Lesley moves back to West Sussex to be nearer her old friends

Everything fell into place for Lesley Webb when she started to think about moving back to West Sussex, where she’d previously lived.

She has settled into a new-build three-bedroom house at Bellway’s Perceval Grange development in Midhurst, and loves being able to have friends pop in or to meet up with them, without the previous long drive of more than two hours each way from her old home in the Cotswolds.

Lesley decided on Midhurst in the South Downs National Park as the place she wanted to live because it puts her in the heart of her network of friends – and when she decided to pay a visit to Perceval Grange during her house search, she was impressed.

She said: “As I drove in and saw the showhouses I thought they looked so attractive and imposing in a nice way. I literally thought ‘wow’.

“I loved the way the houses were spaced out. There’s a beautiful open green and I think it looks so nice and spacious, and the houses are all slightly different.

 “You have got beautiful forest around you and my kitchen backs onto the woods. I thought, this is just perfect. Having been brought up in Devon, it’s lovely to be back in the countryside again, as you feel you are in the countryside here.”

Lesley previously lived in Horsham in West Sussex, but had moved to Stow-on-the-Wold eight years ago, having decided to downsize after her husband passed away. She loved the pretty Cotswolds location and had made good friends, but more recently had started to miss being close to her old friends in West Sussex where she knows many more people.

“I realised my life and friends were more in this area,” she said. “So, I was backwards and forwards or missing out on things because I’m too far away. You can do the journey in a day, but it’s tiring. So, I thought, I’ll move back.”

One day she was chatting to a neighbour near her old home about the possibility of moving, when another neighbour joined the conversation and was very interested to hear she might be leaving the area. It turned out that she wanted to buy Lesley’s house and that’s what she did – a private sale for the asking price with no estate agent involved.

She chose a three-bedroom semi-detached house in Bellway’s Orchard style, and she bought her home for £605,000 and had a cash incentive from the homebuilder.

She especially liked the downstairs layout, as it is very similar to her previous home which was also a new-build property. It has a kitchen/dining room at the back of the house with French doors leading to the garden, a utility room and a separate living room.

“I find the house flows so nicely,” she said, “It’s very comfortable and I settled in so quickly because it seemed familiar.”

Lesley said that the house has plenty of light and is easy to heat. “I find it very cosy and warm. The heating is very efficient because as soon as I think it’s chilly, it’s immediate.

“It is easy to keep clean and it’s a nice easy house to live in. It’s well equipped as there are enough cupboards and the utility area is good and it means the boiler is out of the kitchen.”

Lesley moved into her home in July last year and was impressed with the customer care provided by the site team and sales team. “They have been amazing, quite honestly,” she said. “Anything that I’ve raised has been dealt with really quickly. Any questions I had for the sales team I got an immediate reply, and I never felt I was kept waiting. They were on the ball – very much so.”

The location of Perceval Grange works well for Lesley because she can walk into Midhurst town centre from home in around 15 minutes. She is looking forward to getting more integrated into Midhurst life and plans to do some volunteering.

And as a keen gardener she has plans for the garden including the addition of some flowering trees. “It will keep me busy for most of the summer,” she said.

“I just feel comfortable and happy here and it’s because I’m nearer to the people I really care about and want to be nearer to, and it’s easier for life.

“It’s made me a lot happier – not that I was unhappy, but now I have the ease and freedom of seeing people for an hour or so rather than having to do that long drive. I feel great, happy and content.”

There’s currently a choice of two, three and five-bedroom houses available to reserve at Perceval Grange, with prices starting from £450,000. For more information about the development, visit https://www.bellway.co.uk/new-homes/southern-counties/perceval-grange or call the sales team on 01730 450031.

Visit Bellway

Visit Ashberry homes