A 26-year-old surveyor recently fulfilled his ambition of owning his own home - after nearly two years of living with his mother while he saved up a deposit.
Luke Bowditch has now flown the family nest for good and picked up the keys to his brand new two-bedroom coach house at a Persimmon Homes development in Plymouth.
A couple of years ago Luke decided it was time to stop spending his income on rent and move back in with his mother - giving him the opportunity to save up to buy his own home.
"It was the best thing I could have done, he says. "I had worked out how much money I had spent on rent in the previous 18 months and realised that if I had saved it instead I would have enough to buy my own home. Why pay for someone else's mortgage when I can buy my own place? It made financial sense."
When Luke started househunting he soon encountered the Saltram Meadow development, where Persimmon's sales advisor put him in touch with a financial advisor who introduced him to the government-backed Help to Buy scheme. This helped him afford to fulfil his dreams of home-ownership.
Forming part of the redevelopment of Plymstock Quarry, Saltram Meadow is a select development on the northern edge of Plymstock, a suburb of Plymouth, offering a mix of one-, two-, three-, four- and five-bedroom apartments, cottages and houses priced from £180,000. The Cavendish, for example, is a stylish two-bedroom coach house that would suit investors and first time buyers, priced from £187,000, while the Clifton four-bedroom, three storey house offers plenty of space for growing families, priced at £289,500. Using the Help to Buy scheme, buyers only need a 5% deposit along with a 75% mortgage - the remainder is made up in the form of a 20% equity loan, which is interest-free (and repayment-free) for the first five years.
Of his personal experience of buying a house from Persimmon Homes through the Help to Buy scheme, Luke says: "It was really straightforward as I had the deposit and there was no chain and I jumped at the chance to buy it. Compared to my current mortgage payment, I paid £200 more to rent and now find myself living in a house that is spot-on for me."
"The whole process only took about nine weeks from the day I said yes to the day I got the keys. The sales advisor handled it all and helped me with absolutely everything. It was brilliant and I could not recommend Persimmon enough."
Nina Hester, sales and marketing director for Persimmon Homes South West, adds: "It is very rewarding for us when you hand over the keys to someone like Luke who has worked hard to buy his own home. Schemes such as Help to Buy mean there is the opportunity now for first-time buyers to move into their ideal home."