A railway worker from Wolverhampton has made an effortless move to a brand new apartment and sold his old house in just six weeks with the Barratt Homes' popular Movemaker scheme.

Steve Smith (37) is now enjoying life in a modern apartment at Barratt's Horizon development in the city centre of Wolverhampton.

He had already witnessed the potential difficulties of buying and selling a house independently when he and his sister bought their first home 15 years ago. So when it came to buying his own place he instantly chose to use Barratt Homes' Movemaker scheme to take the stress out of selling the old house.

Steve said: "When I decided to sell the old house and buy my own flat, the last thing I wanted to deal with was the estate agents. I had already tried to sell the house before, but after three months on the market with no takers, I decided I needed to take another approach".

Movemaker is a quick and simple scheme developed to take away the hassle from moving house. Barratt Homes pays all the estate agent's fees and instructs an agent who will manage the selling of your house for you, including all the valuations, viewings and enquiries. All you have to do is sit back and relax and wait for the perfect buyer to be found.

"The Movemaker scheme was amazing", said Steve. "The sales adviser was really great - I've never worked with anyone who could move things on as quickly as she did. The whole process only took six weeks from start to finish. 

"It was a real weight off my mind and I knew that if I had any worries at all, I just needed to phone the sales office and they would sort everything out for me".

With Barratt Homes taking care of the sale-end of the move, Steve was able to focus on selecting the perfect place for him at Horizon. The home he chose was a modern two-bedroom apartment with a spacious living area and a parking space.

Steve continued "I was first introduced to Horizon last year when we had the bout of really bad weather in March. I had a friend who was living on the development and he offered to let me stay for a few days so that I wouldn't have to drive to work in the snow. The location is perfect as it's less than a five minute walk to the train station where I work.

"I was also attracted to the idea of living in a newly built home, as my old three-bedroom house was a 1930s building and I was fed up with the list of never-ending projects to be completed. I wanted to live somewhere where I wouldn't have to deal with the everyday hassles of cutting grass and fixing old boilers.

"To me, the modern design of the apartments paired with the great location suited me perfectly".

Katie Yates, Sales Manager for Barratt West Midlands, said: "Movemaker is a great scheme and is ideal for all kinds of buyers, especially if like Steve you are downsizing from a bigger property.

"We have a great team on site which can tell you all about how we can help you move to a Barratt home. So, if you are looking to step onto the property ladder visit us to find out how we can help you."

Horizon is located on the Canalside Quarter of Wolverhampton, where you'll find a newly emerging urban village. Within walking distance of Wolverhampton train station, it provides easy access to Birmingham city centre, the heart of the West Midlands.

The development offers a range of one and two bedroom apartments from £89,950 designed for comfortable modern day living. For more information please call the sales office on 01902 454 616.

To find out more about how Movemaker can help you and to find your nearest development please call the sales information centre on 0844 811 9933 open seven days a week from 8am to 9pm or log on to www.barratthomes.co.uk.

Barratt West Midlands has been confirmed as meriting the maximum five star official rating from the Home Builders Federation (HBF) for the fourth year in a row. The news was announced after more than 20,000 new home buyers across the country took part in this year's HBF customer satisfaction survey.

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NOTES TO EDITORS: 

1)      For further information about Horizon or Barratt West Midlands please contact Hannah Elwell, Director of PR, Joseph Doyle or Alice Norman, PR Account Executive on 0116 247 1777 or hannah@unsworthsugden.co.uk, joseph@unsworthsugden.co.uk or alice@unsworthsugden.co.uk

2)      Barratt Group sold 13,663 homes in the year to June 2013, making it the biggest housebuilder by volume in Britain.

3)      Barratt Group was awarded a maximum five star rating for the fourth consecutive year in the 2013 Home Builders Federation Customer Satisfaction Survey.

4)      In 2013, site managers working for Barratt Group won a record breaking 102 awards for quality workmanship in the NHBC Pride in the Job Quality Awards.  This is the highest number ever won by a single company since the competition began in 1980.

5)      Barratt Group was named Sustainable Developer of the Year at the What House Awards 2012, in addition to Sustainable Housebuilder of the Year at the Housebuilder Awards 2012.

6)      Barratt Group is the only housebuilder to provide a five year warranty on the fixtures and fittings in its new build homes at the time of purchase.