All the benefits

• Safe: secure entry system to main building

• Secure and peaceful: on the first floor, overlooking gardens, away from the road

• Lock up and leave: lock your door and head off on holiday with complete peace of mind that your home and belongings will be completely safe and secure

• Accessible: lift to all floors just a few feet away

• Cosy and economical: EPC B, with Economy 7 electricity supply, smart meter, double-glazing

• Abundance of spacious storage: as well as the capacious wardrobe space of the two bedrooms, the flat has one single-width and two double-width cupboards in the hallway, so there’s plenty of room to stash away all those things you don’t use every day – and, if you’re downsizing from a larger property, you won’t be forced to part with all those things that mean so much to you

• Outside: access to well-kept, attractive communal grounds (that you don’t have to look after yourself!)

• Pets: one pet permitted

• Guest room: highly subsidised accommodation for your visitors, much cheaper than other local short-stay options

• On-site private car park: with space for your own vehicle and those of your visitors

What’s the catch?

As with most leasehold properties, ongoing monthly service charges are payable (currently £7,990 per annum, paid in monthly instalments) – however, it’s worth considering that the initial outlay to purchase the property (in the region of £160,000) is very much lower than for other flats of a comparable size on the open market – around half the price. So, while a conventional flat might be out of your reach, the low initial cost of this one could offer the perfect way for you to set up home in this perennially popular village.

And the service charge you’ll pay is not for nothing either, covering as it does a great deal of routine maintenance and a variety of benefits (see ‘What does the service charge cover?’). So although you might be paying a higher charge than you would for a regular leasehold property, think of it as being a bit like ‘spreading the cost, with benefits’!