Barry and Elizabeth Moughton, who are 76 and 75, had always planned to downsize, but getting rid of their belongings still came as a shock. “We got rid of a third of our furniture and tons of paperwork,” Elizabeth laments. “Barry made 45 trips to the tip.”

The Moughtons would have liked to have taken everything with them but they are downsizing from their home of 44 years - a five-bedroom detached house with a large garden - to a two-bedroom new-build flat, pictured right, just down the road, in Westhumble in the Surrey Hills. “We've collected a lot of beautiful Edwardian furniture in our marriage, but there just won't be room for it in the new place.”

Barry, a retired solicitor, and Elizabeth have both been involved in local council and community work for years and have lived in and around Westhumble for more than 50 years. So when they decided that their family home had become unmanageable because of their age, they wanted to stay near by. “I have arthritic knees and don't care much for the stairs any more,” Elizabeth says. “The house has been useful for Christmas but I can't cater for three children and eight grandchildren any more.”

Their new home is a ground- floor flat in Cleveland Court, a gated development of 15 two and three-bedroom homes, with views of Box Hill, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

At 1,465 sq ft, the flat is spacious, with bay windows and a private garden. The development is built on the site of a former Royal School of Church Music and has been designed in a similar Georgian style, with one property retaining one of the original walls. “In a way it's the best of both worlds. We've got 19th-century features like cornicing and sash windows, with modern insulation and a more efficient living space,” Elizabeth says. The flat, which the Moughtons reserved off-plan, cost them £625,000. Their current home went on the market at £1.25 million in May but they took it off after an offer was withdrawn and plan to rent it out.

They are nervous about living at such close quarters with their neighbours, but say that it makes sense at their age because help will always be at hand. Elizabeth adds that couples often move too late: sometimes a partner dies and the other one has to downsize on his or her own. “Both Barry and I cleared houses for our parents, and we want to make sure our children don't have to do the same thing.”

Cleveland Court is due for completion in January. For details go to savills.co.uk or twist.uk.com .

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