We sold our semi-detached home for £400,000 - and bought an entire village in France

A couple have turned a tranquil French village into a thriving business - with their three holiday homes almost fully booked for summer 2024 - all since selling their three-bed home in Manchester. Stunning video shows what it’s like at the resort - which they say is constantly under renovation.

Liz Murphy, 47, and her husband, David, 55, purchased the historic rural hamlet of Lac De Maison, in Poitou-Charentes, south west France, in January 2021, with the cash they got from their £400k house sale. The couple were both working "busy" nine-to-five jobs in the UK, working in radio and felt as though they were trapped in the "rat race". But after being put on furlough in 2020, the couple realised their dreams of leaving their lives in Manchester, England, and owning their own place in France.

When the couple came across the huge plot of land, they decided to sell them home and move with their two children - Tom, 13, and Charlotte, nine - and Liz’s mum, Helen Diaper, 73, and stepdad, Terry, 73, in December 2020. Liz said: “It wasn’t until Covid came and we were on furlough and we realised we were in a rat race and life was passing us by. We had talked about moving to France for years. We had this sudden feeling to do it and we suddenly did it.”

Mrs Murphy says the ‘nice weather’ and ‘stability’ they feel in France means they are not in a hurry to return to the UK. David added: "We have big plans for the village, we want to continue the renovations and start to improve our house as well. We'd also like to start putting in solar panels and to be self-reliant on energy. None of that would be possible if we still lived in the UK.”