Look Who's Come For Tea! David Cameron Pops In To Heritage Brook

CONSERVATIVE leader David Cameron and his wife Samantha have visited Redrow's new Heritage Brook development at Buckshaw Village, near Chorley, on the election campaign trail.

They met with local Help to Buy customers Rob Arron and Kelly Jeffers in Redrow's Letchworth showhome. The couple told the Camerons how the 20% equity loan scheme had helped them buy a family sized home that's perfect for them and their children, Finley, nearly two, and baby Reagan, just seven weeks old.

The two couples also traded stories about family life and sleepless nights. And Samantha Cameron got to hold her first baby of the election campaign while her husband joked about wanting another!

Rob, 28, a self-employed plasterer, said afterwards: "We had a brief chat privately while making tea before moving into the lounge where media were waiting. Away from the lights and the cameras, the Camerons are really just a family like ourselves.

"We were happy to tell them how Help to Buy has enabled us to buy a bigger home that's much more suitable for our family than we could otherwise have afforded. We discussed how it's a great scheme on lots of levels – it was a big help to us in affording our home, it keeps builders building and it keeps people like me in work."

First time buyers Rob and 30-year-old Kelly, a PA for the North West Ambulance Service, are currently renting a property at Buckshaw Village while their four-bedroom detached Oxford is built by Redrow. They are due to move in this June.

After finishing their tea in the Letchworth showhome, the family took David and Samantha Cameron for a stroll to see their new home under construction.

Following the visit Mr Cameron said: "Too many hardworking people are finding it impossible to buy their own home - people who can afford the monthly mortgage payments but can't pay the deposit up front.

"That's why this Government launched Help to Buy and has supported over 88,000 people, like Rob and Kelly, who now have somewhere to put down roots and raise their family, and an investment for their future."

On arrival at Heritage Brook, the Camerons had been welcomed by Conservative candidates for the general election Rob Loughenbury (Chorley) and Seema Kennedy (South Ribble), together with Steve Greenhalgh, managing director, and Claire Jarvis, sales director of Redrow Homes (Lancashire)

They then discussed the development and housing market in general around the dining room table of the Worcester showhome.

"Mr Cameron asked us about Heritage Brook, how many customers had used Help to Buy and our thoughts on the new Help to Buy ISA introduced in the recent budget," said Claire Jarvis. "We were able to tell him that six of the 11 sales to date at Heritage Brook were facilitated by Help to Buy and across the Lancashire division around 42% of our customers have used the scheme this year."

While Claire took Samantha through to the Letchworth showhome next door to meet Rob and Kelly, David Cameron stayed briefly to chat with Steve Greenhalgh about the history of Buckshaw Village and its origins as a brownfield site.

Steve said later: "Mr Cameron was very interested in the history of Buckshaw Village, which has been created on land that mostly once formed part of the BAE Royal Ordnance factory. It's now a thriving community between Chorley and Leyland. Redrow is one of the original lead partners in the regeneration project and has built circa 1,200 new homes over the last 10 years."

Mr Cameron was also interviewed for national television in Redrow's marketing suite and had one-to-one press interviews in the Worcester showhome. Before leaving he posed for photographs with the Redrow team.

Heritage Brook will feature 79 three and four-bedroom family homes, mostly detached but with some three-bedroom semis. Styles are taken from Redrow's Arts & Crafts influenced Heritage Collection, which combines period style architectural features with bright, modern interiors. Homes are currently priced from £204,995 for a three-bedroom semi-detached Letchworth up to £267,995 for a four-bedroom detached Oxford family home. The development will also feature 14 affordable homes, which have been sold to New Progress Housing Association.

For more information on homes available at Heritage Brook visitwww.redrow.co.uk/heritagebrook or call 01772 930454.

Editor's footnote: Established more than 40 years, Redrow Homes is one of the UK's leading house builders, operating across England and Wales, with a strong emphasis on high quality family housing in prime locations. Its Heritage Collection of family homes combines traditional looking, 'Arts & Crafts' influenced exteriors with bright, modern, high specification interiors. The company has won numerous awards over the years, including, most recently, the Gold Award for Best Large Housebuilder at the WhatHouse? Awards 2014, the 2014 Building Awards Housebuilder of the Year and five consecutive 5* awards in the Home Builder Federation (HBF) annual customer satisfaction survey. Redrow also collected the award for best marketing initiative at the 2014 Housebuilder Awards and its 'My Redrow' online tool won the overall Customer Engagement category at the 2013 Peer Awards for Excellence.

Web: www.redrow.co.uk.