Most of us know how difficult it is to get on the property ladder these days. Wapping Wharf flats require £9,000 deposits, are centrally located and want to support local, independent businesses – are these flats the answer for first time buyers?

If you don’t have assistance from the relatives for a 20% deposit on a property, then it’s a lot of beans on toast. And that’s if you’re lucky enough to have the job that you’d like and are being paid in line with the rising cost of living. 

At some point, when you perhaps have a family and would quite like to look at non-Magnolia painted walls and fix that bathroom door once and for all, there may be a burst of a desire to be a homeowner. You may just be fed up with most of your monthly wage going to Fred Bloggs. Ripping up carpets and painting colour on the walls in those clothes you keep in the wardrobe ‘for decorating’, knocking down the obligatory one wall, opening up rooms and having a themed house warming ‘We have a mortgage’ party – must be liberating. 

At the moment, I live in a two-bed flat with my partner, my baby, our friends (a couple from university) and two cats, one big and one small. It’s fun, but it’s a squeeze. Renting is OK, in many parts of Europe such as Germany, it’s the norm. But I’d like us to own a property. And if they cost the same as our parents’ first homes in the late 70s, we’d have taken that outside the front door smiling shot way before our baby was a glimmer on our horizon. Indeed, we can’t hark on about the painful facts too much, but house prices are extraordinary now and that makes it tricky for us first time buyers.

So for those of us who don’t have a great aunt with a secret fortune, buying a house can feel like a little bit of a non-starter. Looking at the Right Move app everyday doesn’t make it any better either, does it? One way of actually stepping on the ladder of home owning however, is the help to buy scheme. This essentially means that you need a 5% deposit, rather than 20%, and often applies to new homes such as Wapping Wharf on Wapping Road on the Harbourside. 

This development designed by Alec French Architects and developed by Muse and Umberslade, began its initial planning back in 2006, pre-recession. Then of course the recession hit and everything went on hold for six years. In 2012 the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) granted the development £12 million under the Get Britain Building scheme. The first phase at a cost of £42 million is well underway, with the design reflecting its Harbourside location. Materials such as salvaged old cobblestones and pitched roofs add to the ‘gritty’ dockside character. While green credentials include photo voltaic (PV) panels to provide electricity to common areas of the development. 

Retail wise – this is not a place for the supermarkets, there are lower rates for independent retailers. They want the bakers and florists, like a High Street would, as well as cafes and restaurants. Works have also started on the creation of the new pedestrian pathway and cycle lane behind MShed. This will realign the roadway to the rear of the Stevedore and Guinness Building before it re-joins the harbourside, resulting in turning Museum Square into a traffic free area and also providing a cycle route away from the harbour’s edge.

The show apartment is now open, so I had a look around. It’s a one-bed with a little outside area. Decorated for all in neutrals and with champagne flutes ready expectantly on the dining table.  It’s more spacious than it looks in pictures and feels solid – by this I mean, not plastic filled and like a handle might drop off a cupboard at any minute. It’s smart and thought out. There are many plus points. For me, I am too in love with period features for Wapping Wharf, and I am sure that I will pay for this with any house I buy inevitably including damp as a feature. But then in some ways – location, modern design features (sensor lighting) and of course, price – it’s perfect. 

I’m looking forward to seeing the project completed, with retailers, trees and inhabitants. With price tags starting from £180,000, these homes are being snapped up. What’s more, 41% of those already purchased are by first time buyers – champagne corks popping. 

www.wappingwharf.co.uk