LONDON, August 30 /PRNewswire/ --



- ATTN: Manchester Editors

Manchester is named the UK's seventh best city for spacious
properties, new research reveals today.

Based on the average national house price(i), Manchester is
shown to be ahead of some other UK cities, with the average property in the
city providing 122 square metres of room - lower than North West neighbours,
Liverpool, which has 5% more, but a massive 139% 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 nearly half (49%) 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. Over one in five (22%) 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', nearly a quarter (24%) of house hunters in
Manchester 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 over two fifths
(44%) of current homeowners in Manchester are considering building an
extension to add on a few square metres, and almost a tenth (7%) have looked
at splitting one room into two to create the impression of more floor space.

Almost two in five (37%) people in Manchester plan to
redecorate their homes and the same amount would also like 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.