'We bought a house on a hill with stunning views and turned it into our dream family home'

Some people plan on moving homes based on a change in income, living situation or life event, whereas for others it can be a spur of the moment decision. For one couple in Greater Manchester, an impulsive choice was what led them to building their dream family home.

Gareth, 39, and Laura, 41, stumbled across a desirable property in a Tameside town which then gave them the bug to relocate. The couple, who have two sons, ended up buying a 1930's house on a hill and transformed it as part of a huge extension and renovation project.

Gareth spoke to the Manchester Evening News as part of our Where I Live series. Each week we chat to a different homeowner across the north west about their buying and renovating journey; and take a look around to see how they've made their home their own.

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Gareth, who bought his first house in 2006 before buying a property with his partner Laura, said: "I sold my first house just before the property crash, so I ended up selling it at a bit of a loss. We then bought Laura’s aunties house together in Stalybridge.

"We lived there for a while, and then about four years ago around Christmas we were out for a pub lunch and as we were walking home we saw a house that we thought was nice.

"We noticed that it had been up for sale for a while, so we thought we’d make a cheeky offer on it and see if we got anywhere. Although we didn’t, that then started the bug for us wanting to move."

The couple put some offers in on a number houses but they weren't successful. They then came across this one in Stalybridge - but Laura wasn't so keen.

"This one came up which I loved but Laura wasn’t really up for it at first, it was a bit of a big