Wigan has been named among the top 10 places in the UK for affordable rent prices.
The Greater Manchester town ranked number seven on the list compiled by online property website Zoopla – which released the findings in its quarterly rental market report this week.
Statistics revealed that UK rents outside of London are up 3% overall – the highest level of growth in four-and-a-half years.
Rents are rising fastest in the North East and the South West, where values are up year-on-year by 5.5% and 5.3% respectfully.
The list of places considered ‘most affordable’ meanwhile is dominated by towns in the north of England.
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The Top 10 Most Affordable Places to Rent in the UK
Percentages denote the amount of household income spent on rent.
Burnley – 16.30%
Hull – 18.70%
Grimsby – 19.20%
Blackburn – 19.30%
Barnsley – 20%
Stoke – 20.10%
Wigan – 20.20%
Bradford – 20.40%
Middlesborough – 20.50%
Sunderland – 20.60%
Wigan was named one of the most affordable places to live / Image: Flickr
Renter demand was also revealed to be up by 5% in central Manchester in the month since Easter.
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In other trends, demand for private outdoor space has continued – with the proportion of renters searching for properties with gardens doubling since before the pandemic.
Speaking on the findings from the quarterly rental market report, Gráinne Gilmore – Head of Research at Zoopla – said: “Elevated levels of demand in the wider UK market, amid constrained supply, will continue to underpin rental growth this year [and] the increased availability of mortgages for those with lower deposits may result in more people leaving the sector to buy their first home through 2021,
“But the wider economic uncertainty will limit this trend.
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City centre renting is bouncing back, as some of us are office* bound again. Take a read of our latest rental market report for more > https://t.co/8ni3lzu6GU
Gilmore added: “At the same time, the opening up of the economy and the slow return to ‘business as usual’ as the vaccine rolls out means demand will continue to build over the summer as more people move to rent their first property – although, as ever, this will be dependent on the economy opening up in line with the planned timetable.
“Demand will continue to rise in city centres as offices start to re-open and this, coupled with increased affordability levels in many cases, will start to counter the negative pressure on rents seen over the last 12 months”.
You can read the quarterly rental market report on the Zoopla website here.
Featured Image – Flickr (Ben Sutherland)
Property
Molly-Mae Hague revisits first Manchester flat, now on the market for £185k
Daisy Jackson
Molly-Mae Hague’s first Manchester flat is now on the market for £185k – and the star herself has paid a visit to her old digs.
Those who have been following Molly-Mae since before she shot to serious fame on Love Island will have recognised the backdrop of her recent TikTok video.
The 27-year-old reality TV star and businesswoman posed around the one-bedroom flat, dancing to Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘House Tour’.
The apartment is where she lived just before entering Love Island, and where she and now-fiance Tommy Fury lived briefly when they left the show.
And now that exact flat where she really launched her social media career has been listed for sale, at £185,000.
The corner apartment stands on the 17th floor of Islington Wharf, overlooking New Islington tram stop and right on the doorstep of Ancoats.
Her former landlord, who arranged for Molly-Mae to have one look around her old flat before it’s sold, said that she was a ‘lovely, polite and down-to-earth young woman, and an excellent tenant who looked after the apartment extremely well.’
The one bedroom apartment has double-aspect floor-to-ceiling windows which look across Manchester on one side, and out towards the Pennines on the other.
It’s listed for sale with no chain and the option to include existing furnishings (which seems to include the same couch Molly-Mae had at the time).
The flat also has a kitchen/living space, a communal garden, superfast broadband, and is within walking distance of Manchester Piccadilly.
New measures announced to tackle ‘rogue’ landlords across Greater Manchester
Emily Sergeant
A cohort of trained enforcement officers are set to hit the streets in all 10 boroughs to help improve the lives of the region’s renters.
Forming part of Greater Manchester‘s commitment to the highest-quality housing standards alongside the Good Landlord Charter, the newly trained enforcement officers will be tasked with protecting tenants, joining Council teams in checking rental properties, bringing enforcement action against bad landlords, and cracking down on illegal practices.
The introduction of the new enforcement officers comes after what has been ‘years of sustained pressure’ on local budgets.
Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) says it is working with the 10 councils across the region to strengthen local teams, rebuild in-house skills and expertise, and ensure that powers can be applied with consistency in all boroughs.
As mentioned, this is happening alongside the Good Landlord Charter – which is GMCA’s ‘bold approach’ to drive up standards for renters across the region.
Landlords of more than half of rented properties in Greater Manchester have now signed up as supporters of the Charter, and as supporters, they have committed to going above and beyond legal minimums to improve the renting experience for hundreds of thousands of people.
“A safe place to call home is the cornerstone of a happy, healthy life,” explained Mayor Bev Craig. “But for years, people have felt trapped in poor-quality housing, and cash-strapped councils were unable to step in to help. I’m putting an end to that.
“We know there are plenty of good landlords in Greater Manchester, and many of them have already signed up to our Good Landlord Charter, but too many are just not good enough.
“That’s why we’re deploying a new generation of expert housing officers onto the streets of our towns and cities.”
Mayor Bev Craig declared that she ‘won’t stand by and let rogue landlords take advantage of people’.
She continued: “By empowering renters, working with responsible landlords, and using our powers to crack down on the bad ones, I will make sure everyone in Greater Manchester has the foundation for a good life.”
Emily Sergeant -
24th May 2021 
