Spotlight on Partington

WHERE: Ten miles south west of Manchester, reached via the Carrington spur off the M60.

WHY: Originally a small rural town, a lot of council housing was built to accommodate overspill from Manchester. The approach through the refineries and chimneys of Carrington is not the prettiest and the town's main shopping centre is a neglected homage to the sixties.

But all this is about to change. A brand new medical centre is under way and Costello Developments is negotiating a deal to revamp the shopping centre in return for permission to build houses.

Because this is one of the few areas in Trafford where residential development will be allowed and already developers are prowling. There are several large houses in the area with land that would be ripe for redevelopment. Newbury Homes has just sold half a dozen three-bed semis off-plan and more schemes are in the pipeline.

Plans are in to build apartments on the site of the King William pub and the boarded-up Greyhound pub is likely to become housing. But plans for a waste transfer station just down the road are creating some uncertainty.

WHO: Historically people had little choice about whether they wanted to live in Partington - it was simply where the council housing was. The housing market was pretty flat with only locals looking to buy. But the last 12 months has seen an increasing number of people from surrounding areas buying here to simply get on the property ladder. Anyone who bought their council house made a good investment. A three-bedder was worth £55,000 a year ago but will sell now for £75,000.

TRANSPORT: Not the best transport links, with the nearest train stations at Irlam or Sale. The road access can be difficult with only one main road in and out. The Manchester Ship Canal hems it in to the north and it is ten minutes to junction 8 of the M60.

SCHOOLS: The local high school, Broadoak, gets 22 per cent of its pupils through five or more GCSEs at grades A to C.

AGENT'S VIEW: John James, of James & Wright, said: "When we opened here two years ago people said we would be lucky to last three months. Few people were selling and even fewer buying but now it is a different story. Prices have gone up 25 per cent in the last 12 months and demand just keeps on growing. A modern two-bed mews went overnight for £84,500 and we had a queue of people wanting to buy it. We cannot get enough properties on our books. The supply just cannot meet the demand here now and it is not just people who are already in Partington, people are moving in from other areas, particularly first-time buyers who can afford to buy here. Its previous bad reputation is subsiding and there is a lot of investment coming in. Its image is changing, it is on the brink of a development boom and people are realising this. If they changed the name from Partington to Warburton Chase it would be boom time!"

RESIDENT'S VIEW: Tracy Harden, with her daughters Rachel and Stacy, said. "I moved here from Eccles six years ago and we had a rough time for a while, lots of trouble and shootings. But it has calmed down now they have moved the bad ones out. I have eight children, five of them living at home and the schools are brilliant: good on discipline and attendance. They need to improve the centre and give the kids something to do. We have to take the girls to Flixton to go to a dance class because there is nothing round here and if we didn't have a car we would be lost. We have a four-bedroom council house but properties are getting too dear to buy for us now."

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