Northern Quarter

The Northern Quarter is for buyers who want the city on the doorstep rather than a short walk away. Most homes here are in converted Victorian warehouses and textile buildings: high ceilings, tall windows, exposed brick and floors that are rarely quite level.

No two of them are alike, which is the appeal and also the challenge. A comparable sale on the next street may tell you very little, so a valuation here leans on knowing the buildings themselves and what buyers have paid for their particular quirks.

Living here

Independent shops, record stores, bars and some of the city's best coffee are packed into a grid of narrow streets between Piccadilly and Shudehill. Stevenson Square and Thomas Street are the social centre. It is lively at night, which suits most buyers here and is worth being honest about with those it does not.

The homes

Mostly apartments in converted warehouses and mills, with a smaller number of new buildings on infill sites. Original features add real value, and duplexes and top-floor flats with roof terraces are some of the most sought-after homes in the centre.

Selling here

We will walk round with you, tell you what we think the home is worth and why, and point out anything a buyer's surveyor is likely to raise in an older conversion so it can be dealt with first. We photograph warehouse flats in the light that suits them, because a hurried photograph makes them look dark.