Laura Stewart never imagined that her first home would be a three-bedroom end-terraced villa within walking distance of her office. The 25-year-old still pinches herself when she opens the front door – and removes her shoes – at her new home at Cruden Homes’ Royal Park View development in Stirling.
After renting a flat in Bridge of Allan for six years, Laura was desperate for her own place and, as is the case for so many young buyers nowadays, her parents had started saving to help with a deposit.
It was perfect timing that soon after, homes became available at Royal Park View.
Thanks to the support of her parents and the Help to Buy (Scotland) scheme, Laura finally got her own keys a couple of months ago.
Laura, an assistant HR officer, said: “I was interested in buying a new build for my first home and knew that if I wanted to stay central, with my budget I would need something like Help to Buy for this to be achievable.
“The property is also a 10-minute walk to my work and was a very good price for being so central to town and accessible to the motorway.”
All the two-bedroom homes at the development sold out very quickly, so Laura went for a three-bedroom Moray style, and she’s glad she did, adding: “It gives me a dressing room.”
Laura is in a musical theatre group based in Falkirk and the first thing she bought for her home, apart from a bed, was a Hollywood mirror, surrounded by lights.
The new house came with a fridge/freezer and washing machine, saving Laura a huge amount of money, but like any excited new home buyer, she took great delight in choosing the flooring. She said: “If things like that weren’t included in the price, I don’t think I’d have been able to afford them because they can be so expensive. I was really surprised by the amount of choice provided by Cruden Homes.”
Laura opted for an on-trend grey themed colour palette. The kitchen has a dark grey tiled effect lino and the living room and dining room have a lighter grey wood effect. The stairs and hall have a cosy dark grey carpet and the bedrooms are in light grey.
She said: “Choosing the flooring was definitely an incentive for me.”
Laura is used to living alone and has soon adapted to the change from a flat to a semi-detached house. She said: “The house is pretty big but I plan to stay here for the foreseeable future. I’m single and don’t have any ties but I see this as a family home, if the chance arises. It’s ideal for me and, providing my job stays the same, I won’t be looking to move.”
She might, however, take a housemate, as the second bedroom is ready and furnished should a friend want to move in. Laura said: “I had a house warming a few weeks ago and the girls tried the beds and said it was like staying in a hotel room.”
After living in the house for a few weeks, the novelty of finally owning her own place still hasn’t worn off. Laura said: “I still walk in to the house and think, ‘Wow, this is mine!’ It’s so nice and pretty and I want to keep it looking nice, so it’s shoes off at the front door.”
The Royal Park View development is just minutes from the heart of Stirling, in an up-and coming area and many of the properties have impressive views of Stirling Castle.
Laura’s neighbours are a mixture of other single people and young families.
She said: “The streets are really quiet which I was surprised at.”
Laura’s Moray house style has also collected a prestigious award for the ‘Best Starter Home of the Year’ at the recently held 2018 Scottish Home Awards in Edinburgh.
Hazel Davies, Sales and Marketing Director of Cruden Homes (East) Ltd, said: “We were absolutely thrilled to receive this accolade for the Moray at Royal Park View in Stirling. This house style has been phenomenally popular with buyers on account of its well considered layout and impressive specification. All Morays on the development sold out in record time and we’ve been so delighted with customer feedback that we’re now looking at rolling this house type out over a number of other forthcoming developments.”
Words courtesy The Daily Record
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