The government recently announced measures to help an extra 100,000 first-time buyers on the property ladder but research by the Digital Property Group reveals how an increasing number of developers are already offering highly generous financial packages and other incentives to stimulate sales in the new homes market.
For example, a selected number of buyers of Union Development’s Arthaus luxury apartments in up-and-coming Hackney were recently given money to buy an original Damien Hirst or Andy Warhol for their living rooms.
Barratt Homes, a developer that has a section on its website dedicated to offers of this nature, has a part exchange scheme, whereby it will buy the home movers’ old home in an attempt to speed up the transaction.
Scottish firm Robertson Homes is offering - for first time buyers – to match their deposit up to five per cent of the property’s value; to pay the Stamp Duty, to fit all floor covering for free and to turf the garden at the back and front. It also previously offered its buyers the opportunity to live mortgage free for a year.
Linden Homes has a scheme that offers a service whereby they will help the home mover sell their home by dealing with the estate agent direct and paying their fees, helping get the best price for their old home and paying solicitor costs.
Lovell Homes will help buyers by matching a deposit up to 10% of the purchase price with an interest free 10 year loan, while Morris provides tailor made incentives such as part exchange, stamp duty paid, cashback or landscaping.
Sheraz Dar, DPG’s group marketing director, says:
“In the past these price promotions have been ways of differentiating your product in a crowded market but today, particularly as browsing first time buyers prove difficult to convert into sales, they are becoming a crucial way of achieving sales in a challenging business environment.
"This is manifesting itself in an increasing variety of developer incentives, along with newly announced government incentives
“DPG is a major player in the new homes portal market and we work with the top 10 developers plus we have approximately 1,500 developments on our books through our portfolio of brands: FindaProperty.com, PrimeLocation.com and Globrix.com.”
