Natalie Varney-Hopkins moved to London to build a career, and loved the buzz and vibrancy of the city. During her twenties she built up a close circle of friends. And during her thirties she watched it evaporate as they started having families and moving away.
“I think I ended up with about two friends in London,” said Natalie, now 37.
For Natalie and her husband, Nick Hopkins, 36,the birth of their daughter Amelie, three, convinced them that the time had come for them to take an exit strategy.
Natalie, who runs Cancer Research UK’s International cancer prevention programme, and Nick, a senior underwriter, were living in a two-bedroom flat in Earlsfield, which cost them around £1,400pcm. “We wanted to buy somewhere, and we couldn’t afford to do it there — a normal three-bedroom house in Earlsfield cost £1 million at that time,” said Natalie.
Choosing a new location was straightforward. The couple both come from Sussex and have family there, and they also liked its proximity to both London and the south coast.
They chose a £495,000 four-bedroom townhouse at Broadacres, a Berkeley Homes development in the village of Southwater (www.berkeleygroup.co.uk).
They liked the village, with its pub, small collection of cafes and restaurants, and food shops. Both need to travel to London for work a few times per week and Horsham Station is less than four miles away.
“We had to buy a new build because we didn’t have a big deposit, and we needed to use Help to Buy,” added Natalie.
The family made the move in September 2020, and have never looked back. Despite rising mortgage rates their monthly payments work out less than their London rent, at just over £1,200pcm.
They love having space to work from home and their own garden, and Amelie is happy spending her time with her friends at nursery, going to the seaside, and exploring the local countryside. And trains to London take Natalie and Nick about an hour when they need to be in the office.
“I do sometimes miss the buzz of London and the choice of places to go, but when you have a child your life does change anyway — you don’t have all those spontaneous drinks and dinners any more. And although I think people are really scared about being lonely I have made some really good friends since I moved here, so it can be done.”
