A BUS garage in is to become a housing estate in the latest move to turn the neighbourhood into a property hotspot.

Manchester council bosses have just authorised the purchase of the old Princess Road depot in Moss Side.

The council has been locked in talks with Stagecoach for years about the site - built in 1909 - which has been getting in the way of development plans.

It is likely that high-quality three and four-bedroom eco-friendly homes will be built on the land. However, development won't begin for at least two years because Stagecoach will be able to keep using the depot until they have built a new one in Sharston, Wythenshawe.

Council bosses hope developments like this will keep families in Moss Side once they outgrow the two-bed terraces and rented properties that make up most of the area's housing stock.

The move is also part of a wider scheme to attract more home-owning families to inner-city areas.

Around 450 eco-friendly homes are being built at Manchester City FC's former Maine Road ground.

The development has helped increase the value of local homes.

Last year, the M.E.N. reported how nearby terraces are now worth four times what they were in 2001. And. in another boost for the neighbourhood, the Little Alex development in Hulme won an M.E.N. Residential Property Award in the `sustainable home' category last October.

A primary school is going to be built at Maine Road, with its intake formed by a merger of Bishop Bilsborrow and St Edward's schools.

This will free up the Bishop Bilsborrow site, which is next to the Stagecoach bus depot, for more housing.

The council is also considering developing the Bowes Street area, also near the bus garage, which has more than 200 of Moss Side's most rundown terraces.

Council leader Sir Richard Leese said: "The Maine Road development has helped establish real momentum for improvements to housing quality and choice in Moss Side.

"We now have a unique opportunity to further broaden the housing market."

Stagecoach says the sale of the depot will cause no disruption to services.