Retired couple Victor Pratt, 67, and his wife Valerie, 64, wanted less hard work and cheaper running costs – and found a new property at Berkeley development, Holborough Lakes, near Snodland, fulfilled their needs.

The couple both used to work in Maidstone before they retired five years ago, Valerie for the fire brigade in the drawing office and Victor as a financial analyst.

Having lived in a large four- bedroom family house, also in Maidstone, for 26 years, they decided that their extensive garden was becoming unmanageable – and while they didn’t want to compromise on the square footage of their property, they were keen to find a lower maintenance home.

Valerie said: “We loved our family home, it was a great base to bring up our son.

“But in recent years we have been struggling with the demands of maintaining such a large property and our son has now left home and is married with his own family.

“We decided we wanted to move to be much closer to both him and my mother-in-law, too.

“Our new house is a similar size to our old house in terms of square footage, but it has an additional fifth bedroom, so will be more flexible in terms of rooms.

“Also, as it will be brand new, it will be much lower maintenance and cheaper to run, meaning that we can spend more time enjoying our retirement,” said Valerie.

Homes at Holborough Lakes are available from £134,950. For more information, contact the sales team on 01634 244 666, or visit www.berkeleygroup.co.uk