That’s because Manchester has just been ranked one of the ‘most desired’ places to live in the UK in 2024 – especially when it comes to relocation.
Manchester named one of the UK’s ‘most desired’ places to live / Credit: Mangopear Creative (via Unsplash) | Manchester City Council
Whether you’ve landed a new job, you’re craving better weather, or you’re just looking for a change of pace, we all know there’s loads of reasons to relocate to a different city – but which locations are the most desirable of them all? In a bid to figure this out, the home insurance team over at Compare the Market decided to do a bit of research and devise a list.
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To do this, they looked at the average monthly Google search volumes for terms relating to living and moving to different locations.
And Manchester’s made it into the top 10.
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UK’s top 10 most desired places to live in 2024
London
Derby
Stoke on Trent
Birmingham
Liverpool
Wolverhampton
Bradford
Manchester
Newport
Sunderland
London ranks as the number one most desired city to live in the UK, and is followed closely by Derby,Stoke-on-Trent, and Birmingham, with our fellow North West neighbours Liverpool rounding out the top five.
Bradford and Sunderland are some of the other Northern cities featuring in the top 10.
The city’s new title is all according to a new study by Compare the Market / Credit: Roger Kidd (via Geograph)
“Relocation is an exciting adventure, but careful planning is key,” explained Anna McEntee, from the home insurance team at Compare the Market, as the top 10 list was revealed this week.
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Sharing tips for anyone looking to relocate in the future, Anna continued: “Make sure to thoroughly research the area you’re interested in, and consider factors like commute times and proximity to schools and amenities. You should also set a realistic budget that includes hidden costs like moving fees, potential repairs, and home insurance.
“Additionally, you may want to consider extending your home insurance coverage with accidental damage insurance or apartment insurance to make sure your property and belongings are protected from any unforeseen events.”
Featured Image – Manchester City Council
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Manchester Airport issues update for anyone flying today after hundreds of cancellations yesterday
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Airport has issued an update for anyone catching a flight today after hundreds of cancellations yesterday.
In case you hadn’t heard, hundreds of flights at several major UK airports – including Manchester Airport – were disrupted by a technical fault at air traffic control provider National Air Traffic Services (NATS) yesterday (8 September 2026), with the incident grounding planes and resulting in numerous cancellations.
According to Flightradar24, more than 1,000 flights were cancelled nationwide, and many passengers were told to expect disruption for the rest of the day.
One of the worst-affected airlines was said to be Ryanair, with around 65,000 passengers affected by the cancellations and delays.
Manchester Airport issued its first statement addressing the matter at 3:15pm yesterday, stating: “We are aware of an issue affecting NATS’ air traffic control service at UK airports, which may result in delays to some departing flights from Manchester Airport today.
“Passengers due to travel are advised to check the latest status of their flight with their airline. We will continue to monitor the situation and share further updates as more information becomes available.”
Now, although the issue has been resolved, Manchester Airport has issued further statements informing anyone travelling today what they can expect.
The airport started off by saying that it is ‘operating as normal’ today, but that passengers are advised to ‘check with their airline for the latest information’.
“A full flight schedule is expected to operate [today] but the airport may be busier due to rescheduled flights,” it added.
Passengers were then thanked for their ‘patience and understanding’ over the past 24 hours.
Featured Image – Ivan Shimko (via Unsplash)
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Hundreds of staff at four Greater Manchester hospitals to strike AGAIN next week
Emily Sergeant
Another round of strikes has been called at a handful of major Greater Manchester hospitals.
Amid ongoing disputes following the first set of strikes at the end of last month, it has now been announced that more than 350 Northern Care Alliance Foundation Trust (NCA) employees – including nurses, clinical support workers and housekeepers – who are members of the union UNISON will once again walk out for three days next week.
According to the union, the dispute centres on the NCA’s use of an outside agency called NHS Professionals (NHSP) to manage overtime.
When covering staff shortages, workers are entitled to time-and-a-half pay – however in some cases, staff earn less than they would on a normal shift, and some have even been missing out on more than £80 per shift, the union added.
Operating theatre staff were previously on picket lines in June, and although an option to resolve the row was initially tabled by NCA bosses, this has now fallen through.
Hundreds of staff at four of Greater Manchester’s hospitals are set to strike next week / Credit: Stephen Andrews (via Unsplash)
This means that staff at Salford Royal Hospital, Royal Oldham Hospital, Rochdale Infirmary, and Fairfield Hospital in Bury are walking out next week on Monday 14, Tuesday 15, and Thursday 17 September.
The union’s North West regional organiser, Kevin Dolan, said the trust had given ‘no indication’ that it’s willing to re-enter negotiations, adding that operating theatre services were ‘chronically under-staffed’ and staff were choosing to work extra shifts to cover shortages.
Ahead of the August strikes, the trust declared a critical incident to help it secure extra support and keep urgent surgery running, while also announcing that some procedures would have to be postponed.
Understandably, some disruption is expected at each of the hospitals on strike days.
But Gertie Nic Philib, who is the chief people and strategy officer at the Northern Care Alliance, said that the trust will do ‘everything we can to minimise the impact on patients’ and ‘maintain high standards of care and quality at all times.’
“We also have contingency plans in place for emergency situations,” they concluded.
Emily Sergeant -
6th June 2024 
