New year, new relationship, new home? Brian Page looks at properties ready for partners…

“I SUPPOSE,” one of my drinking pals said this week, “you will be doing your normal miserable January stuff about couples getting divorced, separated and all that.”

A trifle harsh, but it did make us think. Have I been an unduly Gloomy Gus? I mean the statistics speak for themselves. January is a prime time for relationship breakdowns. Pressure of Christmas and all that… True, then. But a bit depressing all the same.

So, by way of a difference, here is a more optimistic note – what about all those young (or not so young) people who decide to make a new start in the New Year by setting up home together.

Have we got some love nests for loved-up types?

Well, not sure about the love nest bit but here are some ideal homes for couples moving in together.

Starting with a cracking contemporary townhouse in Regency Mews, off Tadcaster Road. This is a small, select modern development handily placed for the city centre and the A64 and commuting routes.

The property itself offers an entrance hall, cosy and inviting lounge and a dining kitchen to the first floor while above there are two double bedrooms and a family bathroom.

It’s all very nicely presented and has the advantage of a good garden to the back and two allocated parking spaces. You get the white goods but you need to find the rest of the furnishings (which means you can get it just how you want it). It is offered by Linley and Simpson at a rental of £750pcm.

Our next pick is another wellplaced, contemporary home, this one a second floor flat in Arncliffe Mews, an established development in Fulford, within walking distance of the city centre (if you’ve got good legs) and on a good bus route (while Fulford itself has plenty of local amenities in the shape of shops and surgeries and pubs).

Offered unfurnished, the property has a smart lounge, good-sized, characterful, kitchen with integrated appliances including fridge/freezer, oven and hob. There is a double bedroom with wardrobes, a second double bedroom, large storage cupboard and a fully-tiled bathroom. This one is on the books of Ashtons at a rental of £695pcm.

“Perfect for a young couple,” is how the Ashtons team describe our next offering, an unfurnished terraced house in Calvert Close, Haxby. We liked the style of this one, it is beautifully presented internally and looks very smart.

The lounge, for instance, is tastefully decorated and has wood-effect flooring and an attractive feature fireplace surround with inset modern fire. There is a nicely fitted kitchen with handsome wall and base units and contrasting worktops and has an oven and gas hob included.

On the first floor there is a double bedroom with fitted wardrobes, a single bedroom and a house bathroom.

And if you are looking forward to the arrival of Spring you can imagine it sunning up the gardens to front and back. A driveway and garage complete the package, for which Ashtons are seeking £675pcm.

Coming closer to town we find a newly-decorated and recarpeted apartment in Escrick Street, Fishergate, very much within walking distance of the city centre. Here there is a lounge, a kitchen kitted out with fridge/freezer, new electric oven and hob and a new washing machine. There is a double bedroom and a bathroom and an allocated parking space completes the picture.

Letters Ltd are seeking £550pcm.

The same letting agent, meanwhile, can offer two examples of good staple stock in the form of an attractively presented pair of period townhouses.

The first is a completely refurbished and tastefully presented mid-terrace town house in Falconer Street, Holgate. Here you will find a goodsized reception room, newly-fitted dining kitchen and ground floor bathroom and two double bedrooms upstairs (one with fitted wardrobes).

There is a rear yard with covered area for bike storage. Rent is £625pcm.

And then in our last but definitely not least spot comes a spacious home in Walpole Street, off Haxby Road, handy for any number of locations from the city centre to the hospital and Nestle.

This is another home which has been given a once over and has been newly-decorated throughout. There is an entrance hallway, a sitting room, separate dining room, kitchen with gas cooker and two double bedrooms and an upstairs bathroom.

The rental here is £650pcm and interested parties, as with the property above, should contact Letters Ltd.