Spotlight on Preston

WHERE: Thirty miles north of Manchester, take junction 31 off the M6.

WHY: Finally accorded city status last year Preston has always been ambitious with its own fast growing university, revitalised docklands area, busy town centre, museum and theatre. And there is more to come. The ugly bus station will soon be bulldozed and a new one built closer to the shopping centre on land between Avenham car park and Fishergate. That will free up a big piece of land just off the ring road, which, if the Tithebarn Masterplan gets the final go-ahead, will become new housing, shops and offices. To the south of the city good motorway links make it attractive to Manchester commuters with the areas of Brindle and Hoghton having some of the most expensive housing in Lancashire.

WHO: As the city has grown so has the pressure on housing with many big new estates built in the suburbs to try and satisfy the demand for family homes, especially in the traditionally desirable areas of Fulwood and Penwortham. More recently, fine old buildings in the centre have been converted into apartments with prime spots around the green of Winckley Square. Prices here reflect the standard and exclusivity, with one apartment on the market coming with a price tag of more than £500,000. Seven years ago the university had an accommodation crisis so bad they had to lodge students in the nearest Pontins. Speculative landlords descended buying up anything they could to rent out but since then new purpose-built blocks have been built and anyone looking to be a student landlord here has probably missed the boat with current supply outstripping demand. First timers can still get a foothold with terraces affordable at around £65,000.

TRANSPORT: Good motorway links but the rush hour queues to get off the M6 and up the hill into town can be a nightmare. There are good park-and-ride schemes both north and south of the city aimed at cutting congestion. Preston has a main line station with direct services to London Euston.

SCHOOLS: Wide range of schools with wide range of results, the best, like All Hallows Catholic High School, getting 82 per cent of pupils through five or more GCSEs at grades A-C.

AGENT: Richard Garside from Garside Waddingham & Pinder said: "We have had a very lively last 12 months and do not see any immediate signs of a slow down. The most noticeable thing is the lack of properties around. We sell everything we get on. There are a lot of applications in to build apartments around the city centre and there is a demand, often from investors from Manchester and Liverpool. If all the applications in get built I think that will be enough to satisfy demand. In a strong market the big money tends to move further out to the more rural villages. The plans for the town centre are exciting and will be good commercially for Preston."

RESIDENT: David Jackson said: "I have lived here for the last 20 years and it has really developed and improved and deserves to be a city. It has everything Manchester has - even its own Heathcotes restaurant -but on a better scale. We own our house and its value has doubled, which is obviously great but everything else has gone up as well. And I am not sure about all the new estates. Some of them are too big. We have raised our family here and the education has been really good and there is also lots to do, sports centre and stuff and the theatre. You don't need to go to Manchester."