Manchester has been named among the best places in the UK to buy your first home in 2025.
There’s no doubt the property market in our region has been booming over the last decade or so, with average house prices seeming to rise year-on-year, and more and more areas becoming viewed as the places to live.
You may remember that one Greater Manchester area was recently named a ‘property hotspot’ for 2025 by Rightmove based on last year’s data, while not too long ago, neighbourhoods such as Bramhall, Broadheath, and Bowdon were identified as being the places where houses prices were shooting up the most.
Another recent national ranking by Savills singled-out two of our region’s neighbourhoods as being some of the ‘most desirable’ Britain has to offer.
But this time round, it’s the city itself getting its chance to shine.
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Manchester has been named one of the most in-demand places to buy your first home / Credit: Benjamin Elliott (via Unsplash)
Rightmove has compiled a list of what it believes are the top 10 best areas in the UK for first time buyers looking to get their foot on the property ladder in 2025 – and Manchester has made the cut right near the top.
Rightmove analysed the 50 highest-populated cities in Great Britain to see where first time buyers are looking to settle down in the most this year.
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Manchester takes second place on Rightmove’s list though, with average asking prices just below £211,000, with Edinburgh following closely behind in third at £251,000.
Top 10 most in-demand UK areas for first time buyers 2025
Glasgow
Manchester
Edinburgh
Leeds
Sheffield
Liverpool
Birmingham
Bristol
Nottingham
Southampton
But it’s Glasgow that has been named Britain’s most in-demand city for first time buyers.
Here the average asking price for a typical first time buyer property in the city is £148,979, which is significantly below the national average first time buyer asking price of £228,551.
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Overall, Rightmove says the data from this year’s analysis shows a trend of first time buyers looking towards northern cities, with five of the top 10 locations situated in the north of England, considering Leeds takes fourth place with an average asking price of £182,420, while both Sheffiled and Liverpool round out the top six.
Birmingham, Bristol, Nottingham, and Southampton complete the list, with Bristol having the highest average asking price among the top 10 at just above £283,000.
Featured Image – Mylo Kaye (via Unsplash)
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Heartbreaking new figures show 35% of all children in the North West are living in poverty
Emily Sergeant
35% of all children in the North West are currently living in poverty, some heartbreaking new figures have revealed.
Some new research carried out to understand regional levels of child poverty, conducted by Loughborough University for the End Child Poverty Coalition, has sadly revealed over a third (35%) of all children in the North West are living in what is called ‘relative poverty’, after the cost of housing is considered – which is higher than the national average standing at 31%.
Over in the Lancashire authority of Pendle, this figure reaches 45%, making it the second highest rate of all local authorities in the country.
In Greater Manchester, both Oldham and Manchester join Pendle in the list of the 10 council areas with the highest child poverty rates in the UK, as well as Blackburn with Darwen, and Hyndburn, and to make matters worse, the North West features on the list more times than any other region nationwide.
Rusholme was identified as the Manchester area with the highest percentage rating – with more than half (51.3%) of all children there living in poverty.
88% of constituencies across the North West have a quarter of children in poverty.
This could lead to things like families being forced to use food banks, children going without warm clothes in winter, or living in cold or unsafe housing.
As a result of these shocking statistics being revealed, the End Child Poverty Coalition – which represents more than 135 organisations across the UK – is calling on the Government to meet its manifesto commitment to address these high levels of child poverty, not just in the North West but also across the rest of country.
“These figures should demonstrate to Government just how important it is to quickly address this so to prevent another generation of children from growing up in low-income families,” commented Rachel Walters, who is the End Child Poverty Coalition Manager.
“The Government’s strategy to tackle child poverty must invest in children in areas with higher levels of poverty, like the North West.”
Graham Whitham, who is a End Child Poverty Coalition spokesperson and the Chief Executive of Resolve Poverty, added: “No child should go without the things they need to be healthy and happy.
“The Government’s forthcoming national Child Poverty Strategy must demonstrate a clear ambition to ending child poverty in this country, backed by specific targets and immediate investment in social security.”
Featured Image – RawPixel
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Manchester’s ‘busiest’ road to close for annual safety checks this weekend
Emily Sergeant
Manchester’s ‘busiest’ road is set to close this weekend while annual safety checks are carried out, it has been confirmed.
As Manchester City Council looks to maintain and improve what is, by far, one of Manchester’s busiest and most-used roads, given the fact it is the main thoroughfare in and out of the city centre, it has been confirmed that Mancunian Way is set to close overnight this weekend for its annual inspection.
Carried out every year, the Council explains that these closures ensure that ‘vital’ safety inspections can be conducted to allow the major road to continue operating as normal.
The overnight closure will take place from 7-8 June.
From 5am on Saturday (7 June), Mancunian Way will be closed in both directions along its entire length, including all slip roads, between the Chester Road roundabout and Fairfield Street, and this will last until 7pm on Sunday (8 June), after which the road will be open to traffic again as normal.
In the meantime while the closures are underway, the Council assures that a signed diversion route will be in place via the north and eastern ring road sections – Trinity Way and Great Ancoats Street – and a local diversion route will be signed via Bridgewater Street, Whitworth Street West, Whitworth Street, and Fairfield Street.
Manchester’s ‘busiest’ road Mancunian Way is closing for annual safety checks this weekend / Credit: Pixabay
During this period there will also be a lane closure east/westbound at the Deansgate Interchange between 6:30-9:30am, and the inbound lane of Princess Road (heading towards Manchester) between 6:30am and 11:15am.
As is to be expected with these kinds of tasks, Councillors say they are preparing for a ‘level of disruption’ but are intending to keep it to a minimum.
“The annual inspection of the Mancunian Way is a vital job which ensures that the tens of thousands of daily users of this road can go about their journey in safety,” explained Councillor Tracey Rawlins, who is the Executive Member for Clean Air, Environment, and Transport.
“We do expect a level of disruption throughout this process so wherever possible we’d advise people to travel via public transport, or plan an alternate route ahead to avoid the work locations.
Emily Sergeant -
14th May 2025 
