Manchester Overview

Located in Greater Manchester, Manchester is one of the most exciting places to live and work today, with many young professionals flocking to the city for excellent employment prospects. Experiencing the fastest growth outside the capital and leading the way in property investment, Manchester has a very promising future ahead.

The city’s population continues to grow at an incredible pace, benefitting from the rise of people leaving London for a more affordable lifestyle. Today, Manchester is considered as the UK’s top rental hotspot with house prices increasing at a rapid pace. Buy to let properties in Manchester are in huge demand, and have some of the highest occupancy rates in the UK.

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Manchester really does offer something to all residents and visitors. From walks in the peaceful and idyllic countryside to all-night dancing in local clubs, and everything in between, Manchester is a perfect lifestyle city. In fact, it was named as the most desirable UK city in which to live in the 2015 Global Liveability Ranking.

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Economy

The ten boroughs of Greater Manchester combined make the largest city region economy outside London, with a gross value added (GVA) of £62.8bn. Manchester‘s economy is one of the fastest-growing in the UK and this isn’t expected to slow, with future projections forecasting that GVA will grow by 45% between 2016 and 2036.

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Many of the UK’s leading public companies are located in Manchester. The BBC has moved here, and Manchester’s financial and professional services sector is booming. MediaCityUK is engaging creative, digital and media start-ups and established companies. The life sciences and health sector are incredibly strong, serviced with a steady stream of exceptionally qualified young people qualifying from the region’s universities, including the University of Manchester, one of the elites Russel Group universities. In total, 70,000 new jobs are forecast by 2026.

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Business

Greater Manchester is a global destination for business, with a number of leading sectors including advanced manufacturing, financial and business services, life science and healthcare and a digital and creative sector worth more than £4bn annually. Manchester has seen job growth of 84% between 2002-2015, and the annual UK Regional Economic Forecast anticipates no slowdown, with Manchester’s employment growth expected to sit at 1.2% a year, equivalent to 16,300 new jobs.

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Housing

Manchester boasts one of the UK’s busiest housing markets so it’s no surprise that house prices in Manchester have grown more than anywhere else in the UK, beating the national average for five out of the six years since 2012. In line with a growing population, JLL anticipates that house prices will grow by 22.8% between 2018 and 2022 in Manchester, whilst rents will rise by 17.6% in the same period. This makes Manchester a stand out buy to let market with the opportunity for high capital appreciation and low void periods.

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Manchester’s population is growing rapidly, and faster than the national average. It also benefits from a large student population, with around 20,000 deciding to remain in Manchester after graduating each year. Helped by this high proportion of graduates remaining after their studies, Manchester’s population is one of the youngest in the country, with around 60% living in the city aged between the 25 and 30. The city centre population is forecast to grow by 125,000 by 2025, a number that will put severe pressure on the ability of the local authority and house builders to keep pace with demand for new homes.

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Connectivity

Manchester is extremely well-connected, and things are only expected to improve with the addition of the HS2 high-speed rail line which will cut travel times even further, putting Manchester just over an hour away from the capital. Wherever you are in the region you’re never too far from public transport which can take you to the centre of the city – Manchester’s local tram system Metrolink welcomed 41.2 million passengers in 2017/18 and on-going expansion to the routes will make it more accessible than ever. On the global map, 2018 saw new routes announced between Manchester and destinations like Israel, Ukraine, Addis Ababa and Mumbai, just going to show how well connected the UK’s second city is.