So how does York rate, Kirstie?

KIRSTIE Allsopp and Phil Spencer have made their names as the engaging TV duo with an uncanny ability to sniff out property bargains in TV's Location, Location, Location.

Tonight, however, they will be turning to altogether more controversial territory - using their knowledge of the property market to compile what they claim will be the definitive guide to the best and worst places to live in the UK.

The pair have travelled the country to find the most sought-after and least desirable postcodes. And in The Best And Worst Places To Live In The UK (Channel 4, 8pm) they will be revealing their findings to the nation.

The results are being kept secret until tonight - although some details have leaked out. We know, for example, that Harrogate and Stratford-upon-Avon do well - and that Salford, Easington in County Durham and Hull probably don't. "Let's just say we'll not be winning any brownie points from John Prescott!" says Kirstie.

Not a squeak could be prised out of the programme-makers about whether York was included in the top ten (or, indeed, in the bottom ten), but we did persuade them to reveal the criteria on which the rankings will be based. There are five key categories: crime, education, employment, environment and lifestyle. Using these as a guide, we've done our own bit of research as to whether York as a place to live is hot or not.

Education

Channel 4 took the percentage of 16-year-olds getting five or more GCSEs or equivalent as their marker. On that basis, York scores well: last year, 56.6 per cent of pupils in York received five or more A*-C GCSEs, compared with a national average of 53.7.

Carole Runciman, the city's executive member for education, waxes lyrical about York's schools (as you'd expect). The education authority was ranked as one of the top in the country by Ofsted following its last inspection. "So we know that we are giving our young people a good start in life,"Coun Runciman says.

The good news is that it is not only the council saying this. "I think that in York we're very fortunate," says Lindsay Johnson of the York branch of the teachers' union NAS/UWT. "I hear about the experiences of teachers in big city schools, and no matter how bad teachers sometimes feel in York, I don't think many of them have the kind of experiences a lot of teachers have."

So our schools are good learning and teaching environments - and when they do have problems, the support from the council is good, Lindsay says.

Does she think York is a good place to live?

"Are you joking? I think it is a wonderful place!"

Our rating: 4/5

Employment

The percentage of economically active people in employment is the key criterion here.

In these days of increasingly centralised bureaucracy, it is hard to get local figures for York itself. Not even Andrew Cambridge, manager of Future Prospects, York's learning and work advisory service, has them to hand. "But I know that York is pretty good generally speaking," he says. Yes, there has been a decline in major manufacturing jobs in industries such as carriage-making and chocolate, but job opportunities in tourism, finance and science and technology generally make up for that. The fact that York is a very pleasant place to live helps by attracting employers.

York is not necessarily a good place to be a graduate, however. Because the city is such a nice place to live, Andrew says, there tends to be a lot of competition for graduate jobs in fields such as teaching. Those retraining after being made redundant from a skilled manufacturing job may also have to settle for less money than they were earning before, even if they do find new employment, he admits.

Our rating: 3.5/5

Environment

Sunshine, rainfall, access to open spaces and the general quality of the environment are key here. You may not believe it, but according to Gareth Harvey of the PA Weather centre, York and the Vale of York do pretty well when it comes to weather.

OK, Yorkshire may be colder than the south - and winds off the North Sea may bring with them a fair bit of snow in winter. But we're in the shadow of the Pennines, so westerly winds off the Atlantic tend to drop much of their rain there (or further west in the Lake District and Manchester) rather than here. Much of the cloud cover is also broken up by the time it gets across the Pennines, so we are quite sunny, too.

As for the environment - in what other major city in the UK could you go for a 13-mile walk and only spend one mile of it walking along the road, asks Stephen Whittaker, York council's local nature reserves officer? He did that with his family recently, joining up Hob Moor, St Nicholas Fields and Clifton Backies. He used to live in Warrington and we probably don't realise how lucky we are to have the country coming right into the heart of the city in the way it does, he says.

York's architecture and history speak for themselves. Just one word of caution. Mick Phythian, chairman of the York Natural Environment Trust, says York needs to beware of falling victim to its own beauty. It is such a pleasant place that lots of people want to come and live here: meaning the city is always in danger of over-development, he says.

Our rating: 4.5/5

Lifestyle

Plenty to see and do if you love history, museums, good pubs, good restaurants, decent theatre and beautiful old buildings.

There is also glorious countryside - the coast, the moors, the Dales - on our doorstep. The sheer number of visitors who return after a first visit - 78 per cent, according to Gillian Cruddas of the York Tourism Bureau - is proof enough of what a nice place this is.

But there is that famously quiet period between shops closing and the pubs getting into full flow. And some say our nightlife doesn't stack up when compared to Leeds.

There are younger people who go to Leeds for a night out, Gillian Cruddas agrees. "But maybe younger people tend to come to York for different reasons."

Magdalena Chavez, who runs both El Piano restaurant in Grape Lane and local York publishing house Endpapers, doesn't agree that York's nightlife is lacking.

The Quarter (the name given to York's Grape Lane, Back Swinegate and Little Stonegate area) is great for dining, dancing and street entertainment, she says - and sets a great example for the rest of the city to follow.

Calls for the city to be even more continental are perhaps a bit unrealistic, she says. "We're in northern Europe and, excuse me, it is a bit cold!" But she thinks we do pretty well.

Our rating: 4/5

Crime

Yes, OK, anyone reading the pages of the Evening Press will be aware that we do have problems with anti-social behaviour, and sometimes a bit of drunken yobbishness in the city centre (heard of the Micklegate Run, anyone?).

We do have our share of shocking and serious crime, too - such as the quadruple killing committed by Mark Hobson last year.

We are still pretty lucky on the whole, however. According to Home Office figures, crime in York was down 19 per cent in the year to June 30. Admittedly, violent crime was up - but that was mainly down to changes in reporting, insists Jane Mowat of Safer York Partnership.

"All in all I would say that York is a safe place," she said.

"Compared to other cities we do not suffer the same numbers of crimes and in particular we have not suffered from the serious gun-related and violent robbery offences that other cities, such as Manchester and Leeds, have experienced."

Retired former police chief Jim Kilmartin basically agrees. Perhaps the most telling thing about crime in York is that visitors are never worried to come, and come back, he says. "That seems to show that it is a very safe place."

So would he rate York in the top ten places to live in the country? "Absolutely. I would say the top."

Our rating: 4/5

:: York may be a nice place to live, but it's getting harder to sell houses,

reports Mike Laycock.

PROPERTY sales in York have fallen by more than a quarter, official figures revealed today.

Just over 800 properties were sold in April to June in the City of York Council area, compared to more than 1,100 in the same three months of 2004.

But at the same time, the average price of property in York rose faster than the country as a whole - from £164,186 in the second quarter of 2004 to £181,830 this year.

The figure for York is now only £3,000 below the national average of £184,924.

The figures, revealed by the Land Registry, are reflected in figures for North and East Yorkshire.

In North Yorkshire, only 2,329 properties were sold in the second quarter of this year, compared to 3,347 in the same period last year. The average price of property rose from £181,815 to £191,581.

In East Yorkshire, the number of sales dropped from 2,128 last year to 1,509, with the average price rising from £140,309 to £145,645.

Estate agents in the York area said the fall in sales reflected a national trend.

Edward Waterson of Carter Jonas, who is York area spokesman for the Royal National Institution of Chartered Surveyors, said the market had been cooling since it peaked in about May last year.

"It's time for a correction in the market. Property has become expensive and interest rates, while still historically low, are a little bit up."

He said investment in the buy-to-let market had cooled, as buyers could no longer look forward to substantial immediate returns.

He pointed out that York's price rise of more than the national average showed there was a "certain resilience" in the city, reflecting that it was one of the most favoured locations in the North for people moving home.

Reuben Barrett, managing director of York estate agency Otisdale of Micklegate, said there were still plenty of buyers around - it was just that there were even more sellers.

In June and July, he added, Otisdale sold - subject to contract - its highest number of properties ever.

Updated: 09:02 Tuesday, August 09, 2005