Downsizing made easy at Atkins Lodge

Moving home after thirty years from a large four bedroom home can be a daunting task for many but for one lady, Mrs Joan Munn, moving to Churchill Retirement Living’s Atkins Lodge was made all the more easy using their Selling Made Easy Scheme. Joan is now enjoying her new two bedroom apartment at the development and getting actively involved in the social side of the lodge.

Joan comments, “I had lived in my home in Petts Wood for thirty years and after my husband passed away the house started to become more of a burden. We had a lovely sized garden but it had seven large oak trees which created so much extra work, particularly in the Autumn.

“For a while I had been thinking about downsizing to a bungalow, but all the ones I had seen also had a large garden and needed a lot of work doing to them. One day I was visiting Orpington and saw Churchill Retirement Living’s new development being built and decided to enquire.

“I attended a preview event where they gave us all the details about the development and the style of apartments. I really liked the idea of buying a brand new apartment so I decided to go ahead and reserve a two bedroom apartment.”

Joan opted to use Churchill’s Selling Made Easy scheme, which takes away all the stresses and strains associated with selling an existing property. Churchill acted on behalf of Joan by chasing the estate agents selling her house to ensure that they were marketing it well and viewings were being arranged to secure a sale as quickly as possible. Churchill also gave £2,000 towards estate agent fees and £500 towards solicitor’s fees. Joan also used Churchill’s recommended removal company, Britannia. 

Joan continues, “Using Churchill’s moving scheme made everything straight forward and easy and I am delighted to finally move into my new apartment. I am extremely happy with it. It is lovely to have everything on one floor and there is plenty of storage space, with each room being a lovely size.

“I am also getting involved in many activities at the lodge, including coffee mornings, cookery afternoons and I have even arranged a few quizzes for fellow residents.”

Before Joan moved into Atkins Lodge she decided to give up her car to a family member. “It was a difficult decision to make giving up my car and I still do miss it but everywhere is so easy to get to at Atkins Lodge and there are a great many buses I can use. I have also saved greatly on the cost of running and insuring the car each year.”

Atkins Lodge is a beautiful development of 50 one and two bedroom retirement apartments located on the high street in Orpington. The Lodge has an Owners Lounge, which is for use by all the residents as a casual meeting place or for organised events and there is also a Guest Suite for visiting relatives or friends.