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Manchester has been named one of the UK’s top property hotspots for 2026

If you needed a sign to put your house on the market, maybe this is it...

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 5th January 2026

Manchester has been revealed as one of the most-searched places to move to in the UK according to annual data.

Every year, leading property listing website, Rightmove, takes a look at all the cities, towns, and residential areas across the UK where people searched for homes to live in most, and puts together an interesting top 10 list.

From the suburban neighbourhoods and coastal escapes, to country communities, overseas destinations, and everything in betweeen, Rightmove has been digging into the numbers and trends to see where house-hunters dreamed of moving to the most last year, and found that this year’s trends tell ‘an interesting story’.

New build houses
Manchester has been named one of the UK’s property hotspots for 2026 / Credit: James Feaver (via Unsplash)

Property experts say this year’s ‘hotspot’ list is shaped by lifestyle changes, shifting priorities, and economic influences that are reshaping demand.

As was to be expected, major cities dominated UK property searches in 2025.

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London continued to ‘lead the way’ as the country’s main urban hub, with close to 10 million people calling the English capital home currently, meaning it, unsurprisingly, claimed the top spot when it came to area searches – but Manchester wasn’t very close behind.

Top 10 most-searched UK cities on Rightmove 2025

  1. London
  2. Manchester
  3. Glasgow
  4. Bristol
  5. Edinburgh
  6. York
  7. Bath
  8. Cornwall
  9. Liverpool
  10. Sheffield

Our city claimed second place on the list, with several other major northern cities featuring in the top 10 too, including York, Sheffield, and Liverpool.

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Glasgow is third on the list, while Bristol and Edinburgh rounded out the top five.

“Our review of the year spotlights some of the most popular trends from 2025,” explained Rightmove’s property expert, Colleen Babcock.

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“With billions of minutes spent on Rightmove each year, we have a unique window into the nation’s passion for property.”

Featured Image – Mylo Kaye (via Unsplash)