Cut-price country living: Rent in the grounds of a country estate

The once wise words: “Why on earth throw money away on rent when you can buy?” now have a hollow ring, with so many people unable to afford to buy their own homes.

However, some choose to rent rather than be saddled with a mortgage.

And estates are proving particularly popular among people who want to enjoy the countryside and work from home.

Modern tenants are no longer required to work on the estate as part of a ‘bonded’ arrangement, assist at grouse shooting events or take their caps to the Lord of the Manor.

And according to Savills estate agents, it’s possible to rent a seven-bedroom country house on an estate for the same price as a two-bedroom apartment in SW1, London.

There are numerous estates in England alone, many of which have up to 300 properties to rent.

Leases are usually secured after a six month trial period and if a contract is then negotiated the property can be a home for life.

Dr. Marvin Firth, 37, moved in August with his partner Kane to a cottage on the Overbury estate in the hamlet of Conderton near Tewkesbury, Gloucester.

Previously, Marvin lived in a flat in South Kensington. While in the area for Kane’s work, they wondered what it would be like to live in the village after seeing a renovated Grade II listed thatched cottage and two outbuildings for rent.

“On the day we were supposed to be interviewed, my appendix ruptured,” says Marvin. “It was a signal to slow down. We took the cottage and haven’t looked back.’

Marvin has rented out the flat in London and the couple love their new home, which is worth at least £500,000 but will never come up for sale.

They pay £975 a month and although they are responsible for furnishing, any repairs or structural work is carried out by the estate’s tradesmen.

The estate is owned by Lady Penelope Bossom and her husband Bruce, who live between the Elizabethan Mansion, Overbury Court and London.

“The estate has a real hodgepodge,” says Marvin. “There is a retired carpenter, cricket journalist, Pilates instructor and retired armed forces personnel. It’s like living in the middle of Thomas Hardy country.”

In 2014, former London residents Debbie and Mervyn King took possession of a derelict barn that is part of the Tissington Estate in Derbyshire.

They sold their B&B business and used the money to renovate Darfield Barn, paying only a peppercorn rent to compensate them for the investment in the property. It will never be theirs, but they don’t care.

“Mervyn has a son from a previous relationship and what’s left will be his. We’re happy about that,” says Debbie, 58.

Former London party girl Angela Egan, 61, is embracing country life in a cottage on Fitzwilliam Estate in Malton, Yorkshire, where she moved to in 2015.

‘My house is beautiful. It has four floors, but it is very narrow with small doors,” says Angela.

‘To reflect that, I’m only paying £800 a month. As a middle-aged woman I have a more social life than in London.’