Couple make a country retreat; new homes: Parents-to-be pick rural location for family home.

Byline: Raymond Hainey

Aeronautical engineer David Bennett reached for the stars after he and wife Emily decided to escape to the country in search of more space.

The couple wanted to move from their one bedroom flat to a larger rural home because they have a baby on the way.

But they raised their sights from a three bedroom semi to a four bedroom detached home after checking out some great deals available if they moved to a rural area.

David, 29, said: "We've now got a huge amount of space - but we're going to need a lot of that quite soon with a baby on the way. We've had two new builds before, but this is easily the best built and finished we've had so far."

David and Emily, 29, a fundraiser with Glasgow youth theatre group Toonspeak, swapped their flat in the city suburb of Newton Mearns for their spacious Gleneskstyle detached home at Dickie & Moore's Hapland Mill development in the village of Dunlop in Ayrshire.

David said: "I work in Prestwick, so it's not hard to get to work, while Glasgow isn't far away by motorway. We got a lot more for our money by moving to Ayrshire. For a child, the village setting will be really great.

"Emily was worried about being isolated but is delighted now she's here."

The couple also took advantage of Dickie & Moore's Easimove scheme, which meant the firm marketed their existing property, paying estate agent's fees and advertising costs and also paid money towards their legal fees.

David said: "We're really happy with the firm and I'd recommend them."

Hapland Mill features a range of three bedroom semi-detached houses and four and five bedroom homes, priced from pounds 189,500. For more information, call 01560 483689 or visit www.dickieandmoore.com

CAPTION(S):

Spacious kitchen and four bedrooms are perfect for an expanding family to grow into David and Emily love village life