After years of renting, Charlee and her partner James fell in love with their new Persimmon home at Hartley Grange, Whittlesey on Valentine's Day 2023 - and it was a match made in heaven. She told us about finding their perfect home, and how the sales team made sure to provide them with the best service possible.
After years of renting, Charlee and her partner James fell in love with their new Persimmon home at Hartley Grange, Whittlesey on Valentine's Day 2023 - and it was a match made in heaven. She told us about finding their perfect home, and how the sales team made sure to provide them with the best service possible.
When we met in 2019, James was living in a studio flat, and I was living with my parents," says Charlee. "We had only been together for six months or so before lockdown hit, and we decided to lockdown together.
I was working from home, and we were living every day in that 34 square foot studio flat. We would constantly fantasise about the day we owned our forever home together, and what that might look like, it's what got us through the pandemic.
Once lockdown ended, we were still a little way off the deposit we needed but knew living where we were wasn't sustainable. So, we rented our first house. Just under a year later, the landlord decided to sell up, so we had to find somewhere else to live. We then had to downsize to a flat and lived there for just under a year. We had several problems whilst living there, and it gave us the motivation we needed to save the rest of our deposit.
Although saving up for a mortgage deposit while renting isn’t easy, doing it without sacrificing your daily life is possible and the results are well worth it.
We really loved the idea of having a house nobody else had lived in. A blank canvas to make our own.
We had spent so long renting other people's homes, that we really loved the idea of having a house nobody else had lived in. A blank canvas to make our own.
With this in mind, the couple came across our Hartley Grange development in Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire.
We found this house online on Valentine's Day, decided to arrange a viewing for that weekend, and the rest is history really! We fell in love with the area, after living in the city centre, moving somewhere more rural was exactly what we needed. And after viewing the show home, we just couldn't let the opportunity pass. We reserved that same day.
We were really pleased with the support we received from the sales team at Persimmon even before reservation, and it made us want to stick with them throughout the process.
As with many first time buyers, for Charlee and James, their initial steps to buying a house were as much about finding the right development as they were about saving for a deposit. If you’re trying to choose where you want to buy, our guide on looking for your first home and our page on why new builds make great first homes are well worth a read.
Once you've found somewhere you love, our budget and affordability page and guide on how to save for a house deposit will help you work out what's realistic, alongside our saving tips to buy a house for smaller changes that add up over time.
"I'm registered blind, and so it was important to us that we not only found an area and a house I felt safe in, but also that I felt included in the whole process," says Charlee.
"I can't read small print or visualise floor plans, and so we really wanted to make sure the developer we chose was understanding of this, and patient throughout the process of explaining things in a way I could understand. Buying a house is a huge thing, and being my first I didn't want to miss a thing."
Charlee and James' sales advisor Abbie was on hand to help in any way possible.
"Abbie was amazing from start to finish. My colleague visited the marketing suite the day before James and I had our appointment, and Abbie explained the logistics of getting there safely.
"When James and I saw her, she was so thorough, and explained everything in vivid detail. She made sure we had a site visit so I could physically walk the route to the new house before we even decided to reserve. She gave us so much time and patience whilst choosing our options, and made sure we were given the extras we asked for (turf and flooring), so that was one less thing for us to worry about."
No matter the circumstances, the process of buying a house should feel manageable so having a sales advisor on hand to explain what things mean can make a real difference. As a first time buyer, understanding the steps to buying your new build can help you anticipate the next stage and feel more comfortable throughout.
"Abbie was always available if we had any questions, and even let us come in to use the printer/scanner to get the documents we needed over to our mortgage adviser on time because we didn't have one at home," says Charlee.
"She was on hand during our home demo to answer any questions we had, and she continued to be there after we moved for any niggling concerns we still had."
Whether it’s something small, or just the ongoing reassurance of a familiar face, having hands-on help when buying your first home can make a huge difference. At Persimmon, support like Abbie’s sits alongside wider help including a range of schemes designed to make getting on the ladder more achievable.
If you're wondering how Persimmon schemes could get you in your first home sooner, or want to see the full types of first time buyer schemes available, our team is on hand to help.
"Our mortgage advisors worked seamlessly with Abbie and our solicitors to ensure the process went as smoothly as possible. From the point of reservation to the day we collected our keys was just under 8 weeks," says Charlee.
"When we reserved the house, we asked when it would be ready and were told March — we laughed and said 'March 2024?' We couldn't believe it when we were told it would be 2023! We still can't believe we own a three-bedroom house after such a struggle to get here. Hard work and determination pay off!"
The time it takes to move house can vary depending on the build stage of the plot and how quickly your mortgage and legal work progress, but Charlee and James' eight-week turnaround shows how quick the process can really be when everyone works together. Our completing and moving page covers what to expect in the run-up to your own move.
Moving into your first home is the best part of the whole process. The moment when it stops feeling like paperwork, and your property really starts feeling like yours is unmatched.
For Charlee and James, this moment was when they were able to swap their run of temporary rentals for a three-bedroom house with a garden of their own, giving them the chance to finally make a blank canvas feel like home.
Charlee's favourite things about her new home:
From your initial budget conversation through to picking up your keys, as a first time buyer with Persimmon every step of your journey is backed by our team. Not only does our range of schemes make it easier to get onto the property ladder, but every one of our new build homes comes with an NHBC warranty and energy-efficient specification as standard.
If you’re at the start of your journey as a first time buyer, our wealth of guides are a great way to explore your options, from saving for a deposit through to moving day. You can also read more customer stories and learn more about looking for your first home from other first-time buyers who've been through the process with us.
This customer story contains the genuine opinions of the customers featured, who were Persimmon Homes customers in 2023, and we thanked them for their time and for letting us photograph their homes with a retail voucher.
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