Park Central Birmingham

The national obsession with property has reached fever pitch over recent years, with a growing appetite for the latest facts and figures on the housing market fed by endless surveys and statistics.  However one apartment scheme in Birmingham is defying the number crunchers as it continues to buck the trend seen elsewhere in the city living marketplace.

Within walking distance of Birmingham city centre, off Bath Row and Lee Bank Middleway, Park Central is an innovative residential-led community from developer Crest Nicholson.  Both Five and New Street rail stations are just a few minutes away.  Here, a collection of contemporary apartments are currently available priced from just £99,950; and with the government-backed HomeBuy Direct available at the scheme, eligible buyers stand to secure a new home with a mortgage that could be as low as £69,965.

Jo Parker, Crest Nicholson’s sales manager at Park Central, said: “The majority of people take on board the many reports they read in the press and online, and form their opinions of the property market on the facts presented.  In particular, first time buyers who are keen to do their research before they start looking for a new home will dedicate a lot of time to seeking out all the information they can get before taking their first steps onto the property ladder.

“Crest Nicholson is urging homebuyers to take a closer look at Park Central, as here they will find a much more positive story than current market trends suggest.  For example, according to recent Land Registry figures, the average apartment price in the UK is £199,999.  However visitors to Park Central will be pleasantly surprised to discover that all of the available apartments at Park Central are priced under this figure.

“The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) recently reported that new housing stock is not coming onto the market, and this is certainly the case in large parts of the UK; however only in May at Park Central we released a new collection of apartments for sale, boosting choice for buyers.  The Hudson phase of apartments is situated in a prime location at the head of eight acres of landscaped public parkland – a feature of the scheme that stands Park Central well apart from competing developments and gives homeowners all the benefits of green open space literally on the doorstep.
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“The over-riding perception of the property market at present is that purchasers – first time buyers in particular – are finding it virtually impossible to secure a new home; however once again Park Central bucks this trend.  We recently reported that sales at Park Central for the first quarter of this year showed a 40 per cent on the same period in 2008, the majority of sales being to first time buyers.  Crest’s approach to the economic climate was to react quickly and introduce a range of support measures for purchasers, such as Homebuy Direct.  This, coupled with a determination to keep prices competitively low, has made it easier for budget conscious buyers to get onto the property ladder at Park Central.”

HomeBuy Direct is a government scheme that reduces the mortgage amount needed by buyers to secure their first home.  Those who have a household income of less than £60,000 can take advantage of Homebuy Direct and will benefit from the government covering up to 30 per cent of the property price with a loan.  This then leaves the buyer to raise a more affordable mortgage for the remaining 70 per cent – a huge help for first time buyers and key workers.

Crest Nicholson has a selection of contemporary one bedroom apartments currently available at Park Central priced from just £99,950, with two bedroom apartments available from £126,950.  A range of luxury two bedroom duplex penthouses are available from £167,000.

Park Central is the result of an innovative partnership between Crest Nicholson and joint landowners Birmingham City Council and Optima Community Association.

Park Central marketing suite is open daily from 10am to 5pm and is located at Park Central, 2 Mason Way, Birmingham B15 2EY. www.parkcentral.co.uk .