OVER 55s looking to downsize to somewhere that offers a more laid-back lifestyle can widen their horizons when the children have left home by moving to Cliveden Village at Taplow.

The 16 acre development is next door to the Astor family’s former 376-acre Cliveden Estate now owned by the National Trust.

When Cliveden is open to the public, villagers have free access to the woodland and riverside walks which otherwise are only open to National Trust members and non members who pay at the gate to go in.

The woodland that belongs to the village is maintained by NT gardeners..

The fundamentals of day-to-day life in the village are taken care of by the estate manager - window cleaning, refuse collection, the maintenance of communal areas, that sort of thing. Concierge services including accepting deliveries are available five days a week “to help ensure residents’ lives are as effortless and stress-free as possible.”

Owners can apply to join the exclusive Cliveden Club (double membership: £5,500 a year plus £1,020 joining fee, single membership: £3,300 a year plus £750 joining fee).

The onsite health and leisure facilities include indoor and outdoor swimming pools, jacuzzi, sauna and steam rooms, gym, an exercise studio, tennis and squash courts - all the amenities of the Cliveden Pavilion Spa.

In any event, residents need never be at a loss for how to fill their time. The calendar is full of social and special interest events open to all.

Seven properties in the village are currently on the books of The Frost Partnership. Each one is different.

Pictured is the most expensive of those for sale through Frost’s Beaconsfield office.

At £995,000 it has three bedrooms and three bathrooms including a master suite with a bank of wardrobes each side of the door to the en suite bathroom.

The ground floor is largely open plan apart from the utility room and separate cloakroom. The overall living area is around 2,500 sq ft.

Other properties in Cliveden Village for sale through this agent are a two bedroom ground floor flat (£405,000), a penthouse with roof garden (£615,000), two other apartments at £635,000 and £695,000 and two more houses, one at £695,000 and a detached house at £850,000 in a different design from the one photographed.

David Wright, the agency’s associate director handling the sales at the Beaconsfield office, can tell you more.