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Retired couple Margaret and Tony Playle spent 40 years bringing up their family in the one house in Sydney’s north-west before deciding last year it was the right time to make a move.
“We were in a two-storey home on a quarter-acre block, so it was starting to be a bit of a problem,” said Margaret. “We also had a swimming pool that we hardly used. The appeal of moving was to get something a bit smaller, a bit less yard work.”
“It’s called downsizing to a more appropriate and lovely home,” added Tony, a former home loans manager, who was impressed with the opportunity to buy an ex-display home in the newly opened Halcyon Gables, a development by Stockland.
Having moved in mid-March, the couple are some of the first residents of Halcyon Gables, which will eventually become an estate of 200 homes.
“It’s a land-lease set-up,” said Tony, “so Stockland own the land and we own the house.”
“And we pay a service fee per week,” said Margaret. “They maintain the grounds at the front of our house and we don’t have to pay any money to use the facilities, that’s all included in our fee.”
Drawing on the experience of some of their friends who have relocated to retirement villages, Margaret said the land-lease model suited them better and they called on a conveyancer to go over the finer details of buying their new home.
“Halcyon Gables appealed to us because there is no exit fee if you decide to leave,” she said. “A lot of places take 30 per cent of your selling price, but here whatever you sell your house for, you get back.
“We made the decision because our kids will get more of the money when we’re gone.”
The couple are looking forward to being involved Halcyon Gables community members. Tony, a “pushbike fanatic”, has already palled up with other residents interested in bike riding, and Margaret can’t wait for the anticipated June opening of the community’s facilities.
“They’re building a 35-seat cinema, a pickleball court, a gym, a heated swimming pool, a craft room, a men’s shed and a community room if you want to throw a party,” she said.
With a shopping and medical centre just 800m from their front door, Tony is sold on his new home and said, “It’s already really wonderful living here. A place to start our new lives.”