Best of Both Worlds for Commuting Couple in Crewe -

Many first-time buyers are finding themselves outpriced when it comes to buying in or around London, so are now looking further afield and getting creative when it comes to finding commutable locations to buy their first home. First-time buyers Ed and Becky decided to move up North for just that: a home they could afford, friendly Northern living and only a 90-minute commute to the capital.

Moving from their rented house in Bedford where house prices currently average around £300,000 for a three-bed house, Ed (23) and Becky (22) knew their goal of buying their dream home by 25 would be within reach if they headed North to buy their new three-bedroom, semi-detached home at Countryside’s Coppenhall Place development in Crewe. Prices start from just £189,995.

IT consultant Ed explained: “After looking for a couple of years, we eventually decided to move to the North of England as the house prices are cheaper and more affordable for us as first-time buyers. Crewe is such a central location with excellent transport links, which means we’re able to travel to London for work in just 90 minutes. We are surprised more people aren’t deciding to commute from Crewe considering the gridlock down south!

“We wanted to buy our own home by the time we both turned 25, so we’ve been saving for our deposit for the last five years. We were just saving small amounts at a time but when we went into lockdown, we were able to save a lot more. I used to travel for work which temporarily stopped in March, so we had fewer outgoing expenses and were able to reach our target much faster.”

Ed and Becky, who used the government-backed Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme, have bought a three-bedroom New Stamford home at Coppenhall Place. Countryside is currently offering a beautiful range of three and four-bedroom homes at its Crewe development, with a total of 239 homes and 24 private rented flats planned for the scheme.

Ed continued: “We opted for a new build home because we’ll be the first ones in and will be able to make it our own. We looked at other developments for over a year but nothing came close to the quality of Countryside’s homes - we fell in love with the open plan design and the big velux windows in the living area and master bedroom”

Becky added: “The specification that comes as standard is fantastic too. You can get so much more for your money compared to other developers and, as first-time buyers, that means a lot. Where we would have to pay extra for things elsewhere, such as turfing the lawn or choosing your cabinet colours, it’s all included with Countryside. We picked most of our choices, including tiles and flooring, over email due to us still living down in Bedford, but it was a very easy process. It’s great to be able to personalise our home before we move in.”

Ed and Becky will make the big move up North to Crewe this autumn with their dog Archie and cat Dora and are looking forward to visiting their families from across the country via this central location.

Becky commented: “We feel very lucky to be able to buy our first home at Coppenhall Place as it is in such a good location and there is a nice big park where we can walk Archie. The whole process so far has been really easy and we are very excited to move in!”

Gordon Innes, managing director, partnerships Manchester and Cheshire East, Countryside, said: “At Countryside, we pride ourselves on building high quality homes and creating places that make a difference to our buyers. The connectivity of Coppenhall Place to the rest of the UK and the affordability of our homes is a big part of that. It is great to hear that these are some of the reasons that attracted Ed and Becky to make the move up North and buy a Countryside home. We wish Ed and Becky the best of luck in their new home together.”