Mum's the word as Hucknall brothers come back home after buying houses on the same town development

Jane is a sales advisor with Bellway Homes and when her sons James and Rob decided to get on to the property ladder, she immediately pointed them both in the direction of the housebuilder’s new Sherwood Gate development in Hucknall, just 15 minutes from the family home.

James and Rob are now both the proud owners of properties on the development, having both used the Government’s Help to Buy scheme to step on the housing ladder.

Jane, who has been a sales advisor with Bellway for 10 years, said: “I told my boys about Help to Buy and how it would help them get a new-build home – which they’ve both taken advantage of.

“Over the years I’ve sold so many new-build homes to young people who could not otherwise afford a property and I knew the quality of homes that Bellway provided, so of course recommended looking with them.”

Help to Buy now enables first-time buyers to purchase a new-build home up to the regional price cap (in the East Midlands this is £261,900) with just a five per cent deposit and a 75 per cent mortgage.

The remaining 20 per cent is provided as a Government-backed equity loan, which is interest free for five years.

James reserved his three-bedroom property at Sherwood Gate, off Papplewick Lane, at the end of 2017, moving in a year later with his girlfriend Lucy and their cockapoo Reggie.

Younger brother Rob followed in James’ footsteps a few years later, reserving his three-bedroom property at the development with fiancée Kathryn in November 2020 and moving into their new home in April 2021.

James, 32, a software engineer, said: “I was renting for a few years previously but had moved back in with my parents when I decided I wanted to own a place of my own.

“I wasn’t actively searching but mum suggested looking with Bellway and this house kind of fell on my lap.

It was really good timing.

Rob, 26, a special education teacher, added: “James had been living on this development for a few years before I started looking.

“Location was the most important thing to us as Kathryn was working in Alfreton and I was looking for a new job so wanted to be close to commuter links.

"We were both living at my parents’ house at the time and had been looking for houses for about six months before this property came on the market.

The brothers both had savings in Help to Buy ISAs and also found the Help to Buy equity loan scheme really helpful.

Rob said: “The process of the Help to Buy scheme was pretty straight forward, we didn’t have any problems with anything.

“It felt really great to get onto the property ladder and have something to call our own.”

The Bayliss family are originally from the Hucknall area and the brothers like the fact that their new homes are in a familiar location – no longer living at home but just around the corner if they ever need anything.

James said: “We both love football and support Nottingham Forest so are able to hop on a tram just a mile up the road and get into central Nottingham in about half an hour.

“The area is also great for commuting and although I work from home a lot of the time, because I’m a contractor, sometimes I have to travel all over the country so it’s ideal to be so close to the M1.”

Jane said: “I kept my eye out for properties for both of the boys so I will be doing the same for my third son, Will, when he starts looking to buy his own place.”