For many first-time buyers, moving out of the town they have called home for many years is the only way to get a foot onto the property ladder, as rising house prices - especially in the South East of England - force them to relocate further afield. For Ovi Toderita (30) and his wife Ionela (28), buying their first home meant relocating over 70 miles from Croydon, South London, to the more affordable Buckinghamshire town of Aylesbury, where they discovered they could get a lot more house for their money and purchased a three-bedroom property at Shanly Homes' Merchants Place development.
Ovi, a Project Manager in the construction industry, and Ionela, an Patient Co-ordinator, had been renting a one bedroom maisonette in Croydon for three and a half years before they found their dream family home in Aylesbury. Ovi comments: "Deciding to buy a home in Aylesbury wasn't an easy decision, but we knew that it was the best thing to do for us and our one year old son, Achim. We started off on our property search looking in Croydon and surrounding areas such as Beckenham and Bromley, but we found the most we could buy on our budget was a second-hand two bedroom flat that we would have needed to renovate to make it our own. As Ionela's family already lived in Aylesbury, we decided to turn our attention to properties in that area, as we thought that further from London we would be able to get more from our money. For the same budget, we found a brand new three-bedroom house at Merchants Place; it's much bigger and is just what we were looking for."
Speaking of his family's new location, Ovi comments: "I didn't know much about Aylesbury prior to moving here, but now we've had a bit of time to discover the area, there's so much for us here. In the town centre, there are so many shops to browse in along the high street and in the shopping centres, including a number of trade stores, which are perfect for when I need to collect goods for work. As a family, we like to get out in the open quite a lot, so we have been to explore Wendover Woods and lots of parks and green space in the local area, as well as Whipsnade Zoo, which is also really close by. There's definitely plenty of places for people to enjoy in Aylesbury!"
Ovi and Ionela had over 100 property viewings before reserving a home at Merchants Place. Ovi comments: "We had been trying to find a home for a really long time before finding this one. Merchants Place ticked all of our boxes, not least because the houses looked fantastic both inside and out. Working in construction myself, I appreciated that the build quality was far superior to any new build home I had seen before, and it was clear that Shanly had spent a lot of money on fixtures and finishings to make the homes look beautiful."
"The room that really stood out on our initial viewing was the bathroom; the quality was completely different to any other new build property I'd seen. Other developers don't like spending money on making a home look luxurious, but the bathroom in our home is fully tiled and has underfloor heating; something that was always on my wish list!"
Ovi continues: "Our favourite part of our new house is the way Shanly has designed the downstairs, with a bright open-plan layout. The kitchen, living room and dining area are all blended into one big room, and it's great for keeping an eye on Achim at all times! In the future we want to have more children, and it's good for them to have a little bit more space to run around while we sit on the sofa, and see exactly what they're doing and where they're going!
Ovi comments: "We're really feeling the benefit of owning our own home now rather than renting. The most important factor is that our monthly payments are now going towards something that is ours, rather than into someone else's pocket, and we can put our savings towards something that will really benefit us, as well as our son in the future."
Speaking of buying with Shanly Homes, Ovi comments: "I would 100% recommend buying with Shanly Homes, especially at Merchants Place. The homes here are second to none, and the service we have received from the sales teams has been fantastic. In fact, we've already recommended the last few properties on the site to our friends and family as we love it so much!"
Prices at Merchants Place start from £349,950. For further information on the homes available, visit www.shanlyhomes.com or call 01296 761260.
