Successful new first time buyer development in Douglas

The Department of Social Care and Haven Homes Ltd celebrated the success of making available 36 first time buyer homes at the Hampton Farm development at New Castletown Road, Douglas on 29 April 2013. Representatives from Haven Homes, the Chairman of Douglas Borough Council, Members of the House of Keys and others attended the presentation of a bouquet of flowers by Minister for Social Care, Hon Chris Robertshaw, MHK, to Miss Stanfield and Mr Kaighin, who were the first to move in to one of the newly built homes.

The site has been developed in line with the Government’s strategy to assist first time buyers to purchase their first home.

The Minister for Social Care Hon Chris Robertshaw MHK said:

'This new development provides a good mix of new properties for Douglas, which has helped meet the demand from a variety of families and individuals. The Scheme continues to build on previous successes and demonstrates Government’s ongoing commitment to provide good quality affordable housing for our community. I particularly like the way these houses look, the design in a refreshing change.'

First Time Buyer, Mr Kaighin, who, with his family, was one of the first occupants of the Hampton Farm properties said:

'When we were informed that our application to purchase one of the houses on the Hampton Farm development had been successful, we were ecstatic. Previously we had been living in commercially rented properties and, given the current economic climate, thought that we would never have the opportunity to purchase a home that we could call our own. We would like to express our sincere thanks to the Department of Social Care whose House Purchase Assistance Scheme made this possible.

We have found that our new house affords a surprisingly large amount of space in which to raise our family and we are delighted by the quality and excellent standard of construction. Haven Homes Limited liaised with us throughout and kept us informed as to progress throughout every stage of the process.'

Dave Lewis of Developer Haven Homes said of the project:

'Since acquiring the site from Douglas Borough Council, Haven Homes has focused on providing a unique housing development that would offer high quality construction at affordable prices. The original design brief to our Architect, Hugh Logan, was simply "make it different, make it count". We feel Hugh and his team certainly achieved the brief, and we are delighted with the standard and feel of the completed dwellings.

In delivering the Hampton Farm development we have been blessed with a core of talented, hardworking staff and sub-contractors supported by an excellent design team. It is this combination that has enabled us to deliver, what we feel, is an exceptional and striking development.

We believe that the House Purchase Assistance Scheme currently offered by the DSC, that has provided our dwellings with owners, is a scheme of great importance that benefits the island’s young families and the whole economy when viewed as part of the wider economic picture.

The Housing Team at the DSC, we have dealt with through the course of the development really are excellent in both efficiency and attitude. They are a credit to the Department and the civil service, and should be congratulated for the role they play in delivering the scheme and assisting young families into new homes.

We are very proud of the development and look forward to future development opportunities where we would hope to deliver equally striking homes on other sites around the Island.'

If anyone is interested in the First Time Buyer Register or has any queries regarding the House Purchase Assistance Scheme they should contact the Department of Social Care’s Customer Service Team on +44 1624 685955.