CASE STUDY – KIM AND TREVOR

Downsizing from a larger property can seem like a real squeeze, but Kim and Trevor Woods found that their refurbished Annington home at Bordon in Hampshire was so spacious that it felt like home straight away

The couple, who have been married for 40 years, decided to move from a three bedroom detached home on the other side of Bordon to a three bedroom end terrace at Woodland View. They were able to pay off the mortgage on the family home that they had lived in for 34 years and buy their new £260,000 property for cash.

“Size-wise it really wasn’t much of a downsize at all,” says Kim, 60, who is a medical secretary at a hospital in nearby Farnham. “The garden is smaller than what we had been used to, but we didn’t want the worry of a big garden. Otherwise, the rooms are a good size and pretty much the same as we had before. We looked at other newly built properties around here, because we wanted to stay close to our family, but they were half as big and about £30,000 more expensive!”

Their home, which has been fully refurbished as part of a regeneration of the former MOD area, has a separate kitchen dining room and lounge and comes with allocated parking – a real plus point as Kim and Trevor both drive to work. Trevor, 62, is the general manager of a local chemical company.

“The kids were a bit skeptical at first about us buying a refurbished property,” admits Kim, but they were won-over when they saw it. “We are really happy with it all. We have a new kitchen, bathrooms, carpets and boiler so that’s the four big essential spends all done, and we wouldn’t get anything as large as this new.”

The couple were one of the lucky families who still managed to go ahead with their move during lockdown – the people buying their home had to move out of rented accommodation, and Kim and Trevor were moving with help from their family so they were allowed to go ahead. “We moved on 15th April,” says Kim. “We were lucky as it all went so smoothly. It was really easy – we kept in touch with Hayley Stock at Annington all the way through. Our son-in-law is a lorry driver and our nephews helped.”

One of the best things about Woodland View is that it’s really close to the couple’s two daughters and four grandchildren. “The grandchildren are old enough to walk or cycle here on their own, so we see lots of them, which is lovely,” says Kim. “We and both our daughters have Labradors and we are surrounded by woods which is brilliant for the dogs. They are getting more walks than usual at the moment, but they aren’t complaining!”

Kim and Trevor are intending that Woodland View should be their forever home. “It’s easy and convenient here. If we couldn’t run a car for any reason we could walk to both our kids’ houses and to Trevor’s sister. We don’t plan to move. We are the granny and grandpa of the development at the moment as it’s mainly young couples and a few young families here, but they are all lovely and we are getting to know people. There’s a sense of community here.”

The homes at Woodland View enjoy an enviable position on the edge of woods, with play areas, walking trails into the nearby Bordon enclosure and 150 acres of community open space that have been created as part of the £1bn Whitehill & Bordon regeneration scheme. Two, three and four bedroom homes are available, all fully refurbished by Annington to an exceptional standard, including energy-efficient new boilers and full insulation. Carpets, flooring and external doors are also new, along with the kitchen and bathrooms – part of Annington’s mission to accelerate the return of empty properties in the UK for families who need them.

When it’s completed, Whitehill & Bordon, which is designated as a Healthy New Town, will have an Enterprise Zone to attract business investment and create thousands of new jobs, a sustainable transport system, 3,350 new homes and nearly 100,000sqm of new commercial, retail, and leisure floor space.

From Whitehill & Bordon, it’s an easy road commute to Petersfield, Portsmouth, Southampton and the south coast, while the mainline station at Liphook, six miles away, offers service to Waterloo in just over an hour. Homes at Woodland View are available from £235,000 for a two bedroom home.

 For more information or to book an appointment to visit the marketing suite, visit woodlandviewbordon.co.uk or call 01420 488 284