What I Own: We bought our home at 25 through a little-known discount scheme

This weekend, we’re in Kent having a look around James’ home (Picture: STEVE FINN PHOTOGRAPHY) Welcome back to What I Own – Metro’s property series where we speak to homeowners about getting on the ladder. For 25-year-old James Forster and his partner, Melissa, renting has never been an attractive option. After they graduated, they decided to move back into their family homes and throw everything at their savings. After a few years, they had enough to consider looking at properties. Scrolling on Facebook one afternoon, James came across a little-known discount scheme that changed everything, allowing them to buy their two-bedroom maisonette in Kent with an £11,000 deposit. Here’s what James had to say about their property journey… Tell us about yourself! Ready to start your homebuying journey? You can access completely fee-free mortgage advice with London & Country (L&C) Mortgages, a partner of Metro. Customers benefit from: – Award winning service from the UK’s leading mortgage broker – Expert advisors on hand 7 days a week – Access to 1000s of mortgage deals from across the market Unlike many mortgage brokers, L&C won’t charge you a fee for their advice. Find out how much you could borrow online Mortgage service provided by London & Country Mortgages (L&C), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (registered number: 143002). The FCA does not regulate most Buy to Let mortgages. Your home or property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage. I’m James Forster, and I’m 25. I work for a planning consultancy, and I enjoy playing and watching football, collecting Lego, and generally being a massive nerd. If you get any sort of fantasy film or series in front of me, I’m there. Star Wars and Lord of the Rings are up there – I’m going to see it with a live orchestra soon. I’m into music, too. I usually have some noise in the background. James grew up in Bromley in South London (Picture: STEVE FINN PHOTOGRAPHY) Whereabouts do you live, and what do you think of the area? Ask Metro Use AI to go deeper into the stories you care about – powered by Metro and trusted publications. It’s in Sutton Valence, in Kent. I grew up in Bromley, and when I went to university, my dad moved to Parkwood, which is a five-minute drive from where I live now. The big thing for me is that it’s a small village lifestyle. It’s so small, actually, that once you leave the village area, it’s just green space. My partner and I go down to The Kings Head pub fairly regularly. It’s a quiet, peaceful area. I’m used to a lot of noise, because I grew up in Bromley’s Biggin Hill,right next to the airport. It’s strange not having that – not even any road noise. When did you move in? May 2026. It’s fairly fresh. We’re still filling the house with bits and bobs and building up all the niceties. How much did you pay for your property? We bought through the Discount Market Sale (DMS) scheme. I didn’t know anything about it before, but I saw it on Facebook.The scheme is designed to make housing more affordable for people living and working in the area who earn under a certain salary threshold (criteria varies by council). The majority of the homes on site are larger, three and four-bedroom family homes, which we knew we couldn’t afford. We had the conversation, and we were told about the maisonettes, so we went for a two-bed. We bought it for 80% of its value, and then we’ll sell it for 80% of its value. After the discount came off, it was £221,000. We wanted to own outright when we first moved out from the family home after renting at uni. That became a very viable option. It was so much more affordable than Bromley, which was around £400,000 to £500,000 for what we’ve got. It was a no-brainer. They’re enjoying the small village lifestyle (Picture: STEVE FINN PHOTOGRAPHY) How has the discount helped you? It freed up a lot of cash for us to go and buy furniture. We were able to make it feel like home fairly quickly, which was a big opportunity for us. One salary could cover the mortgage, if we ever needed to, whereas if we’d paid more, it wouldn’t be so easy. How much was your deposit? The property developer, Fernham Homes, contributed 5%, which was £11,000. We also matched this, bringing us up to £22,000. To get a 10% deposit down, which only cost us £11,000, was pretty astonishing. We’re now on a 30-year mortgage. How did you save up for your deposit? How long did it take you? My saving style is a bit different; anything that goes into my savings, besides my emergency pot, will go into investments and stocks and shares. I went to university during COVID, so I had a lot of free time on my hands, which is when I started saving. I have some friends who are now financial advisors, and they kindly helped me with some advice on where to put it. Melissa, my partner, is a very stringent saver. It’s so impressive. She spends what she needs to and has a lot of self-control, whereas sometimes I might jump into my savings to fund a dinner out. That’s why I’ve started using stocks, so I can’t do that. What was the process of getting a mortgage like? Did you find any parts challenging? It was all really simple. We went through all of it with Fernham, and they suggested we get an agreement in principle first. They ran through what we could afford, and we had maybe two phone calls and an email exchange where we had to provide evidence. We got the agreement in principle just fine, since they knew we could afford a bit more than the price of the house. The only delays were on our side, when we just didn’t have the information together. I’ve had a few friends who have had horror stories, with chains falling apart. James says the office is mainly his space, while his partner has designed the bedroom (Picture: STEVE FINN PHOTOGRAPHY) What made you want to buy rather than rent? We knew we couldn’t afford to buy in Bromley, and we have friends who rent and pay extortionate prices in the area. I wanted to own my home. There are no rules or regulations, so if I want to paint it, I can paint it. It’s not someone else’s home that we’re staying in. Renting is often necessary, but we both had the view of wanting to avoid it. We didn’t want to lose money and not get it back. We were lucky enough to be able to stay at home to save. There was no pressure to move out, which is why we saved until we could buy. What made you choose this property? Before, we were very much against new builds in general. My dad moved into one, and we lived there for a couple of years together, and the quality was quite poor. The walls were paper thin, and you could hear a conversation in the next room. When we found our home we changed our minds. We knew the quality was there; all the extras, like mirrors and towel rails, were included. Our front door also looks out onto the ponds and the greenery, and there’s a communal garden next door. With the price, it would’ve been foolish not to take it. How have you made the property feel like home? It’s only just been built, so it’s only had the summer to fully settle. We’re going to paint and decorate a bit more extensively, but we’re going to wait until it’s gone through winter, when you get all the cracks and the timber moving. We want to get all of those issues out of the way first. I like a good ornament, a picture, or a decoration of some sort, and now it’s autumn, Melissa has got all her candles out. We’re slowly adding those things to make it a bit more like home. Have you had any problems since you’ve moved in? Nothing major. We had a small leak from the air source heat pump, but I emailed someone at 9.30 in the evening, and they were round by 8.00 the next day to look. That was surprising. Do you see yourself here long-term? Deals of the Day The Orlando holiday deal Disney fans shouldn't miss We're adding this discounted NEOM gift set straight to basket Want an LED face mask for less? This Black Friday deal could save you hundreds This teeth whitening sale could save you up to 64% before Black Friday These Simba Black Friday deals are too good for tired shoppers to ignore We see it as a stepping stone. It’s not big enough for a forever home, and I enjoy gardening, so I’d want to have my own private garden at some point. I think we’ll be here for a few years. Shall we have a look around? Welcome home! (Picture: STEVE FINN PHOTOGRAPHY) James and Melissa bought thorugh the Discount Market Sale (Picture: STEVE FINN PHOTOGRAPHY) …they bought their home for 80% of its value (Picture: STEVE FINN PHOTOGRAPHY) They were also gifted £11,000 towards their deposit (Picture: STEVE FINN PHOTOGRAPHY) In total, their home cost them £221,000 (Picture: STEVE FINN PHOTOGRAPHY) They’re still settling in, as they only moved in May (Picture: STEVE FINN PHOTOGRAPHY) They were lucky enough to stay at home to save (Picture: STEVE FINN PHOTOGRAPHY) ‘We were very much against new builds,’ James says (Picture: STEVE FINN PHOTOGRAPHY) They’re slowly decorating (Picture: STEVE FINN PHOTOGRAPHY) …and feel that, for now at least, they have enough space (Picture: STEVE FINN PHOTOGRAPHY) They see this maisonette as their stepping stone (Picture: STEVE FINN PHOTOGRAPHY) The estate has lots of green space (Picture: STEVE FINN PHOTOGRAPHY) And it’s extremely peaceful (Picture: STEVE FINN PHOTOGRAPHY) Do you have a story you’d like to share? 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