When the shoe no longer fits

IT happened really quite quickly I think,’ says Nick Hewer. ‘I’m going to be 80 in February, so something clicked. The clock went “tick” and we realised that we can’t keep on managing this.’ To most people, the idea of owning a property such as Nick’s Park Farm, with its seven bedrooms, swimming pool, tennis court and 12 acres of land in Northamptonshire, would be a fairytale. It’s easy, when flicking through the pages of property advertisements and editorial in this very magazine, to get jealous about the space and lifestyle on offer. But at the same time, for many, including the former Apprentice adviser and Countdown host, there comes a time when it all gets a bit too much. ‘At the moment, we’ve got two gardeners coming twice a week, and it’s still a struggle to keep the grass down, or the hedges cut, or keep the pond clean,’ he adds. For as much as you admire the beautiful properties for sale in these pages and may think ‘who would dare leave such a paradise’, the answer may often be people looking to downsize.

Downsizing itself has a very simple definition (‘to move to a smaller place of residence’), but the reasons behind it can be very complex.

One of the benefits can be freeing up some equity tied up in an older, larger home, but, for many, it’s the simple benefit of finding somewhere more manageable, that’s closer to various amenities and closer to their kids and grandchildren. ‘It’s all of the above,’ says buying agent Richard Winter from Surrey Property Search. ‘For example, I have a client who had a 6,000sq ft home in the countryside, but they spent three or four nights a week in London and all of the sudden they’ve got a big house that they don’t use any more. They don’t see the point in heating the pool every year any more.’ Buying agent Michelle Hendrie extols the attraction of being closer to the children and grandchildren, and also notes that, as a whole, ‘far fewer people are happy to take on a project’ when moving to a smaller home, and that the trend has now ‘moved from having a smaller version of what they are coming from, to something more modern. People are much more open to something newer, eco friendly and energy efficient’.

Nick and his partner, Catherine, speak effusively about moving closer to their granddaughter, who will soon be only a field away, although they admit that the person who will be most upset about them leaving Park Farm will be said granddaughter, who loves the space to roam and the pool to swim in. ‘She takes my dog on a lead, she’s got her own little electric car and the two of them go off roaming round the woods,’ he says, before adding: ‘I think we’re being really unkind, but there we are, she’ll just have to suffer!’

Obviously it’s tough to leave behind a place full of memories. Nick and Catherine say that they have ‘no bad memories’ of their years at Park Farm, and reel off highlight after highlight from their time there, including looking after Catherine’s dad, a former Spitfire pilot, who used to sneak into the main house and help dispose of any excess