'We made a massive decision to sell our home... but now we couldn't be happier'

Whether you are leaving your parents house to get on the property ladder, buying your first family home or downsizing, moving homes is a huge decision and not one to be taken lightly.

A lot of people grow attached to their properties - especially when they've spent a lot of years there and have put a great deal of time and money into making the house their own. A retired couple from Heywood, Rochdale are now reaping the benefits after the difficult decision to downsize led them to their dream home in Chadderton.

Sue, 72, and Kenneth, 73, put their three-bed home on the market having lived there for 34 years after coming to the conclusion that they could no longer maintain it in their later years, and have now moved into a two-bed new-build home.

READ MORE: 'A knock on the door led us to buy our dream home... but now we're selling it for £600k'

Sue spoke to the Manchester Evening News as part of our Where I Live series, where each week we speak to a different homeowner to hear about their home-buying journey. Retired Bury Council worker Sue and her husband Kenneth bought their first home together shortly after marrying in 1989.

As they began to grow older, they realised that their family home may not be suitable due to its size and location. "We lived at the top of an estate called The Summit and the driveaway and the garden were very steep. But we were getting older and started realising that it would eventually become a struggle walking up the driveway and going out in the garden," Sue told the Manchester Evening News.

“In the last few years, we've also seen a few friends fall ill and struggle to maintain their larger homes so we knew that we didn't want to put ourselves in that position."

But the decision to put their beloved home on the market wasn't made lightly. "It was a massive decision to sell our house because we’d been there over 34 years. We had made a lot of memories over the years, we knew all the neighbours and we’d seen their children grow up and their grandchildren come along. It was a big decision to make," Sue said.

"I’m 72 and Kenny is 73 so we thought if we’re ever going to move, now is the time to do it. We loved our house, we had it really really beautiful, but we just wanted to live somewhere that was easier to manage."

The couple then began the search for the a smaller home, initially looking at bungalows. Sue said: "Ideally we wanted a bungalow but we looked at 12 and every one of them needed a lot of renovation. We didn’t mind little bits of renovating but we weren’t up for a big project. We thought if we can’t find a bungalow, we’ll just stay where we were."

After struggling to find what they were looking for, Sue and Kenneth then decided to expand their search area and also considered looking at new-build houses. “We wanted to stay in Rochdale because that’s where some of our family live but we just couldn’t find anything in that area," Sue said.

"We thought we'd look at Chadderton because we had a few friends who lived there, but it was still moving away from our comfort zone. We also thought let's look at new-build houses as we didn’t want an old terrace house. We also wanted somewhere with a nice little garden."

Sue and Kenneth soon came across Countryside Homes’ Radclyffe Green development, and were immediately drawn to a two-bed semi-detached home. "As soon as I went on Rightmove, this estate came up. I immediately got in touch with them and they had some two-beds available," said Sue.

"We went to look at the show home and as soon as we walked out we both said ‘this is it’. So within two days we more or less viewed and bought the house. It was meant to be really."

The couple sold their house very quickly, which they said went to a lovely family. "We sold our house straight away. The first family who came to view it wanted it. They were lovely, they really wanted to live on that estate and we just thought they were a perfect fit. It all fell into place it was like a jigsaw, all the pieces just seemed to fit."

Sue added: "We never ever thought we’d be able to afford a new property. Considering we hadn’t bought a house in 34 years, we didn’t really know what to expect. We were cash buyers so that made life a lot easier as we didn’t have to think about getting a mortgage. The sales people were lovely and helpful which made the whole process more enjoyable."

Having moved into their new property in June last year, the pair say it felt like home straight away. “We settled in immediately and we didn’t even have any curtains. We just sat down with all our boxes around us and thought this is it, it’s just perfect," Sue said.

"Everyone who’s been to see it has said ‘I thought you were downsizing’, and we have, but it just seems bigger. I think it’s because it's an open plan. We don’t feel like we’ve lost any space. We’ve lost a bedroom but we’ve gained a bigger downstairs. We also have a lovely flat garden now which is great and exactly what we wanted."

Sue explained: “With it being a new build, it was move-in ready. We’ve not really had to do anything to it at all. The only thing we’ve done is bought new furniture because our old furniture was too big and it looked too cluttered. It’s been lovely to be able to go out and buy new furniture. Our new house is now much more modern as well.

“We love gardening so since we moved in we’ve been getting the garden all nice and just putting in little finishing touches around the house to make it feel more homely."

Since living on the new development, Sue said they have made lots of friends. "As we lived in the same house for so long and knew all our neighbours, we were worried about that side of things. But it’s such a nice, friendly estate. There are 160 houses and whenever we walk around people are always very friendly. We’ve joined the WhatsApp group and there’s a lovely community vibe."

Reflecting on their decision to downsize, Sue said: "We’re 110% happy with our decision to move. I’d tell anyone who’s ever got any doubts about downsizing as you’re getting older to go for it and don’t be afraid of doing it. It’s been great, we love it and we love the area. We’re both quite active and healthy people so hopefully we’ll get many more years enjoying living here."

Kenneth added: “We didn’t expect to settle in so quickly, but our new house instantly felt like home. This will definitely be our forever home, we can’t see ourselves moving anywhere else now and we would encourage anyone thinking of downsizing to go for it.”