16 Aug 2017
The estimated number of visits abroad by UK residents in April 2017 was a staggering 6.1 million, an increase of 2% compared with April 2016, according to the ONS[1]. For the large number of Brits who enjoy spending their time abroad, lock-up-and-leave properties are an appealing option for house hunters who are frequent travellers. Robert Leftwich (55), his wife Jane (51) and stepdaughter Gabrielle (14), have moved to a five-bedroom family home at Countryside's Wickhurst Green development in Broadbridge Heath, West Sussex, which they can comfortably lock-up-and-leave, to take advantage of their property in Sotogrande, Spain.
Robert explains: “We spend our time in three properties, one in Royal Docks, London, one in Sotogrande, Spain and at our new home at Broadbridge Heath, West Sussex. Over the years, I have had both new builds and older houses, that I have done up. We chose to purchase a new build, as they require lower maintenance and we needed a more manageable property that allowed us to travel a lot. We looked at approximately fifty, mostly new build properties online, in the area. We made a trip from London to look at the Wickhurst Green development and knew straight away that we loved it. It only took about seven days from when we first saw it, to actually buying it.”
Robert continues: “Our three storey home at Wickhurst Green suits us extremely well. We have converted two of the bedrooms on the top floor, one into a cinema room and the other is now a study for when I work from home. The double height kitchen is very impressive and a tremendous family room, which my wife loves. Countryside has obviously thought about all the extra details and features. At the moment, we spend the majority of our time at Wickhurst Green and two to three months abroad. Ideally, we would like to spend half the year in England and half in Spain.”
Robert concludes: “We deliberately wanted close neighbours so we are able to lock up and leave, and a low maintenance garden, which is exactly what we found with our Countryside home. Also, now we are based in West Sussex, we are relatively close to both Gatwick and Heathrow airports, which is perfect for easy access abroad. We have the best of both worlds, still using our two-bedroom flat in London, a holiday home abroad and now our home in the country.”
All the homes at Wickhurst Green are now sold, however Countryside have started work on their next West Sussex development. Due to launch in winter 2017, Kingsley Chase will offer 87 homes, with 57 private three, four and five-bedroom family homes in the village of Billingshurst, designed to reflect their charming traditional surroundings, whilst meeting the needs of modern lifestyles. The homes will feature contemporary open plan spaces, generous sized bedrooms and a high specification as standard.
Selected properties will be available with Help to Buy. For further information or to register your interest, please email kingsleychase@cpplc.com or visit www.countryside-properties.com/kingsleychase
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NOTES TO EDITORS
About Countryside
Countryside is a leading UK home builder specialising in place making and urban regeneration. For the year ended 30 September 2016 we completed 2,657 homes with revenues of £777.0m.
Our business is focused on place making which we deliver through our two divisions, Housebuilding and Partnerships. The Housebuilding division, operating under the Countryside and Millgate brands, develops sites that provide private and affordable housing, on land owned or controlled by the Group. Our Partnerships division specialises in urban regeneration of public sector land, delivering private and affordable homes by partnering with local authorities and housing associations.
Countryside was founded in 1958. It operates in locations across London, the South East, the North West of England and the West Midlands. Visit www.countryside-properties.com for further information and follow @CountrysideProp on Twitter for the latest news.