On the face of it, Richard and Debbie Macgregor's home has everything that a “late” middle-aged couple nearing retirement could want. It is a converted 16th-century barn, beautifully modernised inside and chocolate-box pretty outside, in the Lambourne Valley, Berkshire. The village, Boxford, is handy for the fiftysomething couple's work - Debbie is the wardrobe supervisor at the nearby Watermill Theatre in Bagnor and Richard runs a company in Great Shefford, just down the road. Yet it is also quite isolated and distinctly rural - the kind of place most traffic-tormented urbanites would die for. So why are they planning to move five miles into the fringes of Newbury? “Because after 27 years we want a completely different lifestyle,” Debbie says. “The countryside is fine but we'd like to be able to forget the car and walk into town for a meal or for the theatre, without having to worry about getting a taxi home. Newbury has decent shopping, there's a cinema on the way and the French market is good.”

According to the agent Savills, moving from the countryside to town is increasingly common among people of the Macgregors' age. “Many people approaching retirement don't fancy the idea of living in country villages at all,” Marcus Dixon, of Savills Research, says. “There isn't enough there to interest them, whereas many towns have been given dramatic facelifts over the past ten years or so. Places such as Tunbridge Wells, Guildford, Redlands in Bristol and Cheltenham have all had a considerable influx of people from outlying areas.”

When the Macgregors moved to Boxford in 1981 the village had a shop and a primary school and everyone in the village knew everyone else. “Sunday morning was always a drinks morning at someone's house,” Richard says. “Now there isn't the same spirit. Second-home owners have moved in and most of the other newcomers are commuters who work long hours in London.”

Lack of amenities in the sticks is a broader social issue. Only last year the Commission for Rural Communities (CRC) pointed out that nearly 233,000 people in rural areas have to manage without a post office, bank, building society or cash-point near by.Pubs and shops are closing and now, with the price of petrol touching £1.20 a litre, the cost of driving considerable distances to get the basics of life is proving prohibitive. Perhaps the most alarming figure to come out of the CRC research is that only 44 per cent of households in isolated rural areas are within easy reach of a GP.

This is the factor that has caused Ann and Mike Horton, aged 69 and 77 respectively, to sell their five-bedroom home in the hamlet of Rowhook, five miles from Horsham, Surrey. The couple have lived in the house for eight years, building on two conservatories and renovating the attic to make a dormitory for their grandchildren. But now tending to the 1-acre garden is proving too much and Mike's arthritis is a worry. “The nearest doctor is in the next village and that is a fair distance away,” Ann says. “You can feel very vulnerable and cut off out here if you know you could need medical help at any time. So we'll be moving into Henfield or Cowfold in West Sussex, both of which are pleasant country towns.”

Marcus Dixon sees a bright side to the situation. “Everybody knows that there is a strong demand for bigger, family-sized homes,” he says. “But there is a log-jam caused by older people living in them, even though they are too big for their needs. Spiralling petrol prices and owners needing to release equity may be just what is needed to bring more of these larger country homes to the market.”

Fast facts

The top dozen areas for quality of life in the UK are all in the South East or East of England, according to a ranking of local authorities by the Halifax.

They are, in order: Wokingham, South Buckinghamshire, Chiltern, Surrey Heath, Hart, Elmbridge, Waverley, Tandridge, Wycombe, West Berkshire, South Cambridgeshire, St Albans.

The Macgregors' home is for sale for £925,000 with Jackson-Stops & Staff , 01635 45501

The Hortons' house is for sale for £865,000 with Browns , 01483 267070

Times recommends

• Second homes: credit crunch casualty or money-spinner?
• How I built my own sliding house
• Top 10 incentives for house buyers