Spotlight on Lymm

Lymm Water Tower

WHY: Five years ago this idyllic village, which hadn't changed much for years, witnessed a housing explosion.

Land was released for development and around 800 new homes have been built since. More are on their way bringing an influx of new people, many from out of the area.

It's not hard to see the attraction with its traditional high street, wonderful old buildings and the Bridgewater Canal running through its centre. Lymm also has its own high school and a clutch of good primaries.

TRANSPORT: Close enough to both the M6 and M56 for road commuters but the trek into Manchester can be tortuous. No mainline station, although a short drive takes you to Altrincham with its Metrolink stop.

AGENT'S VIEW: Glynn Davies from Gascoigne Halman said: "The initial surge of house building put pressure on local services but that seems to have settled down now and it has opened up the market.

"Before all the new-build there had been a shortage of properties available in Lymm. People wanted to move up but could find nowhere to go but now there are houses available, although up until late last year demand was still outstripping supply.

"It is hard for first-time buyers here - an average-size cottage is £130,000 and closer to the village centre on say, Pepper Street, more like ??150,000. Living close to the centre is a big plus point. After a very quiet first four months the market has picked up again but the biggest interest is always in older houses that need renovating.

"They create a huge flurry of potential buyers."

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