Town's 'unprecedented' property boom

Huddersfield is a 'boom town' for estate agents

Eager house buyers are causing a property boom in an unlikely West Yorkshire town, it has emerged.

The rush to buy new properties in Huddersfield has been described as "totally unprecedented" by an estate agent.

Potential buyers queued for their chance to buy one of the apartments in a £20m conversion of a former foundry and mill in the town.

Estate agent Knight Frank sold 52 out of 57 homes in 1535 The Melting Pot in three hours - making it is the fastest selling development in the UK.

Julian D'Arcy, partner at Knight Frank in Leeds, said: "This kind of demand was seen at the height of the market in the main cities, like Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle.

"However, it is completely unprecedented for any of the provincial towns in the north of England.

More conversions planned

"With the level of reservations which were made in such a short space of time, we believe that 1535 The Melting Point in Huddersfield is currently the UK's fastest-selling residential development."

Mr D'Arcy said the demand showed that city centre apartment living was now starting to be exported to town centres.

And he added that more conversions were planned of run-down warehouses and old cotton mills in former mill towns like Huddersfield and Dewsbury.

The apartments in Huddersfield, which has more listed buildings than Bath, have sold for between £87,000 and £199,000.

Textile boom

The town, which is situated on the edge of the Pennines between Manchester and Leeds, boomed during the textile industry.

The period produced some of its finest buildings, including the railway station and the town hall.

In 1920, Huddersfield Corporation purchased the Ramsden Estate, which included almost all of the town centre.

It meant Huddersfield became know as the "town that bought itself".