London leavers: 'We left Streatham for a £220k flat in Wiltshire that has its own golf course'

Homes & Property | Where to live

London leavers: 'We left Streatham for a £220k flat in Wiltshire that has its own golf course'

Jo and Teppo Palosaari embraced working from home to enjoy a leisurely life in the countryside

Love it or loathe it Zoom has become an integral part of our lives over the past two years. For Jo and Teppo Palosaari it has proved a total game changer.

Switching her work as a Pilates instructor from face-to-face to online freed Jo from the need to be in London.

Teppo, an interpreter, had already embraced the WFH lifestyle well before the pandemic.

And so the couple decided to exchange the three bedroom 1920s terrace in Streatham they had bought two decades ago and move to somewhere quite different — a newly built New England style “village” in the heart of Wiltshire, with plenty of on site facilities for these fifty-somethings to enjoy during their downtime.

As self-professed golf addicts, having a course on site was a huge plus
Handout

They chose Wiltshire because they had happy memories of holidays spent in the county and, having taken up golf five years ago and “quickly become addicted” they were keen to live close to a course.

The purpose built village ticked both boxes and at the start of this year they paid £220,000 for a two-bedroom, 1,076 sq ft apartment at the village, which is close to Royal Wootton Bassett. 

At just over 1,000 sq ft the flat is almost as big as their old house, and their household bills now include a service charge plus fees for using the on-site facilities — golf course, pool, gym, gardens — totalling circa £3,000 per year.

The sale of their London home is still going through.

The couple spent their weekends exploring the countryside in their camper van
Handout

Some six months in and Jo has absolutely no regrets about leaving the capital.

“My husband has never really liked living in London, but we thought we had to stay because I had a studio there,” she said.

“Everyone here is from somewhere else, so we haven't had the problem of being outsiders. We have been welcomed, and offered kindness and an instant social life.

“There is no litter and no crime, which is a luxury we are still appreciating," she adds.

“There are no shops, but people enjoy the bars and restaurant, the pool and gym, and the golf course, at the resort hotel just 50 yards away. A stile at the end of the village leads onto endless Wiltshire walks.”

When the couple do want an urban fix, Bristol and Bath are both close by, and they can also take their camper van and spend weekends exploring the whole west country.

“There is so much going on around here, in a way it is just like being in London and jumping on the tube to go to a different area,” said Jo.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in