Trading up, trading down

Trading up: Leicestershire. Families can reproduce voluminously in this vicarage, a stroll away from central Melton Mowbray. If you reclaim the three apartments on the upper floors you’ll have eight bedrooms, while downstairs there are four capacious reception rooms with fireplaces, plus a snug and narrow sewing room. A garden room in the 0.66 acres of grounds houses a Jacuzzi tub and two garages and stables offer scope for ambition. Cost: £450,000.
Bentons, 01664 563892 Photograph: Bentons/Bentons

Trading down: East Sussex. Compact Regency grandeur in this £199,950 flat in the centre of Brighton. A bay of full-length windows open the living room on to a balcony from where you can peer over roof tops to the sea. Back inside there is glamour in the polished oak floor, the brick chimney breast and period-style fireplace. The bedroom overlooks the communal courtyard garden and has a fitted wardrobe. Guests can be squeezed into the study.
Halls, 01273 571955 Photograph: Halls/Halls

Trading down: Dorset. Your new life in miniature begins for £170,000 in this two-bedroom cottage in Sherborne. The new kitchen, bathroom, heating, plumbing and wiring leaves you to rejoice in the joys of antiquity: an inglenook fireplace, beams, brace and latch doors, and exposed stone walls. There is a rare and precious thrill beyond the garden: off-street parking. It’s a brief amble to the centre of this handsome abbey town.
Greenslade Taylor Hunt, 01935 813577 Photograph: Greenslade Taylor Hunt/Greenslade Taylor Hunt

Dream home: Pembrokeshire. It calls itself a cottage, but with five beds, three receptions and three bathrooms it underestimates itself. You can absorb the views across Dale harbour and up the estuary to Milford Haven from most rooms, as well as the wooden summer house at the top of the raised back garden. All the rooms are enormous and handsomely refurbished. The house backs on to woodland with sailing, surfing and swimming nearby. Cost: £650,000.
Fine & Country, 01437 762233 Photograph: Fine & Country/Fine & Country

Bargain of the week: East Sussex. This enormity of quaint space is in the seductive village of Sedlescombe. Behind these 16th century walls lurk six bedrooms and four grandly-proportioned receptions, a dining kitchen and a garage. It’s £435,000 because it needs slight cosmetic refreshment, although the welter of beams, fireplaces and leaded windows compensate for any dated décor. It is 3.5 miles to a station with London services at Battle.
Batcheller Thacker, 01424 775577 Photograph: Batcheller Thacker/Batcheller Thacker