A new emergency has been declared across Greater Manchester this week, and it’s all to do with the private renting sector.
With recent analysis of official figures having revealed that the main reason people become homeless in our region is down to losing tenancies on private rented homes, four leading charities in the region have joined forces to declare a ‘private rent emergency’ across Greater Manchester, and kick off a new campaign this week.
Stepping Stone Projects, Mustard Tree, The Booth Centre, and Shelter Greater Manchester – which are all dedicated to tackling poverty and ending homelessness – have called for “major changes” to help protect thousands of locals at risk of losing the roof over their heads.
Launched to coincide with World Homeless Day, the new Greater Manchester Private Rent Emergency campaign is aiming to address the escalating homelessness “crisis” in our region.
A new private renting ’emergency’ has been declared in Greater Manchester / Credit: Flickr | Wikimedia Commons
Statistics published by Shelter back in January sadly revealed that our region has some of the highest levels of homelessness in the UK, while Manchester itself ranks as third-highest in the country for homelessness per capita, with around 7,407 people – which is equivalent to one in 74 people – experiencing homelessness.
Rents in some parts of Greater Manchester are rising by as much as 38% annually, which is leaving an escalating number households relying on temporary accommodation.
ADVERTISEMENT
The new campaign has been launched by four leading homelessness charities in the region / Credit: Giving Compass
The four charities argue that these worrying numbers been exacerbated by “a perfect storm” of soaring rents, Local Housing Allowance frozen at 2020 levels, the benefit cap, increasing evictions, and, of course, the current cost of living crisis.
This is why they’re calling on local Councils, politicians, and a range of other stakeholders to publicly-recognise the crisis in the private rental sector.
The four charities are also urging these groups to back their plans for reform.
ADVERTISEMENT
The campaign is calling for “major changes” to help protect thousands at risk of losing their homes / Credit: Pixabay | Geograph
Dave Smith, who is the Chief Executive of Stepping Stone Projects – which supports around 2,000 people at risk of homelessness in Greater Manchester – said the charity has seen a “surging demand” for temporary accommodation from local people who have “effectively been shut out of the private rented sector”.
“This must be recognised and tackled if we are serious about reducing homelessness in Greater Manchester,” he added.
Shelter UK’s Greater Manchester Strategic Lead, John Ryan, also echoed this claim, saying that while the charity’s seen “positive steps” to address rough sleeping and homelessness in the region, the remaining problems that we see will “continue to grow without reform of the private rented sector”.
Over the next couple of months, the campaign group says it will be sharing further information and case studies to highlight the extent of the private renting problem in Greater Manchester.
Featured Image – Albert Bridge (via Geograph)
News
Luxury Manchester gym Blok confirms permanent closure after weeks of uncertainty
Daisy Jackson
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure, weeks after the doors to the premium fitness facility mysteriously closed.
Around a fortnight ago, members began to arrive to their classes to find the gym on Ducie Street locked up and a forfeiture notice on the door – but at the time, Blok said that it was fighting to reopen.
Sadly, in an email sent to members today, its founder has confirmed that the studio is now permanently closed.
Blok – which has several very successful sites down in London – said that its relationship with its landlord has ‘broken down to a point where trust has been lost’.
The gym wrote that it’s been left with ‘no workable way forward’.
They said: “BLOK Manchester was a space built by our loyal and dedicated community. Whether you joined us for one class or one hundred, we are deeply grateful. You helped create something genuinely special in an incredible city.”
In the immediate future, they said they’ll be supporting the team of fantastic trainers who worked here, as well as looking after members.
Members will be contacted within a few hours with options and refunds owed.
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure. Credit: The Manc Group
CEO and founder Ed Stanbury said: “While this marks the end of a chapter, we don’t see it as the end of our story in Manchester. We’re already speaking with developers about potential future sites and remain committed to returning to the city when the time is right.
“Thank you for being part of our story so far. Let’s shape the future of wellness. The mission continues.”
Commenting on Blok’s Instagram post – its first in almost a fortnight – people have been sharing their sadness at the closure of its Manchester site.
One person wrote: “beautiful space, beautiful staff and beautiful community.”
Another said: “Sending love to all the instructors !! :(((( gutted”
Someone else commented: “THE BEST CLASSES. I’m gutted.”
‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
Emily Sergeant -
11th October 2023 
