First-time buyers: How one family used Help to Buy to swap their tiny east London rental for a bigger home of their own

Help to Buy scheme allowed this couple who work for the NHS to give their family space to grow
The Oxbow development in Poplar
Handout
Ruth Bloomfield26 September 2022

Keeping key workers in the centre of the city is vital for London’s future, which is why Ariya and Kristof Csendes’s ascent onto the property ladder is such good news.

Kristof, 33, a senior nurse, and Ariya, 33, a multidisciplinary team coordinator for the NHS, had been renting in east London since before they got married six years ago.

At the start of this year the couple, and their six-year-old son Steven, were squeezed into a one-bedroom flat on the Isle of Dogs, which cost them £1,200pcm.

Despite London’s high living costs, Ariya had made a point of saving regularly for several years. In May, with the aid of the Help to Buy scheme which reduces deposit requirements to five per cent, the family were able to buy a brand new two-bedroom flat in the Oxbow development in Poplar.

“I could see how renting was getting more and more expensive, even for just a one-bedroom flat,” said Ariya.

“Our family had expanded, and in the future we may have more children, so we needed more space.”

Ariya also wanted a home she could put her own stamp on. “When you are renting you need to be so careful with everything you touch, but if you have your own place you have a lot more freedom to paint it and do what you want with it,” she said.

Ariya, Kristof and Steven swapped renting on the Isle of Dogs for owning in a home in Poplar
Handout

The couple wanted to stay local and went to visit the Oxbow development, the second major chapter in the ongoing regeneration of the old Aberfeldy Estate.

Since 2012 housing association Poplar Harca and developer EcoWorld London have built almost 1,000 new homes on the site, which is close to where Bow Creek meets the River Thames. Oxbow will add 1,600 more, along with a town square, workspaces, shops, and open space.

What it cost

Two-bedroom flat in Poplar: £570,000 Five per cent deposit: £28,500 Monthly mortgage payment: £1,000

The couple’s two-bedroom flat cost £570,000 and their mortgage payments now come in at £1,000pcm, so they are better off than when they were when renting a smaller home.

“It is much better,” said Ariya. “We were fully furnished within a week, and having two bedrooms and a living room means that we all have our own space now, plus we also have a balcony.”

The couple are happy at the thought of bringing up a family in a flat. “It doesn’t matter to me,” said Kristof. “The family is more important than whether it is a house or a flat.”

Prices at Oxbow start from £438,000 for a one bedroom flat, and £588,000 for a two-bedroom flat (ecoworldlondon.com).

End of Help to Buy

For nearly 10 years, many buyers who can’t dip into family money have relied on Help to Buy, using a government equity loan of up to 40 per cent, a five per cent deposit and a mortgage to fund the purchase of their first home.

After five years, buyers become liable for interest payments on the loan. The scheme has supported an astonishing 31.4 per cent of all new homes sales since its inception, and 36 per cent in the three years to last year, according to research by Savills. But it is set to be phased out and will close to new applications from October 31.

No new initiative has been unveiled to replace it but there are schemes in place to help first-time buyers on to the ladder, albeit in a more limited capacity than Help to Buy.

These include low-deposit mortgages, shared ownership and the First Homes scheme.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in