Marcella, has lived in Bury most of her life and in 2010 found out she was pregnant with her first child. She needed somewhere to live and started the bidding process on HomeLink.
“I knew it could be ages before I got a property, but I found a lovely little bungalow in Sapiston, I had no idea where the village was, but I knew it was in the Bury area”
Through HomeLink, Marcella got the bungalow in Sapiston where she lived for almost 3 years. “I loved my bungalow, but I really wanted to be closer to family and friends and closer to town so I could get out with my daughter”
In 2014, through mutual exchange Marcella was able to move into a home more central to Bury. She used the House Exchange website which she says was an easy process.
“I think with home exchange you definitely have to be proactive and creative; I wasn’t just looking at a two-way swap, I was looking at three and even four-way exchanges so that I could get a home that suited my needs”
In 2016 Marcella used mutual exchange again to move to a bigger property in Bury, after she had her second child, this one she found on Facebook.
“When I moved in, there was so much opportunity to make it my own and I love a project. So my advice to people who want to exchange is to look at the bigger picture and think of the stuff you could do to that property to make it your home.
“If it’s in the right location and has everything else you need don’t worry too much about how someone else has decorated it.”
Talking about life as a Havebury tenant, Marcella says; “I try and use myHavebury as much as I can to report any repairs but when I do call up, I am never waiting long to speak to someone”.
Life hasn’t always been the easiest for Marcella and a few years ago she had to take 3 months off work to take time to care for her children.
Whilst waiting for her universal credit to come through she says “I was struggling to pay the rent, however Havebury were so supportive with me during that time.”
She urges anyone in financial hardship to contact Havebury as soon as they can.
If you do need help and support please do contact us, you can find our contact information here.
