New Apartments in Benfleet

August 27, 2017 by Rob Kahl

The brilliant shared ownership scheme is back and Scott & Stapleton are once again proud to be supporting Estuary Housing with the sales of some brand new apartments in Benfleet.

After over 25 years helping first time buyers take their first steps on to the property ladder Estuary Housing are fully equipped with answers to every question from potential purchasers or more probably concerned parents. In summary this is a scheme to assist people to buy their first home. Buying a minimum percentage of 40% of the property initially, meaning you will only need a small deposit and mortgage. The remainder will be rented at a reduced rate with the option to pay back at any time.

For example, if you were interested in one of the apartments advertised at £76,000, this is the 40% share of the total price of £190,000. You will need a 10% deposit for the mortgage so £7,600 and then your monthly mortgage payments will be approximately £380 a month. The remainder will be rented off of Estuary Housing for approx £260 per month. As with all flats there is an annual service charge, with this particular block it is approx £100 per month which means that your total costs will be approx £730 per month. Hopefully this will be more affordable for a young single person or couple looking for their first property, it is certainly in line with equivalent monthly rental costs.

The beauty of the scheme is that if you are in the fortunate position to pay off any of the share that Estuary Housing still own there are no penalties. You can pay lumps off of re-mortgage to pay more off or you can just leave it as it is. If you want to sell at any time then you can sell your share and take any profits of your share as well so it should always be an appreciating asset just like any normal property purchase.

The flats themselves are extremely high specification and do not differ in any way from the other apartments in the development that have been on general release. They have been built by a local developer called Argent Homes who seem to have cornered the market in flats in this part of Benfleet having recently just completed a large development next door; Woodlands is even bigger and what used to be just a couple of pieces of waste land and woodland is now a pair of very smart apartment developments.

The Estuary Housing block consisted of 11 apartments. As is always the case the 2 bedroom apartments were snapped up immediately and we have 5 one bedroom flats available. Each apartment comes with an allocated off street parking space, has high specification kitchens with integrated appliances, luxury bathrooms and good size lounges & bathrooms. Some of the flats have Juilette balconies overlooking Thundersley Coombe woods, all of them have gas central heating including heated towel rails in the bathrooms and have fitted flooring. There are also delightful, well tended communal gardens. The development is located on Bread & Cheese Hill and is within about a mile and a half of Benfleet mainline railway station, the High Road and all other amenities are nearby.

As with all these types of things there are boring terms and conditions and various criteria that has to be met but if you are interested let me know and I will pass your details on to Estuary Housing and they will make sure that you meet their criteria and make an appointment for you to view the flats (trust me you will want one!).

If you like the idea of the scheme but perhaps don’t want to be in Benfleet still ket me know as Estuary Housing are doing various developments all over the Southend region and Essex so it may be that we contact you at a later date with a development that is more suited to you but is offered under the same terms.

This article is by Rob @ Scott & Stapleton
Tel: 01702 471155 
Email: rob@scottandstapleton.co.uk