TEACHERS Sarah and Luke Harding were the first family to unpack at Ash Tree Park, Story Homes' second development in Kendal, thanks to the Government's Help to Buy scheme.

The couple and their two-year-old daughter Isla moved from a two-bedroom Victorian terraced house which they had outgrown, to their dream, four-bedroom detached house, at The Beeches, Natland Road.

The Hardings spoke to an independent financial advisor who put their figures together, and Sarah said: "I never thought we would be able to afford a home like this – it really is a dream. We were looking in Kendal and the only homes available were older properties that needed a lot of work doing to them – we don’t have the time to do this having Isla and both leading busy lives. Help to Buy has allowed us to purchase a forever family home, that we have been able to walk straight in to and make it our home.

"People always think this is for first time buyers but it isn’t. We could not have been able to afford this home without using this scheme."

Help to Buy aims to help buyers who have a deposit of at least five per cent, by borrowing 20 per cent from the government and taking a 75 per cent mortgage to secure their home.

There are more than 30 properties sold at the Story Homes development with 11 families now living at Ash Tree Park.

The company has also launched Greengate Meadow in Levens and is marketing these new homes from Ash Tree Park. The marketing suite is open on site Thursday to Monday, 10.30am to 5.30pm.

www.storyhomes.co.uk

ENDS

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The Hardings in front of the Warwick

The Hardings in the kitchen

The Hardings in the lounge

The Hardings in the hallway

Media contact:

Melanie Parr, PR and Communications Advisor North West - 01257 443255 or melanie.parr@storyhomes.co.uk

Notes to Editors

Story Homes is an award winning property developer with more than 35 schemes in Cumbria, North West and North East England and southern Scotland. The company was founded in 1987 by Fred Story as Story Construction, the companies later de-merged to become Story Homes and sister company Story Contracting. It operates its head office at Kingmoor Park, Carlisle and has regional head offices in Newcastle upon Tyne and Chorley. Renowned for building high specification traditional-style homes of excellent quality, the company is committed to sustainability and contributing to the communities where it builds. Story Homes prides itself on delivering exemplary customer service and has achieved a five star Home Builders Federation (HBF) Customer Satisfaction Rating for four consecutive years (2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017).

In 2011, Story Homes was named the best developer in the UK and in 2015, The Woodlands development in Shotley Bridge, County Durham, won Best Residential Development Durham’ in the prestigious UK Property Awards. The Beeches, the 76-home site being developed in Kendal, was named the ‘Best Residential Development in Cumbria’. In 2016, Chairman and owner Fred Story was awarded the Judges Award at the North West Residential Property Awards. The company directly employs more than 210 staff, aiming to recruit an additional 200 by the end of 2018. It has also launched apprentice and graduate schemes this year.

This year (2017/18) Story Homes hopes to build more than 1000 homes. In 2012/13 Story Homes built 151 homes, 240 homes in 2013/14, 410 homes in 2014/15 and 565 homes in 2015/16. In 2016/17, we built more than 800 new homes across out three key regions.

For more information, visit: www.storyhomes.co.uk