Tuesday, 07th November 2023
Whether you’re buying a home for the first time or making your next move on the housing ladder, there’s a lot to consider before choosing where you want to call home. Older properties may come with a lower price tag, but there are likely to be hidden costs. Plus, not all new builds are created equally. Read on to discover how we’re building the new, new builds including a comprehensive guide to the benefits of buying a new home.
At Castle Green our homes combine the best of old and new, both in their design and construction. Externally they’re inspired by the architecture of the Arts & Craft era, while inside they’re designed for modern living.
Our homes are built using sustainably sourced, precision-made timber frames. Around a quarter of UK homes are currently built with timber frames, but they date back to medieval and Tudor times.
“Modern timber frames offer a fast, reliable method of building, with lower CO2 created than conventional building methods,” Stuart Andrew, design & planning director, said. “Effectively, the timber frame system replaces the block work in the construction of our homes. The properties still look the same, with the advantage that build times are reduced, so our customer can move sooner. Plus, because timber framed homes are engineered to have lower air permeability and are generously insulated, this reduces the amount of energy needed to heat the home, making them potentially cheaper to run.”
Read on to find out more about the energy efficiency of a new Castle Green home.
If you’re looking to reduce your household bills and your impact on the environment, switching to a new Castle Green home could lead to greater savings than simply changing your provider.
An Energy Performance Certificate is required to sell a home in England and Wales. The EPC rating shows how efficient the home is.
All our homes achieve an Energy Performance Certificate rating of A or B, making them among the most energy efficient available. Kitchens in our new homes are fitted with energy efficient appliances. Eco labelled white goods such as dishwashers/ washing machines are provided or encouraged, all to “A” level rating.
Research from the Home Builders’ Federation suggests those who live in a new house could save £180 a month or £2,200 a year on their energy bills*. Based on bills to the year ended March 2023, the HBF found that new homes are 55% cheaper to run than older properties. It predicts that homes built after 2025, when the Future Homes Standard is expected to come into effect, energy bills for the average new build property will be 70% cheaper than their older counterparts.
Read on to discover the additional benefits of buying an energy efficient home from Castle Green.
The energy efficiency of a new Castle Green home increases the finance options available to our purchasers.
Sales and marketing director Caryl Russell explained: “Homes with an EPC rating of B and above qualify to be purchased using green mortgages. Lenders tend to offer a lower rate with a green mortgage compared with a standard mortgage. This means that our homeowners can potentially enjoy long term savings on their monthly mortgage repayments. We can put buyers in contact with mortgage specialists who will help them understand the options available to them.”
Designed to make homeownership easier to afford, Help to Buy – Wales is exclusive to new homes priced up to £300,000**. The Welsh Government scheme is only available with homes with an EPC B rating and above.
To purchase a home using Help to Buy – Wales, customers should only need a 5% deposit and 75% mortgage. The remaining 20% is covered by an equity loan, which is interest free for five years.
Find out more about Help to Buy – Wales.
When you’re choosing a home, it’s important to budget carefully. No two homes are the same and so you need to think about the comparative costs. While a new build home may come with a premium, there may be hidden costs when buying an older property. Research by the HBF suggests it costs more than £70,000 to bring a three-bedroom semi-detached home up to the same standard of a new build equivalent.
The financial cost doesn’t take into account the time or the emotional investment renovating an older property requires including sourcing trades and finding suppliers.
Buy a new Castle Green home and you can select from a wide range of standard and upgrade options to customise it to your personal taste, then sit back while we take care of the hard work.
We’ve revolutionised the home-buying journey with Willow, a digital new homes assistant. It supports our customers from their home search, throughout their buying journey and through to aftercare.
The innovative system has earned awards including the digital transformation category of the Marketing Week Awards and the best use of marketing technology category of the Construction Marketing Awards.
Willow can be used to customise your Castle Green home by selecting choices wherever and whenever you want, including making payment for extras. There’s the ability to live “chat” with customer care and sales teams and to watch the 10-step progress of your home being built.
“Willow is industry-leading, providing our homeowners with a digital new homes assistant to support them throughout their homebuying journey and beyond,” Caryl added.
“We have an extensive range of options available to our homeowners, subject to build stage and Willow gives them the ability to see and compare the various choices. We don’t simply offer computer generated images of what a house type look like, we provide customers with a digital twin of their new home so they can see exactly what their specification choices will look like in their new home.”
You can find out more about the process of buying a home.
*https://www.hbf.co.uk/news/hbf-report-watt-save/
** Help to Buy – Wales is subject to eligibility, terms and conditions.
Sign up for Willow
We've saved 723 tonnes of carbon via verified carbon offset projects and we have also purchased 300 tonnes of the Gola Rainforest Protection REDD+ project for future homes.
