Barnsley Wood Rise, Newhall, Essex, CM17

The kitchen tells you what kind of home this is pretty quickly. High gloss units, dark granite worktops, track lighting and a full height oak framed door that opens directly onto a garden that catches sunlight throughout the day, properly, from morning through to evening. There's room for a real dining table, a side window that floods the whole space with light and on a decent day the door stays open and the boundary between inside and out just stops mattering. It's the kind of kitchen you spend time in rather than just pass through.

The living room at the front is calm and well proportioned, carpeted, good light, nothing that needs doing. The downstairs W/C is tucked away neatly, which matters more than people give it credit for until they haven't got one.

Upstairs, both bedrooms are genuine doubles. The main has fitted wardrobes and its own en-suite shower room finished in marble effect tiling. The second is a proper room in its own right. The family bathroom is genuinely one of the nicest spaces in the house, full bath, overhead rainfall shower, floor to ceiling marble effect tiling, heated towel rail and recessed lighting. It photographs beautifully and it feels it in person.

Step out from the landing and you're onto the sun terrace, outdoor space sitting above the parking below. It serves the whole house rather than being locked behind one door, which in practice means you use it more, not less. Morning coffee, evening drinks, or just somewhere to sit outside without going downstairs. Two parking spaces sit underneath. A gated side passage connects front to back without going through the house. The garden is a good usable size, lawn, patio, shed and it gets sun all day.

This one is ready. You'd know it the moment you walked in.

Newhall is worth talking about separately because it genuinely isn't like most places in Harlow or most places in Essex for that matter. It was designed from the ground up with a level of architectural ambition that you don't often see in residential development. The streets have a character to them. The houses look like someone actually thought about what they were doing. It's the kind of neighbourhood where people tend to stay longer than they planned to.

For families, the practical side stacks up well. There's a primary school within walking distance, David Lloyd leisure centre also within easy reach, green open spaces that children actually use and a neighbourhood that feels safe and unhurried in a way that's hard to manufacture.

For commuters and professionals, the location is quietly excellent. Harlow Town station puts London Liverpool Street well under an hour away, Cambridge is directly accessible and Stansted Airport is practically on the doorstep, genuinely useful whether you travel. Old Harlow and Harlow Town between them cover everything day to day, supermarkets, restaurants, leisure facilities, the lot.

Guide Price 400,000 to £425,000