LONDON, August 30 /PRNewswire/ --



- ATTN: Sheffield Editors

Sheffield is the UK's second best city for spacious
properties, new research reveals today.

Based on the average national house price(i), Sheffield is shown
to be head and shoulders above almost all other cities, with the average
property in the city providing 129 square metres of room - a massive 153%
more than a same-value property in London.

Instant Access Properties, the country's largest
property-sourcing company, audited 15 locations across the UK(i) to see where
the best returns are for living space.

The full results of the audit are as follows:

    1. Bradford    149 sq. m
    2. Sheffield   129 sq. m
    3. Glasgow     129 sq. m
    4. Liverpool   128 sq. m
    5. Birmingham  125 sq. m
    6. Leicester   124 sq. m
    7. Manchester  122 sq. m
    8. Newcastle   120 sq. m
    9. Leeds       118 sq. m
    10. Belfast    116 sq. m
    11. Cardiff    112 sq. m
    12. Bristol     98 sq. m
    13. Edinburgh   90 sq. m
    14. Brighton    78 sq. m
    15. London      51 sq. m



The importance of living space to the city's homeowners is
also clear with more than half (52%) of local homeowners saying they are fed
up of small and pokey properties, according to the 'Price of Space'
report(ii) by Instant Access Properties. Nearly one in five (17%) also said
they had made a compromise on living space when they purchased their current
homes.

Whilst the mantra for prospective buyers has long been
'location, location, location', more than a quarter (28%) of house hunters in
Sheffield said they would forego a house in the vicinity of good schools,
transport links and amenities, just to have a bit more room.

Pierre Williams, Head of Communications for Instant Access
Properties, comments: "Our research shows that living space is becoming an
increasingly important factor in the house-buying decision. The fact that so
many people are considering moving home to get more space speaks volumes.

"The squeeze on living space has been greatly exacerbated by
planning policy which has strongly encouraged the building of smaller homes
in order to reduce land use for building. That's why we put together the city
buyers' guide as part of the report - to give house hunters an idea of the
best locations in the country for living space."

Pamela Brown, former property expert for ITV1's GMTV, added:
"We live in a constantly expanding world, and our property requirements
follow this format accordingly. The bottom line will always be value for
money and quality of life, but as circumstances change, people are not solely
driven by the locality of a property to their place of work.

"So size does matter, especially for the changing family unit.
Teenagers now want more of their own room to accommodate computers and music
systems, while the increase in working from home has also brought about the
need for 'office space' in the home."

The 'Price of Space' report also revealed that two-fifths
(38%) of current homeowners in Sheffield are considering building an
extension to add on a few square metres. And a tenth (10%) have looked at
splitting one room into two to create the impression of more floor space.

Over two-fifths (42%) of people in Sheffield plan to
redecorate their homes, and over a third (36%) want to refurbish their
kitchens.

(i) Using average house price (GBP198,915) and regional cost per square
metre from Halifax House Price Index

(ii) Instant Access Properties commissioned YouGov to speak to 1,430
British homeowners in August, 2007

Notes to Editors:

Instant Access Properties has more than 8,500 members and has sourced
more than GBP550m in quality residential property over the last 12 months.
Instant Access Properties members have consistently been the largest buyers
of new build property in the UK, Florida and Spain investor markets.