Brian and his wife Caroline have been Brio homeowners for three months – and at the time of writing, are very much looking forward to their first Christmas in their new bungalow.
They first found Brio online (via Rightmove) and were keen to “downsize due to the usual reasons; large house, large garden, isolated situation etc”.
They followed a range of criteria when assessing their options. They wanted “a degree of independence while being part of a wider community”. When they first saw Brio they “fell in love with it”, and have since “become less dependent on a car”.
However, a retirement village wasn’t originally on their radar, with Brian commenting “we are independently minded and like our own company…we decided that what was wonderful in our 60s and early 70s may not be sensible in our later 70s and early 80s”
Admirably, Brian was very pragmatic when thinking about the upcoming years: “When one of us passes on and one of us is left, at least we know they have the security of being in a small community and the other will be looked after”.
Likewise, he recognised that this “was another stage of his life and is very different than any of his previous homes and is quite excited. The property is future proofed”.
Brian spoke passionately about how important it was to have his son’s support in making this move: “My son could see the benefits for him and for us in coming here”.
Equally, they were happy to move to a leasehold property, confident that they will never have any ongoing maintenance or upkeep costs.
Brian and Caroline are homeowners in one of our bungalows with garden.
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