Property

You can now buy a house in a graveyard near Manchester – and it’s a proper bargain

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 30th November 2021

A new house has gone on the market that offers property-hunters a chance to live in an actual graveyard.

Halloween might have been and gone, but the cemetery lodge has a spooky setting year-round.

The house is in Alderley Edge in Cheshire, where the average property price is an eye-watering £680,562.

But this pad is comparatively a total bargain, coming in at less than a quarter of that.

The property at Alderley Edge Cemetery. Credit: Supplied

The property spans the entrance to Alderley Edge Cemetery and is being marketed at £140,000.

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It’s most recently been used as office space, housing a staff room and storage.

The lodge has the potential to be converted into a three- or four-bedroom home, planning permission pending, according to auctioneers Landwood.

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Alderley Edge Cemetery. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

It’s part single-storey and part two-storey, built from brick under a slate roof.

It looks a lot like the typical homes in this part of Cheshire, with a traditional timber-clad design.

Landwood Property Auctions Director, Kate Lay comments: “This characterful lodge presents a rare opportunity to create a genuinely unique family home in one of the most sought after villages in the north west.

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“The property will certainly benefit from some care and attention, but in the right hands it has the potential to become a truly delightful dwelling.”

The lodge will be offered at an online auction on January 19, 2022 by Landwood Property Auctions, for a guide price of £140,000.

Featured image: Supplied / Wikimedia Commons

Property

Inside the regal Cheshire home for sale on one of Britain’s most expensive roads

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

A stunning detached family home on one of Britain’s most expensive roads is currently on the market over in Cheshire.

In case you hadn’t heard, a recent report by The Times has revealed where you’ll find Britain’s top 20 most expensive roads for 2026, based off Rightmove data, and Congleton Road in Alderley Edge – slap bang in the middle of Cheshire’s iconic ‘Golden Triangle’ – has appeared in the top five most expensive outside of London.

So we snooped around to see what your money (… or your hypothetical money, at least) can get you on this street, and came across a regal residence currently for sale for a whopping £4.95 million.

This is Highclere – a six-bedroom detached family home occupying a private plot of over 1.3 acres and enjoying panoramic views across the adjoining Cheshire countryside.

This is Highclere – a stunning family home on one of Britain’s most expensive roads / Credit: Andrew J Nowell

Approached behind electric gates, and set back along a sweeping driveway, estate agents say Highclere has been ‘carefully and tastefully’ renovated by the current owners.

It now offers ‘spacious and versatile’ accommodation, and benefits from being within easy reach of Alderley Edge village centre and all the amenities it’s known and loved for.

Some of the stand-out features include an impressive reception hall with large sweeping staircase, open living kitchen with a large central island, large bedrooms, and a full leisure suite with a pool, jacuzzi, steam room, and showers.

There’s also a dedicated bar area, a games room, cinema room, and a gym.

Upstairs is where you’ll find what is described as the ‘unparallelled’ principal bedroom suite with two large dressing rooms, its own living area, en-suite bathroom, and a powder room, as well as four other large bedrooms.

Just as you’d expect, the outside of Highclere is as impressive as the inside.

The property is set within a private plot of over 1.3 acres enjoying panoramic views / Credit: Andrew J Nowell

Not only are there expansive terraced lawns with mature trees and shrubs and two large courtyards perfect for outdoor entertaining, but there is also a large driveway providing off-road parking for multiple vehicles and a detached double garage converted into annexe accomodation.

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This property is currently on the market with Alderley Edge-based independent estate agents, Andrew J Nowell, for a Guide Price of £4.95 million, and if you fancy taking a closer look, then you can contact the agents to arrange a viewing.

Or you could just take the cheaper route instead and have a nosy at the Rightmove link here.

Featured Image – Andrew J Nowell

Property

Manchester rent is now ‘41% more expensive than five years ago, according to a recent study

Danny Jones Danny Jones Manchester rent prices 2026

Yes, that’s right, as per some of the latest data on leased housing in central Manchester, it’s now approximately 41% more expensive to rent here than it was half a decade ago.

If you’ve lived in and around the city centre for long enough, chances are that you’ve already been feeling that difference, especially of late.

The ongoing cost-of-living crisis roughly began in 2021, following the economy and the world essentially opening back up after multiple lockdowns, so it’s little surprise that new research has shown affordability when it comes to renting has been on a slump ever since, too.

As well as the price of seemingly most things in everyday life going up post-pandemic, the average rental rate for even just a one-bedroom flat/apartment has jumped up significantly between 2020 and 2025.

manchester cladding crisis
Even some ‘available’ housing in town is being hampered by claddin (Credit: Valienne via WikiCommons)

That’s according to the numbers crunched by credit card experts, Zable, anyway.

Not only did their recent report cite the rent prices going up even before the cost of living crisis – essentially following the outset of the Covid-19 outbreak – but if their figures, the rate of inflation and the unwaveringly high demand for housing are anything to go by, this trajectory is likely to continue in 2026.

As of February this year, around one in three UK households is now a single-person occupancy, which already comes with its challenges (the Manchester City Council tax discount being a thin lifeline for countless), not to mention energy bills and the cost of groceries continuing on an upwards trend.

Put in the simplest and most reductive terms, it’s now almost £300 dearer for most people to live on their own than it was back in 2020, and besides Liverpool clocking in as second on the list of increasingly expensive cities to live (a 42.12% increase), Manchester came in third.

You can see the full table down below:

RankCity% increase – 2020-2025Difference from 2020 to 2025 in £Average rental cost for a 1 bed 2025
1Newport47.39%£2,611£8,121
2Liverpool42.12%£2,290£7,727
3Manchester41.00%£3,364£11,569
4Edinburgh40.28%£4,620£16,090
5Leicester39.93%£2,391£8,379
6Wolverhampton39.22%£2,049£7,273
7Nottingham39.07%£2,400£8,543
8Glasgow38.02%£2,679£9,725
9Colchester37.63%£2,617£9,572
10Cardiff37.06%£2,828Average rental cost for a 1-bed 2025

Another fear is that with lots of people finding it hard to manage living in other major cities like London, even those moving to Manchester are also having an impact on how available affordable housing is here.

That’s why schemes such as the new ‘social rent’ development over in Wythenshawe are so important to the current generations of renters, with the possibility of owning your own property in the future becoming increasingly difficult for so many.

It’s also worth noting that Manchester ranked fourth among the British locations where the cost of living is said to have increased the most over the past five years, with the average difference in annual spend growing by an estimated 22.84%.

You can read their breakdown in full right HERE.

The plans to build 107 new homes in Manchester city centre – including affordable housing

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Featured Images — The Manc Group

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