We’re on a mission to help the nation love where they live. While this often means supporting home buyers and sellers on their journey to their dream home, it also involves helping homeowners – who already love where they live – through the remortgaging process.
The PLS team understands what it means to make a house a home. And so, in this series, you’ll find out why our team members love where they live.
Already, we’ve spoken to our wonderful team members, Sarah and Ellie, about their homes in Worsley and Berkhamsted.
Today, we’re heading a little further up north to the charming village of Thornley, County Durham, which our training and development manager Michelle Burdett is proud to call home. She lives in a quiet cul-de-sac alongside her husband, 15-month year old son and beloved border collie.
“We’ve lived here for about four years now and absolutely love it,” shares Michelle. “Durham is just a fifteen minutes drive away, and it’s such a lovely place to go for a day out. County Durham also has the most beautiful countryside. I love being able to look outside my patio doors and see rolling hills. It’s very peaceful.”
For Michelle and her family, the hamlet of Thornley has strong family ties. She explains: “My husband is originally from a little village just outside of Newcastle, which is half an hour away. We met when we were both working in Manchester. Once we married, we decided to make the move up so we could be closer to his family, who are about 40 minutes away.”
Luckily for Michelle and her husband, finding their home was a walk in the park!
“We weren’t searching for long, thankfully,” she says. “Working in conveyancing, I had an idea in my head of what I was looking for. It’s my job to look at houses, so I knew what to go for in terms of title investigations, that sort of thing, to make the process quick and easy.”
While moving from a bustling city to rural countryside is a big change, she feels like the choice has been perfect for her.
“I always wanted to live in the countryside,” she explains. “I can’t ever imagine living in a city again now. Plus, we’re lucky that Durham and Newcastle are just a short drive away for all the shops and restaurants!”
With a perfect balance of urban life and picturesque countryside, it’s no wonder Michelle is so happy in Thornley. It also helps that the local community is vibrant and caring.
She continues: “It feels really nice and homely. There are lots of families in the area. Two of our neighbours are brother and sister, and we’re good friends with both! They sometimes babysit our son.”
Although Thornley is a beautiful village, Michelle and her family don’t see their current home as their forever one.
“We want to move a little closer to my in-laws so they can see our son more often,” she shares. “We’ve also got our eyes on some excellent schools a bit further north. Our son is very intelligent and bright – he loves books already! So, we want to relocate for him, but we will stay in County Durham because we love it here. It’s beautiful.”
If you’re interested in remortgaging your property, contact the PLS team today. Our dedicated team of specialists can help you remortgage with confidence.
To be in with the chance of winning an Amazon Alexa, Ikea Voucher or Bloom and Wild Flowers to make your lovely home even more lovely, take part in our Love Where You Live competition here.
