A semi-rural retreat in Leeds

Rosemary and Daniel Rubie are enjoying making the most of their new cosmopolitan lifestyle in Leeds New Forest Village after having relocated from the countryside of North Yorkshire.

The couple have recently moved into a new four bedroom, three-storey Meldon townhouse at The Gateway, a new development of house and apartments from Bryant Homes.

Although unsure about leaving behind the picturesque setting of their North Yorkshire home, both Rosemary and Daniel have jobs which require them to spend a lot of time on the road.

47 year old Rosemary is an occupational health advisor for a global food company whilst Daniel, 49, runs his own business, Rubie Consulting Ltd, and both felt they were spending far too much of their time commuting to West Yorkshire.

With both their daughters at university the Rubies decided the time was right to move further south to be closer to the motorway network, and they felt that Leeds New Forest Village was an ideal location because of its semi-rural setting and convenience for the M1.

Rosemary comments: "I think it would have been too much of a culture shock moving from the countryside into the city, but this area gives us the best of both worlds. The development is very peaceful and is surrounded by acres of woodland with two lakes and parks nearby and yet it's also close to shops, bars and restaurants.

"We are both extremely happy here because life is so much easier for us. Everything we need is close by; we're only five miles away from the city centre and a few minutes drive from the White Rose centre and the motorway, so we've got everything on our doorstep. And for the times when we don't want to drive, there are plenty of buses."

The Rubies bought a three-storey, four bedroom Meldon house at the development. They had originally planned to buy a small detached house, but Daniel persuaded Rosemary to have a look at a three-storey town house, and she says as soon as she'd seen it she was smitten.

"I couldn't get over how much extra space a three-storey house gives you," says Rosemary. "Even when our daughters and their friends are here, the house is laid out in such a way that we never feel on top of each other."

The three-storey Meldon townhouse features a large kitchen with breakfast area, and a study on the ground floor, two bedrooms, a bathroom and a spacious living room on the first floor, and the master bedroom with en-suite shower room, and fourth bedroom on the second floor.

Rosemary comments: "The house has a lovely spacious feel and it's very practical; I spend a lot of my time on the ground floor, Daniel uses one of the rooms on the top floor as his study and the girls used the middle floor, so we meet in the middle."

The couple used Bryant's Market Mover scheme to move, whereby Bryant managed the sale of their existing property while guaranteeing a price for their new home. Bryant brought in two estate agents to give a valuation and the Rubies chose which agent they used.

Rosemary comments: "The scheme took all the stress out of moving house. Bryant kept us regularly updated on how the sale was going, and we had our first offer within two days! Since we've moved in we've also been impressed with the service we've received from the staff on site. Any issues have been addressed immediately and everything's been dealt with in a very professional manner."

For more information, log on to Bryant.co.uk.