How to buy a city pad for £100,000

ACCORDING to one property expert Manchester city centre is in danger of becoming a Yuppie ghetto populated only by rich professionals with first-time buyers and families frozen out by price.

While facilities may have to arrive in the city before families move in, there is no doubt that many young people would rather live where they work and play than trek home to the suburbs - if only they could afford it.

Sam Lesley works in Stockport but decided to buy in Manchester because he spends all his leisure time in the city. He now commutes against the flow of traffic from his £110,000 Castlefield apartment and saves a fortune on cabs home.

Trainee solicitor Jenny Kaye spent last summer looking to buy a place in the city for under six figures and almost gave up. She said: "I was very surprised at just how much they were. I looked at all the schemes from the Northern Quarter to Castlefield and was very demoralised. I went to Bellway's City Gate development at the end of Deansgate and while I loved the apartments the cheapest one-bedroom was £120,000.

"I had given up when Bellway rang me and said they had an apartment at their other development, City Point on Chapel Street that was within my budget."

She has paid £98,250 for a 560sq ft one-bedroom apartment overlooking Trinity Way which will be ready in late summer. She said: "I would advise anyone looking to make friends with the sales people. I told the girl at City Gate my plight and she remembered me when they released the next phase at City Point which was just brilliant. I am already buying furniture and keep driving past to look at the progress."

Manchester city council chief executive Howard Bernstein has already made it clear that more schemes offering lower priced homes are needed for the city's continued success and future projects like Red Bank in Cheetham Hill Road will increase choice.

But what can you buy in the city for under six figures now?

Well, there are still a couple of one-bedroom apartments left on the second floor at City Point 2, one at £94,950, the other at £96,950.

The best bargains in brand new developments come when you buy off-plan and each new release of the big schemes usually include some smaller, lower-priced units - even Countryside's prestigious Edge development just a couple of hundred yards away from City Point had one studio apartment for sale for £99,000. So make friends with the sales teams to find out release dates.

Some of the most interesting buys currently are in the old cotton warehouses on Princess Street. The nature of these Grade II-listed buildings mean that room heights are huge, windows impressive and foyers and stairwells often ornately tiled.

Persimmon has just completed Asia House, connecting two century-old buildings around an open atrium to make 94, 1,2 and 3 bedroom apartments with some car parking underneath. Prices here are under £200 per sq ft, with one-bedroom apartments on the first floor on sale for £99,000 and more on higher floors just over the magic £100k.

Further up the street close by Chinatown is the Arthouse, the first refurbishment in Manchester by Urban Edge, a company which has already made its mark in Leeds city centre.

Here English Heritage has insisted they retain all the original features from the ornate cantilevered stone staircase with its wrought iron railings to cast iron columns and detailed ceiling beams and many of the walls have been stripped back to bare brick.

The 42 apartments range from a three-storey triplex with terrace to two live/work spaces on the ground floor with their own front doors and should be ready by July. The development is right next door to the City Art Gallery and a commercial art gallery is planned in the Arthouse itself.

A studio crashpad with deck area that can either be used for storage or sleeping costs £92,000 complete with fold-down bed and built in wardrobe space. Other old warehouses like Whitworth House and Bombay House which were converted about six years ago still offer affordable city centre pads. Agents Thornley Groves have a nice, very light one-bedroom apartment on the first floor at Whitworth for sale at £94,950 and across town towards Piccadilly a ground floor studio for a bargain £77,950 in Kingsley House.

Britannia Mills was the first scheme to be done by Urban Splash at Castlefield and anyone who bought here has made substantial profits. You can still just about buy into this award-winning scheme for under six figures. £99,950 will get an imaginatively-planned apartment with bed deck area and terrace on the ground floor and use of the gym.

And it is worth checking out older schemes in the city like Granby Village and Piccadilly Village for re-sales that may need some updating but can be a good first base. But check out the service charges and make sure you can afford fees of around £1,600 a year to maintain the gym and pool and see if any major refurb projects are planned. Jonathan Martin, senior sales negotiator with Suttons said: "Anything around the £100,000 mark will sell straight away. One-bedroom flats are the best value for money, usually bought by couples, both earning, so it makes it very affordable."

They have a very small, around 300sq ft, one-bedroom flat for sale in Bombay House for £91,950

Manchester's inner ring road is the key to lower values - buy inside the ring and you will pay more for the privilege, buy outside and you will get more for your money.

Take the Parkers Hotel development. It may be on the wrong side but is yards away from city landmarks like Urbis and the Printworks. There were queues down the street when agents Knight Franks opened sales for apartments, which started at under £70,000. You can still reserve here for under the magic £100k - £99,950 will get you 409sq ft on the 7th floor but they will not be ready until mid 2004.

Several large schemes at Ancoats across the busy Ancoats Road are due to come to market soon, including Carol Ainscow's redevelopment of a huge mill in Pollard Street. The Northern Quarter has a character all its own and the first two apartment schemes in the ambitious Ician redevelopment have now sold.

Next up is the Design House, again being done by Crosby, and, even though building will not start until next month and it will be a year before you can move in, £99,950 will buy you a one bedroom 439 sq ft apartment.

On Oxford Road North Wales-based Watkin Jones is developing The 8th Day Cafe, creating a new restaurant on the ground floor while above are one and two-bedroom apartments starting at £84,950 aimed head-on at first time buyers.