now and we love it.
How much did you have to save and how did you do it?
To be honest with you, we weren't very prepared. We didn't have any savings so we really were starting from scratch.
I earned about £1,400 a month and I would put away £750 into savings. It was so tough.
We both opened a Help To Buy ISA, but we could only put a maximum of £200 into it each month.
Over the seven months, I managed to save about £1,600 in that account so the government topped it up £400 and Marcus managed about the same.
We also had another ordinary current account that we topped up with the left over savings - so around £550 each.
We lived with Marcus' parents and we didn't really have to pay any rent because they knew we were saving to move out.
But after I'd paid for my car which is on finance and the insurance, I was left with about £100 to £200 to live on every month.
Are you a first-time buyer who want to share tips on how you did it? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 78 24516. Don't forget to join the for the latest tips on buying your first home.
It was hardwork and I just had to keep on reminding myself what it was for. I wouldn't do it again if I had to.
My mates were going out and then there was the girls holiday which I knew I couldn't afford to go on so I missed out.
How did you decide on location and what made you go for a new build?
Marcus is from Sherborne and I'm from the next town along. We both work in Yeovil which is only a 20 minute drive away.
He works for the waterboard and I work at a logistics company.
We were initially looking to rent and then we saw this development being built and thought we'll just have a look.
There was nothing here, just a show home that turns out is nothing like ours.
We sat down with the developers and they worked out the numbers for us and we realised we could afford if we used the Help to Buy scheme which we couldn't have used on an old house.
We didn’t really want to rent as we didn’t feel like it would get us anywhere. And we wanted a dog which we weren't really going to be able to do if we rented.
Marcus' parents bred Labradors last summer and on the day we completed we celebrated by buying one of them, Dexter!
I love my kitchen, we upgraded to get glossy doors and it's a real country house, so we splashed out a bit there.
We’ve had mates over for takeaways but I’m a bit precious - it’s got cream carpets.
Does it bother you that you're living on a building site?
Not really because we were expecting it. When we first put the money down, there was absolutely nothing here and now there are only eight and there's going to be 66 on the development.
We don't really see too much of it although we did get woken up on a few Saturday mornings. There's about another year to go.
Has moving in gone as smoothly as you'd hoped?
We've had quite a few teething problems which is really winding me up now considering how much money we've put into it.
Our boiler in the kitchen is tatty and gross and our garden floods so we've had to wait for it to dry out before we put grass on it.
Our toilet didn't work either so the plumber had to come and fixed it, the radiator broke so they came and fixed that too.
There's a two year guarantee on the house so the builders will come and fix it but it's been seven months now and they still have the key to our house to do bits and pieces.
It's so frustrating but hopefully it will all be done soon.
MORE FOR FIRST-TIME BUYERS
How about furniture? How much did you spend on filling the house?
A lot of our stuff is on finance. We'd managed to save the deposit in seven months but we didn't have any other savings and no money to buy it all.
Marcus bought the bed himself because he wanted a flash one but I see the rest of it as an investment really.
We had to pay for the carpet up front but we're paying around £45 a month for the sofa and £40 for the table.
It will take around four years to pay it all off but I don't regret it. We wouldn't have been able to do it without it.
What help is out there for first-time buyers?
GETTING on the property ladder can feel like a grim task but there are schemes out there to help first-time buyers own their own home.
Help to Buy ISA - It's a tax-free savings account where for every £200 you save, the government will add an extra £50. But there's a maximum limit of £3,000 which is paid to your solicitor when you move.
Help to Buy equity loan - The government will lend you up to 20 per cent of the home's value - or 40 per cent in London - after you've put down a five per cent deposit. The loan is on top of a normal mortgage but it can only be used to buy a new build property.
Lifetime ISA - Another government scheme that gives anyone aged 18 to 39 the chance to save tax-free and get a bonus of up to £32,000 towards your first home. You can save up to £4,000 a year and the government will add 25 per cent on top.
Shared ownership - Co-owning with a housing association means you can buy a part of the property and pay rent on the remaining amount. You can buy anything from 25 to 75 per cent of the property but you're restricted to specific ones.
"First dibs" in London - London Mayor Sadiq Khan is working on a scheme that will restrict sales of all new-build homes in the capital up to £350,000 to UK buyers for three months before any overseas marketing can take place.
Starter Home Initiative - A government scheme that will see 200,000 new-build homes in England to be sold to first-time buyers with a 20 per cent discount by 2020. To receive updates on the progress of these homes you can register your interest .
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Money team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 78 24516. Don't forget to join the for the latest bargains and money-saving advice.