The city centre penthouse with many added extras

Price: £995,000

Contact: Contemporary Apartments, tel: 0113 244 6457, www.contemporaryapartments.com

When professors Terry and Pamela Rabbitts relocated from Cambridge to Leeds they first stayed in a serviced city centre apartment while they took to hunting for a house in the outskirts.

“We had lived in a Victorian house before and we were initially looking in Roundhay for something similar,” says Pamela.

However, the benefits of city living soon became apparent and the couple, who are both cancer research scientists, plumped for a penthouse at the Quays.

“We decided that we fancied a complete change though we struggled to find a flat that suited us because most of them don’t have enough storage. When we viewed the this we could see immediately where all our stuff would go. It had plenty of storage. The only thing we struggled with was the word penthouse. We had never seen ourselves living in a penthouse.”

The couple, who are both in their 60s, lived there for more than five years and say that although they were considerably outnumbered by young professionals, it offers a fantastic lifestyle for the older generation.

“It is brilliant if you have a busy life. One of the best things for us was the concierge, who could sign for parcels and deliveries or let people into the flat without us having to be there. It’s like a hotel in that way.

“Having the shops, restaurants and the theatre on the doorstep is also wonderful.”

The apartment is high-spec, fitted out by the previous owner with no expense spared and exacting attention to detail. It includes bespoke fitted furniture, hand-painted wallpaper, hand-carved doors and a number of high-tech features including a sophisticated lighting and sound system, air conditioning and remote control blinds.

The penthouse has a large entrance room, utility room with fitted cupboards, a cloakroom, a large open plan living space with sliding doors onto a terrace with river and city views, a master bedroom with sunken bed, walk in storage and en-suite bathroom and a second double bedroom with en-suite, plus two underground parking spaces.

The professors have moved to Oxford to continue their work in cancer research and say they will miss the apartment.

“We loved living there and loved the energy of the city centre, ” they say.