Atelier

Harlow

The Government’s Help to Buy scheme is often characterised as only for first-time buyers, with the latest government figures showing that 81% of the purchases made through the initiative were by first-time homeowners. Existing homeowners Shelley and Michael Murphy bucked this trend to purchase a new home for their family at Countryside’s Atelier development in Harlow.

Shelley (50) and Michael (45), along with their three children, were able to purchase their new home with Countryside thanks to the government-backed Help to Buy initiative, which provided an interest-free loan of 20% of the £415,000 purchase price. This enabled them to move from their previous three-bedroom home to a spacious four-bedroom townhouse at Atelier.

Shelley, an office administrator, commented: “We were actually the one of the first people to buy on the second phase of Atelier. I had my heart set on one of the four-bedroom townhouses, but when we found out that we were away for the official launch we were determined not to miss out. We spoke to Countryside and actually managed to reserve our home before they went on sale!”

This location was an important draw for the Murphy family. Shelley said: “I was born and bred in Harlow and the kids have grown up here, so it was great to be able to stay close to friends and family. We looked at other developments in Harlow, but Atelier is in a much greener area and feels less built up. Our new home is right on top of common ground, with a big green space in front of the house and our own back garden too.

The homes at Atelier are available with gardens and two allocated parking spaces, integrated appliances and flooring included throughout. Shelley commented: “It’s been amazing having a new-build home. We looked at other developments but none of them had as good a specification as Countryside and moving in has confirmed this. Our teenage boys have now got their own bedroom, which as you can expect has been a godsend, and Michael and I are loving having our own en-suite, which the kids have been banned from!”

Shelley says the experience of buying with Countryside was extremely positive: “We’ve been very well looked after and kept informed throughout the process, and the aftersales process has been fantastic too. We received an amazing welcome box when we moved in, and the sales consultants are often knocking at our door and seeing how they can help.”