Firm offering early presents

Incentives include paying the five per cent deposit and stamp duty, the £99 reservation fee and carpeting the property.

At the annual What House? awards, Gleeson scooped gold for the best development for a site in Cheshire and bronze in the best medium house builder category.

The company built 535 homes in the year to June 2004 and expects the number to climb to about 800 for 2005.

That figure will include 108 units being built on the woodland site of Loddon Ridge, Chineham, where two homes will be occupied by Christmas.

The southern region headquarters of Gleeson is in nearby Fleet and the range of designs being built in Chineham are two-bedroomed apartments, and two, three, four and five-bedroomed houses.

Current releases range from £159,950 to £330,000.

Gleeson started on site in September and is working to an 18-month to two-year build-and-sell programme with homes designed to appeal to first-time buyers, professionals, families and investment purchasers.

Emma Jones, regional field sales manager, said: "We've got an excellent choice with a diverse range of products and a location with very good links to the road network.

"Loddon Ridge is a more leafy location for those who do not want to live in a town centre."

Show homes opened at Loddon Ridge in October and both are three-storey townhouses - the Rothwell at £335,000 and the Pembroke at £330,000.

The stylish interiors of the houses are designed for contemporary living, right down to the Pembroke's second storey being laid out as a gym.

The fitness suite even has its own shower room, plus a bedroom with an en suite shower.

The key to the range of homes being built at Loddon Ridge is flexibility of accommodation to suit 21st century living - and all provided by a developer that celebrated its centenary earlier this year.

The selling agents for Gleeson on its first Basingstoke development are Connells in Basingstoke.