UK Edition
The new 5:2 lifestyle: country by week, city by weekend
Owning a pied-à-terre in London used to be the preserve of those wealthy workers who needed somewhere near the office for Monday to Friday to avoid the rat race of the daily commute, leaving the rest of their family to enjoy the schooling and lifestyle on offer near their beautiful house in the country. City by week, country by weekend.
Now the formula is being reversed. Some country dwellers are choosing a 5:2 lifestyle by buying a flat in London so they can enjoy all the capital has to offer – culture, restaurants and friends, as well as grown-up children – at the weekends.
“We’re seeing a desire for this mixture of London and country among two main groups of people,” says James Greenwood, of Stacks Property Search. “First, those whose children have recently left home or university to work in London. Parents combine a desire not to lose touch with their offspring with a realisation that life in the country has less to offer once their children are not around.
“A regular visit to the capital to reconnect with their kids, buy them dinner, interfere with their domestic arrangements, go to the theatre, visit exhibitions and catch up with old friends seems the perfect antidote to what can amount to an empty-nest crisis.”
The other group is new retirees who have spent years commuting to London from the country, doing four or five days in the capital and a longish weekend in the country. A totally rural retirement holds little appeal for them, so they swap their routine, spending Monday to Friday in the country and heading to London at weekends.
Johan and Lesley Denekamp both retired recently from jobs in the capital. Johan, 56, worked in advertising and Lesley, 55, worked for Lloyd’s of London. They lived in a town house in St Katharine Docks, close to the Tower of London, for 22 years, but four years ago decided to move to the country. They found a three-acre plot near Tisbury, Wiltshire, and built a three-bedroom eco-house.
“We wanted to live the dream as far as we could, so now live in the country during the week, returning to London at the weekends,” says Johan. “I’m into motor racing, Lesley likes rallying – we’ve got five cars – so we do quite a bit of that, in between enjoying the peace of rural life.”
The couple like to visit London regularly, though. As members of Queen’s Club and Bafta, the Denekamps have plenty of tennis games to play and film screenings to attend. “We probably do more in London than we did when we lived there,” says Johan.
While their careers kept them in London, now the Denekamps spend only a couple of days a week in the city, so they have bought a small flat near Kew Bridge, west London, and are selling their five-bedroom Tower Hill town house. With 3,272 sq ft over three floors, the property has two terraces, one with views of the marina, and the other overlooking the river and Tower Bridge. It is on the market with Sotheby’s International Realty at a guide price of £4.85 million (sothebysrealty.co.uk).
Jim and Marilyn Kearns have been lapping up their 5:2 lifestyle since they bought a two-bedroom flat at Goodman’s Fields, a Berkeley Homes development in Aldgate, east London, a few months ago. The couple, who are in their 60s, have lived in Kent for almost four decades. Jim, who owns a freight company, still works there full time.
“My wife and I love living in Deal – it’s a vibrant little town and we have lived there for six years after 30 years in nearby Kingsdown,” says Jim. “But we also enjoy visiting our son and daughter-in-law up in London, so when we were advised that property in the capital made for a good investment, we immediately began to explore our options.”
The couple bought off-plan when there was little to see at the site, seduced by the sound of the proposed facilities, including the gym, swimming pool and concierge service, with plans for a café, gastropub and Sainsbury’s on the doorstep. Security was also a priority, especially because they would not be there during the week.
“It was important that wherever we bought should be easily accessible for short weekend stints,” says Jim. “We can get to St Pancras in under an hour and a half, before hopping on the Tube to our front door – and as the building is outside of the congestion zone, we can drive up in less than two hours. It means that visiting for the weekend is much more manageable and that travelling doesn’t eat into our precious time off.”
As a Manchester City season ticket holder, Jim is also looking forward to being able to get to the club’s home games in just over two hours from his London base. Previously, the journey up from the Kent coast was hard to do in a day. Available flats at Goodman’s Fields start at £925,000 (020 3217 1000; goodmansfields.co.uk).
The Kearns are not the only couple in this building to use their flat at the weekends. “While it might have once been the norm for Londoners to invest in a country bolt-hole, we have seen this trend in reverse in recent years, with some of our residents opting for a weekend base in the capital,” says Piers Clanford of Berkeley Homes. “A London home far outweighs the inconvenience and expense of a hotel or the burden of frequently staying with friends.”
Jeremy and Sarah Wilson are not quite living the 5:2 lifestyle yet, but hope to do so in a few years. The couple, along with their three children – Emily, seven, and twins Zac and Harry, five – have lived for the past few years in an idyllic waterside house on Windermere in the Lake District. Jeremy, 51, retired from his job as an investment banker in 2013, but travels to London for two or three days occasionally because of business interests and to see friends.
“As we lived in London for many years, Sarah also has a good number of friends there and she would dearly like to come with me, but at the moment she has the children to look after,” says Jeremy. “Also, we have let out our flat near Canary Wharf, so I have to stay in a hotel.”
But looking to the future, the Wilsons have bought a three-bedroom flat off plan at Keybridge in Vauxhall, south London. “It will not be ready until 2018, but that is where we both hope to be staying, with the children, at weekends in the future – to see our friends and have fun in London.”
Keybridge is a new development by Fabrica and Mount Anvil comprising new homes, open spaces, shops, offices and a primary school. Prices start at £575,000 (020 3553 7086; keybridgelondon.com). It is appealing to buyers, such as the Wilsons, who are looking for a social life pied-à-terre, says Jon Hall, Mount Anvil’s sales and marketing director. “With the advent of remote working and technology in the home, many of our 5:2 buyers are now based outside London during the week and come up to visit friends or enjoy the cultural scene at the weekend.”
One downside to this idyllic lifestyle, apart from the cost of owning and running two homes, is the organisation, especially if there are animals to be looked after when you are away.
James Greenwood from Stacks has a solution: “Another option that is more relaxing and can be much less onerous to organise, especially for those who have to juggle rural responsibilities such as dogs and chickens, might be a ratio more like 12:2.”