Manchester’s rental market is crazy, with rent prices still climbing ever-higher – but there are still some cheap flats to be found around the city centre.
According to Rightmove’s rental price data, the cost to rent a property has increased 11.6% across the north west from last year.
It means that the average rental price in Manchester is now a little over £1000 a month – ouch.
In fact, if you want to live in the city centre, you’ll struggle to find anything costing less than £800.
There are a few options left though, with one company advertising cheaper, more affordable flats from just £659 a month, right in the heart of Manchester.
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The properties listed with Manchester Apartments are geared towards students and professionals who are looking for a fairly high-spec apartment without paying the eye-watering prices you find elsewhere.
There is definitely a catch though. These pads might be modern and aesthetically pleasing, but they’re also on the compact side.
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As in, you will be sleeping in arm’s reach of your oven…
Manchester Apartments is advertising some of the city’s cheapest flats right now. Credit; Rightmove
But still, for those of us who hate the thought of shared accommodation – you know, fighting over who gets the middle shelf in the fridge, or whose turn it is to take the bins out – these seem pretty ideal.
They’re also priced along the same lines as shared flats in Manchester’s student halls (and anyone who remembers Oak House can vouch for a navy blue wall being a bit nicer than a mint green breeze block).
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There’s a range of studio flats up for rent in a few buildings in the city centre, so you could be calling Princess Street, Great Ancoats Street or Granby Row your new home.
Take this particularly good-looking studio, for example. Yes, you can fry and egg and make your bed while sitting in your dining room, but it looks like a pretty cosy den for £719 a month (and a damn sight cheaper than a similar home in London).
That one’s right by the canal in the heart of the Piccadilly and Ancoats area too, an area that was recently voted one of the coolest places to live by Time Out.
There’s also this Granby Row studio with massive windows at £797 a month, and this Princess Street pad where you might end up with beautiful views of the Kimpton Clocktower building.
Council Tax in Manchester could be raised to support the city’s ‘poorest households’
Emily Sergeant
Manchester City Council has laid out plans to potentially raise residents’ Council Tax to help support the “poorest households” in the city.
Councillors are proposing that, under the city’s current Council Tax Support scheme, the amount owed by a household is reduced by up to 100% for pension-age residents with the lowest incomes, and up to 82.5% for working-age residents with the lowest incomes from April 2024 – with the maximum reduction for working-age residents increased by 2.5% to 85%.
This means the maximum that those eligible for support would have to pay is just 15% of the bill, according to Manchester City Council.
At the same time, it’s being proposed that rules allowing reductions to be backdated, in instances where someone “has a good reason not to have claimed sooner”, are extended to allow up to a year’s back payments, rather than up to six months as is currently the case.
With the proposals all laid out, a consultation has been opened and residents living in the Manchester borough are now being asked for their views.
The Council is proposing changes to the Council Tax Support scheme that would provide more support for Manchester residents.
The Council Tax Support scheme currently provides around one fifth of Manchester households with help paying their Council Tax, but it’s estimated that these proposed changes would cost the Council around £770,000 in 2024/25.
This proposed raising of Council Tax also comes after the Council revealed earlier last month that £50 million in funding will go towards upgrading and improving social housing in Manchester over the next two years – with thousands of tenants living in social housing and Council-owned residential complexes across the city and wider borough set to benefit.
Residents in these properties are set receive what is being dubbed “transformational investment” to their homes before 2026.
Council Tax in Manchester could be raised to support the city’s ‘poorest households’ / Credit: Archello / Rockpanel
“We are acutely aware that some residents are really struggling due to cost of living pressures,” admitted Cllr Rabnawaz Akbar, who is the Executive Member for Finance at Manchester City Council on the proposals, “and this is why we’ve already introduced a range of measures to help people access food, advice and support.
“As part of this wider response, we want to go even further to help the poorest households in Manchester with their Council Tax, and that’s what these proposals are all about.
“We’re keen to hear your views on what we’re suggesting before we make a final decision.”
The online consultation on the proposals is now open and runs until Sunday 12 November, and you can have your day here.
Featured Image – gov.uk
Property
The Manchester business busting mortgage myths and helping Mancs buy homes
The Manc
A business that wants to make mortgages and buying a house more friendly and approachable has recently expanded to Manchester.
Sett Mortgages, founded in 2021 by Elliot Benson, provides free advice and support throughout the home-buying process.
They specialise in helping first-time buyers, promising to ‘hold your hand’ throughout, from starting your house hunt to getting your keys, and beyond.
And as anyone who has tried to get on the property ladder for the first time will tell you, it can be daunting.
Elliot spotted a gap in the market for a friendly, approachable and easy to understand mortgage brokerage.
Elliot Benson from Sett Mortgages. Credit: SuppliedSett Mortgages wants to help Mancs buy homes
He has worked in property for 10 years, and is a two-time British Mortgage Award Nominee and one time finalist.
And now Sett Mortgages offer a start-to-finish service where they’ll narrow down thousands of mortgage options and badger all the banks to find you the cheapest deal possible, help with all the legal bits, and even catch up after your house purchase completes to answer any final questions.
All that with no broker fee and no hidden costs at any time, and one point of contact throughout.
Sett Mortgages wants to bust some mortgage myths and help everyone from first-time buyers to remortgagers to have the least stressful house-buying experience possible.
Five common mortgage myths busted by Sett Mortgages
The bank I use will give me the best deal! – Not true, they treat you as a new customer and will only offer you what they offer everyone else. Always shop around!
You need a 10% deposit to buy a house – Not true, if you have been renting over a year you don’t even need a deposit, otherwise you can use anything from 5% upwards
I’m self employed, it’s really difficult to get a mortgage – Nope! As long as you have been self employed at least a year, we can get you a mortgage
I need three payslips to get a mortgage – Nope, as long as you have a contract you can get a mortgage, even without your first payslip
Rates are really high at the moment! – Actually fixed rates are coming down even though the base rate has been going up
Daisy Jackson -
21st July 2023 
