GILLIAN Sanderson almost can't believe her luck. "I've got a view of the Minster!" she says, standing at the window of her smart, spacious new kitchen. "I didn't imagine I would have that."

Thomas, her two-year-old son, isn't interested in the view of the Minster. What he loves is having his own bedroom - and a little garden, where he can zoom his remote-controlled car up and down to his heart's content.

After their cramped council flat off Hull Road, Gillian and Thomas's new flat at Poplar Tree Gardens, on Sixth Avenue, Tang Hall, is like a dream come true. There's so much space, Gillian points out. And it's true.

The ground floor flat has a generous hallway, off which the other rooms open. The kitchen is light and airy, with a large window, pale wood fitted units, and a dining table in the corner. Members of her family who have been to visit are already green with envy, Gillian says.

Then there is a good-sized lounge, with french windows leading out on to the small private garden that Thomas loves so much. The flat is completed by two bedrooms, each with a built-in wardrobe, and a nice, modern bathroom decorated with dolphins.

It's only ten days since Gillian and Thomas moved in, so there is still an 'unfinished' feel to the flat. Gillian's sofa hasn't arrived yet: and the hall floor hasn't been covered. But it's obvious that this is going to be a comfortable family home - and far more spacious than most 'social' housing for people on council or housing association waiting lists.

"I'm very pleased," Gillian says, showing us around proudly. "There is so much more space than I imagined there would be, and it gets a lot of light. The morning light at the front, and the afternoon light at the back."

What you wouldn't imagine for a moment is that this spacious, pleasant flat began life as two metal boxes on an assembly line.

But Poplar Tree Gardens isn't just any block of flats. They're the first modular, steel-framed assembly-built flats anywhere in the UK outside of London. And they were built by York firm Yorkon - a subsidiary of Portakabin - at its factory in Huntington.

From the street, the flats present an imposing, clean-cut modern appearance, with their front-to-back pitched roof, western red cedar cladding and prominent balconies.

Arranged in an L-shape around a landscaped courtyard, there's an electronic security gate for access to the car park and bike sheds, and a similar electronic security lock to control entrance to the flats themselves.

On the inner corner of the 'L', there is a modernistic, perforated aluminium stairway/lift shaft, and behind the bike sheds the row of mature poplars that gives the development its name.

There are 24 flats here altogether, a mixture of one, two and three beds, with one 'supported living' flat set aside specifically for people with disabilities. Each flat is built from two steel 'modules' laid side by side and has its own wood-decked balcony or, for ground floor flats, a small fenced garden.

Amazingly for a development of this scale, it has taken just 14 months from drawing board to completion of the entire project. And, says Yorkon project manager Kevin Jones, disruption to neighbours was kept to a minimum.

Because the modules were built in the factory - complete with plumbing, electrics, doors, windows, bathrooms, kitchens and tiling - it took only ten days or so to crane the flats into place on site and stack them up to make the block that is Poplar Tree Gardens.

Then it remained only to add the access walkways running round each level, the steel and timber balconies, the cedar cladding, and the stair tower. The speed with which the flats were put up on site naturally led to less noise, mess and disturbance for those living nearby.

Yorkon believes the new modular flats could be the housing of the future. Not only are they quicker to build, they're better quality, too, since they're factory-engineered to a high standard. There are none of the problems of waste, delay and inefficiency associated with too many building sites, the interiors of the flats are never at any time exposed to the elements - and maintenance costs are minimal.

Architects Cartwright Pickard, which designed the overall look of Poplar Tree Gardens, and City of York Council and the Yorkshire Housing Group - parent of Ryedale Housing Association - which commissioned the flats, have already declared themselves delighted with the way they have turned out.

The real proof, though, is in what they are like to live in.

Cue Gillian and Thomas.

"This kitchen is just brilliant," Gillian says, sitting at the table. "It's a real family room. And because of the electronic security entrance, it all feels very safe. I've got no regrets at all about coming here."

Thomas is too happy playing with his car to comment. But that's probably comment enough in itself.

Updated: 09:09 Saturday, March 16, 2002