House buyers seeking rural idyll snap up new Northumberland homes

Only two of the 16 homes at the Southfields scheme in Acklington remain unsold.

The latest buyer has been renting a property in the village for the last two months until his house was ready.

Alan Hudson said: “I came from the North East originally and worked in the south most of my life but when I took early retirement, decided to move back and bought a house in Rothbury three-and-a-half years ago.

“Then I discovered Southfields on Rightmove back in the early autumn of last year - it was just breeze blocks at that stage – but as I had been thinking of downsizing, I decided to exchange contracts without delay.

“I was particularly attracted to the location as I love this part of Northumberland and its fabulous coastline and I very much enjoy walking, hiking and cycling and just generally being outdoors.

“The build is excellent. Everyone is very friendly too – so I think we will make a very pleasant new community out of Southfields.

"In fact, I would say give this place six months and it will really have grown into itself. I am delighted to be living here.”

Sales executive, Lynn Grant of WalkersXchange, agent for the scheme, said: “We are very pleased with the way things have gone at Southfields.

"We have only plots 15 and 16 remaining now.

"I think we could have sold many more homes than this, if they had been available, but there are only 16, and its scale is just one of the reasons it is such a sought-after development.

“Most of our buyers have come from outside the area from places such as Kent, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and in Mr Hudson’s case, from the Midlands, albeit via Rothbury!

"Buyers tell us that they have been to the region on holiday, loved what they saw and wanted to retire here.

“However, for many, the pandemic has made this dream a reality because people are able to work from home, so they don’t even need to wait for retirement.”

She is confident that construction will finish by the end of October.

The development by Buchanan Estates is a joint venture with local building contractor, Surgo Construction.