New Homes: Scarlet Fever

May 4 2008 Raymond Hainey

New Homeowners Give Stand-Out Red Kitchen The Green Light

A developer had buyers Gary and Laura Kennedy seeing red - but the couple are more than happy.

The pair pushed the boat out when it came to the kitchen in their £185,000 new home and went for a bespoke job in a stand-out glossy scarlet.

Gary said: "We're seeing red all right - but definitely in a good way.

"This kitchen has become the talk of the development.

"Even the site managers and workmen regularly popped in as it was being installed to check on progress as it was so unusual they wanted to make sure it was spot on."

The couple - who already lived close by - were able to watch their new three-bedroom end-of-terrace home take shape and they even videoed progress from their old flat.

Gary, 37, quality manager with whisky giants Chivas Brothers, said: "We really like the area and, from the initial planning application, we were very excited by the proposals.

"The artist's impressions we saw were exactly what we were looking for in a family home.

"And the visuals were exactly how the development turned out so we didn't have any nasty surprises."

But it wasn't all plain sailing for Gary and 27-year-old teacher Laura in their bid to buy the house at Strathclyde Homes' The Link development at Clydebank. They were on holiday in the Caribbean when the first properties came on the market - and had to press gang Laura's parents Alice and John Semple to queue up for their ideal home.

Gary laughed: "We felt quite cheeky because we were sunning ourselves in Aruba at the time but the in-laws didn't mind.

"In fact, they were so impressed, they bought a plot around the corner and moved in just before Christmas."

Strathclyde Homes even stepped in after the sale of the couple's flat fell through at the last minute and agreed to defer entry until the apartment was sold.

Gary said: "The Strathclyde sales team couldn't have been more helpful.

"They got straight into action and made a potential deal-breaker into a minor problem."

The Link is made up of a mix of twobedroom flats, three-bedroom semidetached and terraced properties and four-bedroom townhouses, with 102 homes in total.

Prices range from £129,000 for a two-bedroom flat up to £227,000 for a top-of-the-range four-bedroom townhouse.

For further information, contact the Strathclyde Homes sales office on 0845 2417002 or visit www.strathclydehomes.com