Hospital staff find perfect property close to work at Westwood Point

When NHS workers Emem and Henshaw Jimmy visited Linden Homes’ Westwood Point location in Margate, they knew they’d found the ideal place to buy their first home together.

The development is just a 10-minute drive from the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital where they both work.

And after taking a tour of the three-bedroom Eveleigh show home at the site, the married couple decided that this was the house for them.

Emem, a 33-year-old radiographer and Henshaw, a 36-year-old health care assistant, and their two young children, had been living in a two-bedroom house in Margate when the landlord informed them that the rent was going to increase.

“We had been saving for two years for a deposit on a house but this was the moment that we knew we should look for a new place to live as soon as we could,” said Emem. “The most important requirement was that the new house would be in Margate because we both work at the QEQM and our oldest daughter was in school, so we wanted her stay there will all her pals.

“We searched online and found that Linden Homes were building at Westwood

Point in Margate so we made an appointment and went along.

“We were impressed by the look of the development and really liked the three-bedroom Eveleigh show home that the sales advisor showed us. I think we both realised that we had found the ideal place for us to buy our first home together.”

The couple reserved their home in September last year and moved into the property with their two daughters, aged five and 18 months, in January.

Emem said: “The sales advisors, Chris and Heather, were fantastic. We were first-time buyers and new to the whole home-buying process but Chris and Heather took control and made everything very easy for us.

“They walked us through every stage of the process and were incredibly professional and patient. We have already recommended Linden Homes to all our family and friends.

“We have busy lives with work and two young children to look after so it was great for us to move into a new-build house where all we had to do was furnish it. We don’t have the time to even think about renovations or DIY so this house is ideal for us.

“The house has a lovely kitchen/diner at the front with a large living room with French doors to the back garden. We have put a swing and a slide in the sizeable garden and the children absolutely love playing out there. It is lovely because we can relax in the living room while the children are busy having fun outside in a private and safe environment.

“Our new home is the perfect property for this step in our lives. Now that we have three bedrooms, we know that the girls can have their own bedroom when they get too old to share a room.”

Emem and Henshaw used the Government’s Help to Buy scheme to purchase their new home. The scheme – which ended in March 2023 – enabled buyers to secure a new-build house with a five per cent deposit and 75 per cent mortgage, with the remaining 20 per cent being provided as an equity loan which is interest free for the first five years.

Emem said: “Now we have a brand-new home which is ours and we are paying about the same in monthly mortgage payments as we would have done in rent at the old two-bedroom place.

“We are very happy that we have been able to buy such a high-quality home in Margate so that we could stay close to work and our daughter’s school. When we can we are exploring the new area and have found that the beach at Ramsgate is closer for us now and we like that better than the beach we used to go to.”

Linden Homes is building a range of two, three and four-bedroom properties at Westwood Point.

Although Help to Buy is no longer available, buyers can secure a new home at Westwood Point with a reduced deposit and mortgage through Linden Homes’ Home Stepper Scheme.

The initiative, which is available on selected plots, enables customers to purchase a home on a part-rent, part-buy basis. They can buy a share of the property – between 10 and 75 per cent – and pay rent on the rest.

Customers need to raise a deposit of at least five per cent of the share of the property they are purchasing and in order to qualify their household income must not exceed £80,000.

A two-bedroom terrace house is currently available with Home Stepper at Westwood Point, priced at £149,900 for a 50 per cent share.

For more information about the new homes at Westwood Point, visit lindenhomes.co.uk.