IT seems fitting that Jamie and his family were the 100th completion at River View Garden Village in Lydney– because that’s about the number of reasons why the civil servant loves living there.
“It’s knocked our socks off,” he admits. “We are absolutely over the moon with our new home. Everything about it is perfect. We love it and we can see ourselves here for many years to come.”
Jamie moved into a four-bedroom detached Faringdon from Edenstone Homes with wife Julie, a communications and engagement manager in banking, their three-year-old daughter Esmé, and near-three-year-old beagle, Gracie.
“We were living in a rented house in Cwmbran in Wales having sold the older house we were living in in Pontypool,” explains Jamie who, like Julie, is 27. “We’d moved there from a flat after finding out Julie was pregnant, but we knew it was never going to be our forever family home.
“Having lived in old-builds, as much as people say they’re sturdy, we found there was always some minor problem, so we decided we wanted a new-build when we moved again, somewhere fresh and clean – somewhere we could just enjoy and focus on the superficial things, like decorating it how we wanted.”
Moving in the middle of the pandemic wasn’t ideal, but the lure of the Stamp Duty holiday made it far more appealing: “When Stamp Duty was frozen, we knew we had to capitalise on that.
“We probably saved just under £10,000 which was fantastic. It helped towards moving costs, buying bits and bobs when we moved in and, although we’ve had to move it constantly, our first family holiday, to Lanzarote.”
It’s not surprising that when they got the keys to their property on January 29, one of the first posts on their Instagram account which charts their buying journey was ‘yesterday our dreams came true and we completed and moved into our amazing Faringdon’, because it is everything the couple wanted.
Says Jamie: “We were lucky that in our terraced house we had a sun-room built on the back and it was a nice area so, when we moved, a kitchen, dining and family area was a must.
“The Faringdon has that and French doors that create an orangery effect, which sold it for us. It’s a great living space that makes it easier when we are there with our daughter, and when we’ll have family and friends over.
“We wanted something that was a great house and where we could create our dream home and lifestyle, and this is it. We loved the symmetry of the house, the study because we both work from home and are fed up of having to use a bedroom, and the master bedroom which has a dressing room as well as an en-suite bathroom.
“We have four bedrooms which are perfect for any other children and guests. It’s space that we can grow into.”
The development was a big plus too. Jamie adds: “Our home overlooks the pond area so it’s in a lovely position, nice and open at the front; we are not overlooked, and the play area is about a minute’s walk away. And, because that’s all fenced in, Esmé can run around and we know she is safe and can’t get out.
“We wanted to enjoy the outdoors more and now we can, with the village and walks in the Forest of Dean right on our doorstep. We also wanted to buy into a community feel and that’s there. We’ve met some lovely neighbours and you have that shared experienced of all moving onto a new development together.
“I can’t see why we would ever want to move.”
All of the homes on the Edenstone phase have now sold, but there are properties available on the Bluebell Homes phase. Current availability includes the three-bedroom semi-detached Alveston, priced from £259,995 and the three-bedroom detached Broughton from £290,000.
Set in the market town of Lydney, River View is just a short drive from Gloucester city centre with its historic docks area and Gloucester Quays shopping outlet, while being close to the Forest of Dean offering wonderful walks and great outdoor activities.