The three bedroom Croy turned out to be a perfect choice

Alan and Katy were looking to leave the busy Central Belt and move to the countryside and found the perfect Springfield property to suit their needs.

Having been based in the Central Belt throughout the pandemic, we were looking for a change. With a new build in mind, we had initially started looking throughout the Central Belt and Fife. We were seeking value for money and a location that would really improve our quality of life. That’s when we set our sights on Forres.

As soon as we travelled up, we saw the Springfield homes – we were really impressed, and it felt like you were getting much more space to live in. My wife had a look at the design specifications, and our overall impression was that you were getting more quality without overpaying and a lot of extra space for your money.

For someone who grew up in the Central Belt and lived their life in big cities, it now feels like living in the countryside, but we’ve still got the town on our doorstep with coffee shops and pubs. At the same time, you’ve got the ability to take a 26-mile trip to Grantown-on-Spey. We’re about half an hour to Inverness, Inverness Airport is a ten-minute drive away, and Elgin is ten minutes on the other side, but you’re literally stepping out the front door and you’re in the countryside.

We’re in the Croy, a three-bedroom detached bungalow with a sunroom. It turned out to be a perfect choice as I would never really have thought of having a sunroom, but it’s nice as it opens up the living room and you’ve got the garden on three sides. We’ve got sofas in there and you can just crash out, do a bit of reading, or gawp at the stars.

My wife does a lot of home working and I’m a bit of a bookworm, so we’ve converted the middle bedroom into a home office and library. It’s a nice, cosy, comfortable space to be in, and it’s the perfect size. Having looked around at a few new builds, storage was a major issue in others we had seen. It’s lovely to be able to have more than your basic furniture in the house. We’re using the room at the front of the house for our bedroom – we’ve got big windows that look out onto the road, but there’s nothing there except the woods, so we’ve got a lovely view.

I’ve bought four properties in my life, and this was by far the easiest purchase. It was the most straightforward in terms of the buying process, and the ease of moving. When we arrived, there was a lovely welcome pack and we got talked through how everything works. I’ve bought new builds before where you’re dashing around to get ready, but with Springfield, it felt like we had much more flexibility. We got the keys quite early because we had people coming in to do the flooring and were able to get moving quickly. That’s the bit you look forward to – moving in and making everything yours.