Escape From the City With Suburban Living in Broadacres, Southwater
Natalie, 37, and her husband Nick, 36 moved into a stunning four-bed home in Broadacres in the charming village of Southwater, just minutes from the bustling town of Horsham.
Escaping from London after a long ten years, Natalie comments on their decision to move:
“We always knew that we wanted to eventually move further south into Sussex since both Nick and I grew up in the County, however it wasn’t until June of 2020 that we seriously started looking for potential homes. After spending ten years in a two-bed flat in Earlsfield, it took falling pregnant and Covid lockdowns for us to finally put all our plans into action and find the perfect place to bring up children. Luckily both of our jobs are very flexible with us working from home. I work for Cancer Research UK and I only have to commute into London once a week, and my husband only has to travel in three days a week, so that gave us the freedom we needed to look further afield. While I could technically get into London in under an hour by getting the train from Horsham, I actually prefer to drive to Littlehaven since it has free parking. The whole journey does take a little longer but it’s only once a week so I don’t mind doing that.”
Speaking about their hunt to find their perfect home, she continues:
“To be honest, before visiting the development we were not sure if Broadacres was going to tick all the boxes we had in mind for our dream home, but once we stepped foot into the house all our worries evaporated. To put it simply, I cannot envision us living anywhere else. Our house is on a quiet cul-de-sac which is also home to a few other young families, so there is already a lovely community that we have started to build here – any child living on Broadacres will never have to worry about having friends to play with!”
Talking about the amenities on the doorstep, Natalie says:
“There are some excellent schools in our area, which was also a big draw for us. Our daughter Amelie currently goes to the local nursery and in September she moves up to the Forest School which is wonderful to have on the doorstep and such an enchanting and alternative way to learn. Then she will join the local primary school which also has a brilliant reputation.”
“We are also walking distance from the new sports pavilion and facilities that Berkeley built adjoining Broadacres, alongside playparks, and of course the village which has everything you need on the doorstep including a great library and all the other daily necessities we may need. Though we didn’t particularly know Southwater before moving here, it has a wonderful community atmosphere, and with Horsham only a ten-minute drive away, we have the best of everything living here.”
Speaking about the wider area Natalie muses:
“I think one of our favourite things is that we can get to the beach in under half an hour, we don’t go often in the winter but in the summer, we go as much as possible since Nick and I have such happy memories of our own childhoods on the south coast. We usually drive to Worthing but Broadacres has the Downs Link running alongside it, so in theory we could cycle down to Shoreham. That is definitely an adventure we might consider in the future.”
The couple’s buying experience was exceptionally smooth, moving into their home just three months after finding their ideal home. Natalie continues:
“To make life even rosier we are now paying around £200 less in our monthly mortgage payments than we were in rent for our London apartment. The staff at Berkeley were very helpful at talking us through all our options, making sure that we felt supported through every step of this process as first-time buyers. We would definitely recommend purchasing with them.”
Homes in Broadacres start from £415,000. For further information on Broadacres, please call 01403 334 000 or find out more here.