FIRST-TIME buyers who are keen to get on to the housing ladder will appreciate incentives on two-bedroom apartments at Phoenix Parc, where Bellwinch is constructing 185 new homes as part of a consortium development in Northfleet.

On selected apartments, Bellwinch is offering to pay the five per cent deposit required, and finance the stamp duty. With prices starting at £205,000, this represents a saving of a minimum of £10,250.

For many people, having their deposit paid can make all the difference between owning their own home, or having to stay in rented accommodation.

One of the things that is particularly appealing to purchasers is that there will be direct access from Phoenix Parc to the new Ebbsfleet International Station.

When this is completed, it will be possible to travel to London St Pancras within 20 minutes and there will be a rail link to the Channel Tunnel, making Paris accessible within two hours.

In the meantime, it takes around 40 minutes by train to London Charing Cross and Waterloo East via Northfleet and Swanscombe stations, which are within walking distance of Phoenix Parc.

The apartments will be ready to move into in the middle of next year, but are selling quickly off plan.

All have good-sized rooms and each has a juliette balcony or full balcony. Each apartment has its allocated parking space, and there is a central landscaped courtyard.

There is a choice of three or four bedroom houses, each set in its own garden. The houses benefit from en suite facilities in addition to a family bathroom and a downstairs cloakroom. Some of the houses have private garages and the rest will have allocated parking spaces. The houses are from £289,995.

The three/four-bedroom three-storey Chedworth show house is open seven days a week, 10am-5pm.