JEZ DAVISON
Jun 20 2008 by jez Davison, Evening Gazette
CUT price houses for one weekend only... In a move more usually associated with high street retailers, builder Barratt is touting homes at two sites in Teesside this weekend as being available at bargain basement prices.
In a bonanza for homeseekers, it is slashing prices on selected homes by up to £20,000 on schemes at Mandale Park, Thornaby and The Chase in Ingleby Barwick.
It is a welcome ray of good news for those with money to spend and as the likelihood of further interest rate rises grow, other developers jumped on the bandwageon with similar deals on Teesside.
David Simpson at Barratt’s North-east office, said the scheme was a great way of generating additional enquiries and providing assistance to homebuyers.
He said: “We have always tried to help homebuyers and the Summertime Sale is just one of a variety of ways in which we make homebuying more affordable. Other typical ways include help with the deposit, stamp duty paid and equity share schemes.”
Prices at Mandale Park range from £170,000 to £207,500 and at The Chase £175,000 to £272,000.
David Barlow Homes is also offering discounts of up to £20,000 on homes at its Waterside scheme in Bowesfield, near Stockton.
Nationally, falling house sales have forced estate agents and developers to devise innovative schemes to stimulate the housing market. Local builders say they are ploughing on with existing schemes but are increasingly reluctant to buy land for new developments.
Another developer - who would not be named - said it would purchase land only when large fluctuations in plot values had subsided. A spokesperson said: “We are buying the option to purchase at a later date. It is difficult to put a value on land in the current climate.”
Ian Kelly, a construction expert at Vantis, said the trend of heavily discounted homes providing a bonanza for homeseekers would continue for the foreseeable future as builders looked to reduce the number of empty properties on their stocks.
He said: “The Barratt initiative will doubtless be followed by similar offers elsewhere as they all look to generate sales. Building activity may now be slowing down but the availability of new builds has led to properties standing empty and producing no rental yield for owners. For those looking to sell, there is very little movement in the market place.”
