The road out of London was a bumpy ride for Jess Parkinson. But two months into her new life in a sweet market town in Kent she couldn’t be happier that she persevered.
Jess, 33, has exchanged a life of performing on the West End stage for a new career as a wellness expert. And, after 15 years in the capital, she has swapped life in south-east London for Faversham, in Kent.
“It has been a complete turn around for me,” said Jess. “I loved living in London for a long time, but after a while it just began to feel too crowded and busy and I wanted to be able to spend much more time in nature.”
Jess and her partner Elliot Fitzpatrick, 33, an audiobook narrator, had managed to buy their own property – a two bedroom flat in Crystal Palace – in 2019. They had used the now-defunct Help to Buy scheme to buy the £460,000 property, with a 40 per cent Government equity loan.
Back then Jess was performing in the musical School of Rock. In between acting jobs she was a yoga instructor and personal trainer. “After School of Rock I decided to stop acting and focus on wellness, and began working for Gymbox as a master trainer, as well as teaching private clients and coaching,” said Jess (@happyhealthywithjess; www.happyhealthywithjess.com). “I don't know what would have happened if I'd still been in the theatre but I was able to carry on teaching online during the pandemic, and I am very thankful I was able to do that.”
The couple decided to put their flat on the market in the summer of 2022 and quickly found a buyer ready to pay £475,000 for the property, leaving them with a modest profit. Then Liz Truss’s disastrous mini budget sent the mortgage market into a tailspin, and their buyer pulled out. They decided to press pause on their own move. When they had the property assessed again four months later it was valued, to their horror, at between £435,000 and £440,000. “We couldn’t believe it,” said Jess.
Battered, but not completely ready to give up, the couple decided to see what they could buy with this budget and settled on Faversham, with its pretty high street, community vibe, good access to both London and the coast, and value-for-money property, as their ideal new neighbourhood.
In September 2024 they sold their flat for £450,000 and spent £325,000 on a three bedroom 1960s semi. “It is double, maybe triple the size of our flat, and it has got a big garden with a pond,” said Jess.
Jess now works in London four days a week, and from home for one day. “The commute makes my working days a bit longer, but so far I am quite enjoying it,” said Jess. “It is beautiful countryside most of the way and I get a lot of work done.”
Jess spends most of her week zipping between clients in London. Downtime is spent planning a renovation of the dated house, and visiting nearby seaside towns like Whitstable. “We are also very close to the centre of Faversham, and the pubs are amazing – it’s a brewery town – and there are lots of great places to eat,” said Jess. “I spent 15 years in London and it is very important to me, but this is a better way of life.”
