Family loves spacious home at Coppice Heights after relocating to Derbyshire for change of lifestyle

Olufemi Ogunlusi, has moved into a new three-bedroom house on Bellway’s Coppice Heights development in Ripley with his wife Adeola, his 10-year-old son Bolu and six-year-old daughter Bukunmi.

The family moved from a rented apartment in Southend, near his previous workplace at Southend University Hospital, and have bought a home in Bellway’s The Lacemaker house style, which is a three-storey property with its main bedroom on the top floor.

“It’s so spacious,” said Olufemi, “Though it’s a three-bedroom house, it feels more like a four-bedroom one.”

Olufemi and his family are completely new to the area, having chosen to move here after making an important and life-changing decision about the type of work he does and the kind of lifestyle they wanted for their family.

“I like primary care and being the first point of contact with patients, but post-pandemic, I lost the flair for A&E. I wanted something less stressful, something in a better routine and to have more time for my family,” he said.

Now he is training for the role of GP and he will be working at different practices in Derbyshire as he completes his GP studies.

The family began the search for their new home in March last year, and within a few weeks found Coppice Heights.

“We searched around Derbyshire and when I came across Coppice Heights and Bellway Homes, I was happy with the quality of their products, and the house fitted into my budget.

“At Coppice Heights they’ve got nice house designs and reasonable pricing. And when we saw the show house, I thought the quality of finish was remarkable.”

One of the reasons they were keen to buy a new-build house was because they wanted to make decisions on how it looked inside in terms of fixtures and fittings in the kitchen and bathroom.

“If you are early enough in the process you can make those choices,” said Olufemi.

And having reserved their home at an early stage, that was possible. He added: “Being able to choose these things for yourself is very good.

“Bellway were offering good quality and a reasonable price, and they did the flooring with a discount.”

Reserving early also meant they were able to follow the construction of the house over the months, and the family found this an interesting and exciting process.

They moved into their home on 16 October last year and are enjoying living there.

The Lacemaker style is designed over three floors, and features a large living/dining area at the back of the house with French doors leading out to the garden, as well as a separate kitchen.

On the first floor there are two double bedrooms, one of which has an en suite shower room, and there is also a family bathroom. On the top floor is the main bedroom, which has an en suite shower room and a dressing area.

Having two en suites and a bathroom as well as a downstairs cloakroom was a big selling point in the design. And Olufemi says he enjoys having a spacious bedroom on the top floor with the children’s rooms occupying the floor below.

The family have been getting to know the area, visiting the town centre, and going to church, and are planning to explore more this summer.

“Ripley is not too far from Derby so I was happy to be within 20 to 25 minutes’ drive of where I will likely be working.

“I like the outlook of the houses around here. When you drive into the development there’s a very good view. It’s lovely and it’s tastefully designed; it’s spacious and very welcoming and relaxing. It’s a very quiet environment, even though construction is still going on.

He praised sales advisor Lucie Flewitt. “Lucie did a great job, she was exemplary. She was always giving me updates and showed great empathy.”

And after moving in, the on-site team were quick to deal with any issues. “It’s been a good customer experience and they have been quick and responsive,” he said.

“It’s always a great thing to be a first-time buyer, to have a house and have some equity. Besides having the comfort and space we have, it’s also a financial investment. I planned for a year before we bought it, and it’s a dream come true. We come in and feel at home.”

A selection of three and four-bedroom houses are currently available at Coppice Heights, with prices ranging from £264,950. To find out more, visit https://www.bellway.co.uk/new-homes/east-midlands/coppice-heights or call the sales team on 01773 730542.