Manchester is a major city in northwest England with a population of over 500,000 people. Manchester sites between the Cheshire Plain to the south and the pennines to the north and east.
Manchester obtained its city status in 1853, at the time being then first new British city for 300 years. At the time the Manchester Ship Canal was the longest river navigation canal in the world.
As of today Manchester is ranked as a beta world city and is the highest ranked British city outside of London by the GaWC. Manchester is notable for its architecture, culture, musical and media links as well as its sports clubs and transport connections.
The economy in Manchester grew relatively strongly with growth between 2002 and 2012 of 2.3% above the national average. Manchester’s wider metropolitan area has the third largest GDP in the UK at $88bn.
Greater Manchester is home to more multi millionaires than any other area outside London and the city of Manchester was ranked 6thin the UK for quality of life.
According to KPMG’s Manchester is also Europe’s most affordable city, ranking slightly higher than Rotterdam and Amsterdam.
The majority of property sales in Manchester over the past year were terraced houses, which were sold for an average of £129,000. Semi Detached properties had an average sale price of £177,00 and flats averaged out at £136,000.
In the past year, house prices in Manchester had risen 4% on the previous year and were similar to 2007.
According to HSBC Mortgages, Manchester provided the highest rental yield in the UK last year with an average yield of 7.93%, up from second place last year.
Fresh Invest have seen property investments available in Manchester at anywhere from 7% – 12% Net. The higher echelons are starting to reduce and we anticipate that by 2016 a yield of circa 8.5% will be very strong.
The international bank reported that Manchester had an increase in property prices but thanks to good economic progress in the area, rental accommodation has increased substantially in its demand.
Annual Rents have risen 4% in the last year in line with property values. The North West as a whole but particularly Liverpool and Manchester have huge student populations with over a quarter of all housing stock in Manchester being privately rented.
In March 2014 Manchester evening news reported that there were just 39 new build apartments available to purchase in the city and one development being built. Fewer than 4,00 new homes were built in Manchester last year, some way short of the 10,000 needed to keep up with the ever growing demand.
With 3 universities within the city and The University of Manchester being the largest full time non-collegiate university in the United Kingdom, Manchester’s credentials as an important hub of learning is well founded. The university of Manchester was created in 2004 following a merger of UMIST and Victoria University of Manchester.
The other 2 universities are Manchester Metropolitan University, which was created in 1970 following the amalgamation of 3 colleges; and The University of Law which is the largest provider of legal training in Europe.
The area around Oxford Road is Europe’s largest urban higher education precinct and encapsulates Manchester Metropolitan University, The University of Manchester and The Royal Northern College of Music. In total this area has a population of over 73,000 students.