Tina Cranfield & David Robson

Tina Cranfield and her partner David Robson had been tentatively looking for a house to buy in the local area where they currently lived but had been unable to find anything that worked for them. After many months of searching they saw detailed planning on a plot of six new build properties in Kirkby on Bain and realised this could be the opportunity for them!

When Tina and Dave were looking for a house they knew they wanted at least four bedrooms, a garage and a large drive big enough to fit six cars comfortably. Having initially dismissed the development, the couple realised that no fully finished houses fitted their criteria or would need a lot of work done.

The couple both had past experience of renovation work, with Dave renovating two former houses and Tina undertaking a self build project in the 1980’s. However it was only when they saw the plot size and the views along with the artist’s impression of the front of the house that they knew it was exactly what they were looking for.

Tina was born in Kirby on Bain and with her mother still living there and battling cancer it was important for the couple to be close by. The couple liked the style of the house immediately and most of the room layout too. After speaking to the builder, they decided that if they purchased the land they could to do a custom build, which suited Tina and David as it meant they could move windows and walls slightly.

The project itself was managed by Tina and Dave along with locally sought after builders. This worked well for the couple as it meant they could decide what materials they would like and, with the help of the builders, were able to source all materials. The building company had their own bricklayers, joiner, tiler, decorator and general workers but were also able to recommend some tradespeople too. This meant everyone worked together as a team to ensure the project ran as smoothly as possible.

The couple initially took on the task of managing their finance and budget but turned to BuildStore for guidance so they were always on track, with the help of our budget sheets and cost comparisons. They chose BuildStore because Tina knew we have an ‘active knowledge of the self build market’ and as a mortgage broker herself, she had come across us before and had found our time to be ‘invaluable’. She knew we would be able to recommend a suitable mortgage lender and therefore relieve their time.

Tina notes ‘we found BuildStore to be very helpful in recommending the right finance for us. There didn’t seem to be any delays, we were kept informed each step of the way and when we needed the finance it was sorted quickly and very efficiently, which was most important to us’.

Overall the couple describe their experience as ‘overwhelming in a good way’, ‘tremendously exciting’ and ‘rewarding’. When asked if they would consider embarking on another project in the future, Tina advises ‘this was our first project together and although we don’t plan on taking on another project we would not rule it out!’