The couple sold their 3-bed Nunhead flat for £430,000 and bought their 4-bed Bristol home for £525,000
(Picture: Handout)On the drive from Nunhead, south east London, to Brislington, south east Bristol, Aletheia allowed herself a few tears.
She and her husband Owen, both 38, had met in the capital, and had their son Caspar, now 22 months, while living there. The sense of the ending of a very happy era was strong. “It was a very formative time for us both,” she says.
But as parents the couple’s priorities had changed – although not so much to make them want to bury themselves in the countryside.
The couple spent the pandemic in their three bedroom, gardenless flat, and initially they planned to try and buy a house in south east London. “Affordability wise we realised it wasn’t going to work out for what we needed,” said Aletheia.
They opted for a move to Bristol partly for convenience. Owen’s company, Pirate Studios, has offices there while Aletheia runs her own corporate wellness business, Founded Wellness, and can work from anywhere.
“Bristol felt like another city which would suit our needs,” she says. “It is vibrant, there is lots going on, but it is a bit calmer than London.”
The couple put their flat on the market at the start of this year and rapidly accepted an offer of £430,000.
They then started looking at period properties before finding something very different – a newly built four-bedroom semi-detached house on a small private development which cost £525,000.
Because their buyers were ready to go, and they were buying a brand new home, both sales went through. At the end of March the family was on the M4 heading towards their new life.
So far the transition has been easier than Aletheia could have hoped for, although for now the family remains surrounded by boxes in need of unpacking.
But Caspar is happily settled at a new nursery, and Aletheia and Owen are starting to explore Bristol.
They’ve already made a return visit to London, and found the hour and a half train journey painless, and are looking forward to summer trips to Wales and Cornwall, as well as Bath and the Cotswolds.
“We don’t have fancy coffee on the doorstep, but we do have more space,” says Aletheia.
“Work wise it isn’t such a big deal to be remote from London – Covid-19 really set that up for me.”
