Spotlight on Horwich

WHY: Horwich, with its attractive mix of consistently good schools, excellent transport links, nearby countryside and variety of housing, has always been popular but its profile shot up during the Commonwealth Games when the nearby Rivington Moors were used for the mountain biking and looked idyllic in the sunshine.

Horwich sits at the foot of the moors, spreading out along two main roads running parallel but separated by rows of terraces until they are connected again by a busy main shopping street.

There are lots of local shops and restaurants and some classy individual retailers. They seem to have survived despite the threat of the giant Middlebrook Centre with its mammoth Tesco and big name stores just off the motorway. Here you will also find the regional badminton arena, a hotel and the Reebok stadium, home of Bolton Wanderers.

WHO: There has been a surge of people moving into Horwich for all the reasons mentioned above. Some executive new homes built at Middlebrook sold straightaway but there has also been a good supply of more affordable terraced housing. Search and you can find some good properties here, many with views of the moors. There are also some impressive top end country houses with land.

TRANSPORT: Twenty minutes by motorway and the crammed A580 into Manchester outside rush-hour - substantially more during but you can take the train from the newly-opened stop at Middlebrook for a 20-minute journey into Victoria.

SCHOOLS: Rivington and Blackrod High gets 52 per cent of pupils through five or more GCSEs A-C and St Joseph's RC High 69 per cent.

AGENT'S VIEW: Keith Lancaster, a partner with Lancasters' estate agents, said: "Like most places Horwich has seen incredible price rises over the last 12 months. Five years ago I would never have predicted that you would get six figures for a terrace but that's happened.

"There is still big demand at the bottom and middle sections of the market but I would say the top end is more difficult. There is a huge resistance above £250,000 because people resent having to pay the government almost £8,000 in stamp duty for nothing. Sellers in this bracket who think they can up the price by 10 per cent every six months are just not being realistic, not all sections are seeing the same increases. There needs to be a re-alignment of expectations."

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