Energy efficiency and good looks combine for one family at new Stathern development
Energy efficiency is often top of the checklist for property hunters, but one Vale of Belvoir family took it particularly seriously when hunting for their next home.
Sarah and Rob Macdonald, along with their two children, were the first family to move into Davidsons Homes’ The Paddocks development in Stathern. Moving in less than two weeks before Christmas last year, both Sarah and Rob had very different priorities when choosing their next home.
For Sarah, good looks were of the utmost importance, and she fell in love with the aesthetics of their four-bedroom Barnwell home. But for Rob, energy efficiency was key – and by using spreadsheets and keeping tabs on consumption, he is convinced that their move will save the family thousands over the coming years.
Sarah, who works in Nottingham as a Senior lecturer in law, said: “Having previously lived in a 150-year-old cottage in the Vale of Belvoir with our two young children, we knew we wanted to stay in the area and that we wanted a property with lots of character. However, the cottage suffered from the same curse as many older properties in that we just couldn’t keep it warm – it got no higher than 18 degrees Celsius, being made of stone.
“While it was important to me that our home looked beautiful, for Rob it was imperative that our next property saved us money and energy. We were in no rush to move as our cottage was so special and we’d spent years visiting new developments, but last year we came across Davidsons Homes’ The Paddocks development in Stathern and were so impressed that we were the second to reserve a home onsite. The properties here feel solid, and it’s little touches that make the difference – like using different bricks so the street scene is varied and looks lovely.
“The Barnwell for us was just perfect. The open-plan living space downstairs means that we can spend more time together as a family, compared to our previous galley kitchen. The garden is the ideal size for us and we’re now both able to work from home in our offices. In fact, it’s everything we didn’t have before. We moved from a very characterful home so it was important to me that our new property was also beautiful. To me, the Barnwell is the sort of picture-perfect house you draw as a child, and in fact reminds me of my Georgian-style childhood home.”
Rob, a chartered management accountant, was less concerned about the looks but very keen that their property save them money and energy.
Sarah said: “Rob has a spreadsheet where he keeps our energy consumption logged, so we can say with certainty that this move will save us thousands over the coming years. We have integrated solar panels, so doing a load of laundry is actually free at certain times of day, and an electric charging point for Rob’s car.
“Our electric usage is down from our last home – and bear in mind that the Barnwell is 1450 square feet compared to our cottage’s 930 square feet, so that’s quite extraordinary. Our gas usage is very slightly up but that will balance out over the year, and we’re able to keep our home at a comfortable temperature, which is a lovely change! Rob is confident that the money we save on our energy bills will equate to a nicer holiday for the family or similar, so this will make a genuinely positive difference to our lives.”
Rob and Sarah used Part Exchange to buy their home, and rated the experience highly.
Sarah said: “The whole process was smoother than doing it ourselves, so we think it’s very much worth it. We’d heard some horror stories about receiving less than market value with Part Exchange, but we got a very fair price for our old home.
“Our Sales Manager Louise was an absolute rock throughout the process and everyone we have met onsite has been lovely. We moved in just before the Christmas break, but on the first day back in January the Assistant Site Manager, Kelsey, came to see us immediately to make sure everything went well while he was away.
“We were also very fortunate in that we reserved early enough to choose lots of individual touches, like tiles, the bathroom and the kitchen. That has helped to make the home feel like ours straight away.
“Stathern itself is lovely too. We’re close to the estate land of Belvoir Castle, which is very beautiful, and we have a great local playground and a shop, which incidentally sells fantastic sandwiches!
“We had a long checklist for our new home, especially as we moved from somewhere so special, but we feel that Davidsons Homes have ticked all the boxes for us. We couldn’t be happier.”