Whilst many retirees look to downsize in later life, Jackie and Jeff Dobson decided that they wanted more space.
The couple upsized their 1930s three-bedroom home in Petts Wood for a four-bedroom, detached new-build in Faversham, and released £130,000 of equity in the process.
The pair had lived in their Petts Wood home for 37 years and it needed a new kitchen, something which formed part of the motivation to move.
“We were reluctant to dip into our savings,” says Jeff, 79, a retired design engineer.
“I didn’t want to invest in an old property or do a refurbishment – even as an engineer I couldn’t get my head around how to make it more sustainable and energy efficient.”
The couple initially looked at flats but quickly realised that a downsize wouldn’t give them the lifestyle that they wanted.
“We did think about what people traditionally do at this point and whether we should be looking for something smaller, but it just didn’t appeal to us,” says Jackie, 67, who was previously a deputy head teacher.
“We didn’t want an apartment and everything that can come with that, such as service charges or a feeling of over-closeness to neighbours. We still wanted our own front door, our own space and a proper home where people could come and stay.”
The couple’s daughter, Hannah, had moved to Redrow’s Preston Fields development in Faversham, and Jeff and Jackie were impressed with what they saw.
Having been around several show homes, they settled on a house, eight doors down from Hannah, which was 2,001 square feet – 25 per cent bigger than their previous 1,600 square-foot property in Petts Wood, and had a modern, open-plan kitchen and living space on the ground floor.
“We walked into this one [and] we loved the sense of space. The gallery landing upstairs is beautiful, but the kitchen was probably the biggest thing for us,” says Jackie. “It’s a modern version of our old house.”
“At this stage of our lives, we didn’t want a smaller house just for the sake of downsizing,” explains Jackie.
“We wanted a home that suited how we actually live. We love having people over, we love seeing friends and family and we wanted enough space for people to stay comfortably. For us, that feels much more sensible. We’ve got more of the space we use and less of the space we have to maintain.”
Jeff and Jackie were fortunate to sell their old home in Petts Wood quickly for £960,000 and bought their new property for £800,000 in June 2026.
“We felt very fortunate that selling a very desirable property in Petts Wood, Kent, which was also in a fabulous location, provided us with the opportunity to buy a large property that met all our needs and released capital to fund a new lifestyle in Faversham,” says Jeff.
The couple were given the option to have their stamp duty of £30,000 paid for them, but they decided to pay this themselves, choosing instead for more extras on the house. This left them with £130,000 to fund their new lifestyle in Faversham and their travel abroad.
“We love live music, going out and travelling, so this was never about slowing everything down. It was about making life easier and creating a home that works better for the things we enjoy,” says Jackie.
Their new home is big enough to have people stay for the weekend and for helping out with their grandchildren in the holidays. “We do a Tuesday of childcare, and, in half-term, we have four children staying for three days!” says Jackie. “It feels like the house supports all of that. We have room for family, room for old friends and room for new friends, too.”
While their house is bigger, there is one area where the couple have downsized.
“We had a large garden in the old house which wasn’t overlooked, and now I have a small, overlooked garden but that is part of the deal,” says Jackie.
“Although we’ve downsized the garden, we’ve actually upsized the house. We absolutely still wanted a garden, but we didn’t need a huge one that took up our weekends and needed constant looking after. We wanted enough space to sit outside, have people over and enjoy it, without feeling as though we were constantly maintaining it.”
The couple’s contemporaries are all considering their next move, if not actually doing them. “We have one friend who moved to a flat from a house and is finding the change interesting,” says Jackie. “It’s what suits people. Some friends aren’t ready to move.”
But she and Jeff have no regrets about their decision: “We’ve got less to worry about, less to maintain and more space for the things that actually matter to us. We can travel, have family over, invite friends to stay and host Christmas properly.”