The Hometrack UK Cities House Price Index June issue, has highlighted Manchester as the UK’s city with the highest year-on-year house price growth rate of 7.4%, followed by Liverpool (7.2%), Birmingham (6.8%) and Leicester (6.5%).

It comes as no surprise that Manchester also has the lowest level of discounting (2.2%) across England and Wales as prices remain on the upward curve.

Added to this, a recent report from GoCompare identifies Manchester as the best place to be a landlord in the UK, as the city records the highest average rental yields and highest rental market growth. Other notable figures from the report include :

# UK city house price inflation 4.6% year on year ranging from +7.6% to -2.8%.

# 3-month growth rate in London increases as sellers become more realistic on pricing. The discounts from asking prices in London are narrowing which is a positive for sales volumes.

# Manchester has the lowest level of price discounting and the highest annual growth rate.

The report goes on to say that they expect current trends to continue into the second half of 2018 as housing market forces continue to play out against the backdrop of rising employment and low mortgage rates. The main risks on the horizon are the timing and scale of any increase in mortgage rates and how the BREXIT negotiations unfold in the coming months and in the run up to March 2019. Click here to view the full Hometrack report.

With such strong economic fundamentals underpinning the property market in the North West, Manchester should be on every investors radar. View our current new build and off plan residential developments and register your details below to receive more details on all our investment opportunities and new development launches.

A detailed vision for the Northern Gateway project, a residential-led development programme that will see 15,000 new homes in the next 15-20 years, is being considered by Manchester City Council Executive later this week.

The draft Strategic Regeneration Framework (SRF) sets out eight clear core objectives for the regeneration programme and will be a template for development planning over the next decade, driving the ambitions of the Northern Gateway reports TheBusinessDesk.com.

At 155 hectares, it is one of the largest residential-led regeneration projects in the UK. A key theme of the Gateway is a unique city river park connecting seven new and emerging neighbourhoods through high quality open green spaces and public squares.

The ambitious green space will stretch from Angel Meadow through to Collyhurst with the intention of attracting a wide range of biodiversity, while celebrating the existing architectural features of the valley, including Manchester’s Victorian railway arches.

The Northern Gateway will extend the residential opportunities north from the city centre creating the cluster of well-designed and distinct sustainable neighbourhoods, opening up a range of new retail and family-friendly leisure destinations in the north of the city.

With much improved connectivity,focusing on green transport, including walking, cycling and public transport, the Northern Gateway has the potential to attract a range of visitors from the city centre and beyond, taking advantage of the green space and leisure amenities, while improving the lifestyle residents.

At its heart, the Northern Gateway is a residential-led development and aims to build a mix of 15,000 new homes over the next 15 years with at least 3,000 affordable homes.

If you are looking to invest in a world-class city which offers people a great place to live, an international airport and transport infrastructure which competes on a global level, then Manchester ticks all the boxes. View some of our current property investment opportunities or register your details below to receive our regular development updates and property launches.

Nearly two million people passed through Manchester airport last month as passenger numbers grew by four per cent in March compared with the same month last year to confirm Manchester’s position as the UK’s third busiest airport and boosting regional growth.

March 2018 saw 1,988,233 passengers use the airport’s three terminals. That means 27,882,845 passengers have flown in and out of the airport during the last financial year – a 6.4% increase on full year 2016/17. Numbers are set to rise further this Summer, with the the introduction of new routes opening to Seattle with Thomas Cook Airlines, Florence with BA CityFlyer and Cagliari, Palermo and Ponta Delgada with Ryanair.

It’s a busy time at the airport as construction also gathers pace on the £1bn transformation and upgrade programme by a 700 people workforce which will see Terminal 2 more than double in size and includes building a new multi-storey car park and a new terminal link which should be in place for next year.

Manchester Airport is already one of the largest centres of employment in the North West with more than 22,000 people directly employed on site, supporting a further 48,000 jobs in the region. The airport is now looking to offer a further 600 job opportunities during the busy Summer months. As well as roles with Manchester Airport other major employers on site are also recruiting including Swissport, Boots,Thomas Cook Airlines and Jet2.com offering positions from pilots through to retail assistants.

Manchester’s long-haul catchment area places around 22 million people and 60% of all UK businesses within a two-hour drive time. With a booming local economy and increasing job prospects its no wonder that more people are looking to call Manchester “home”. This population growth in turn is creating a huge demand for new homes and is having a knock on effect. Construction activity in the North West has risen by 31% since 2016, according to a report by Turner & Townsend, making the region the UK’s fastest-growing market. Already construction output in the region was up by 30.7% in the first quarter of the year, compared with the second quarter of 2016, with activity growing ahead of the West Midlands at 27.8% and the South West at 27.2%.

This all makes positive reading for North West buy-to-let investors who are expected to see the best returns nationally for 2018. The upward trend of house prices and rents looks set to continue with JLL predicting that capital values in Manchester are set to rise by a further 6.5% in 2018 whilst rents will increase by 3.5%.

Whether you are an existing investor looking to add to your portfolio or simply looking to boost your future pension provision, its certainly time to look more closely at the buy-to-let opportunities that Manchester offers. See current opportunities.

Manchester has been named one of the best cities in the world for young people and students to live in according to the Millennial City Ranking, as reported by thebusinessdesk.com.

It is only the second time the list has been created and looks highlight global cities where digitally intuitive and entrepreneurial millennials are best choosing to make their home.

Out of 110 cities, Manchester made the top 10 list that looks at four main concerns for young people – does the city have available work, can young people afford to live a good life, is the city open and tolerant, and importantly, how fun is the city !

In the list, other factors such as internet speed, gender equality, start-up opportunities and progress in the work place were also taken into account to understand the best cities for young people in 2018.

Manchester scored particularly well when it comes to personal freedom and choice, tolerance, and, of course nightlife.

Manchester has also been named fourth most popular place for students to live in the world, behind London and the Australian cities Melbourne and Sydney, according to wwww.student.com whose research looked at 426 cities across the world.

The research found that students are willing to travel across the globe for higher education and 19% of students studying in the UK are from abroad. At full-time postgraduate level, 53% of students are from outside the UK.

Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council, said: “We know that Manchester is popular with young people and the popularity and high-quality teaching at the city’s universities mean more and more graduates are choosing to remain in the city, find a job and lay their roots here.

“Manchester offers the benefits of some of the world’s most recognisable cities, with great employment opportunities and entertainment – but young people can enjoy these benefits far more affordably than some of the other cities celebrated in the list, like London or New York.

“The city council also offers a range of advice and support for people who are looking to start and build a business in Manchester, which has proven successful for business from seed organisations through to multi-national business.”

As young professionals and students lead the population growth making Manchester their home, there is increasing demand for quality apartments with good access to the city and offering all the on site amenities to cater for modern life styles.

Increasing demand is putting upward pressure on rents and house prices with JLL forecasting Manchester house price rises of 6.5% and rents to increase by 3.5% in 2018. The economic fundamentals look good for buy-to-let investors in the North West. View investment opportunities here or register below to receive our property updates and new development launches.

A city with a rich history, Salford is keen to grow on its industrial past and is in the early years of a decades long plan to regenerate and reinvigorate the area.
Looking to cultivate a strong sense of identity detached from the neighbouring city of Manchester, Salford puts a strong emphasis on local arts and culture,innovation,business and leisure which has been coupled with huge government investment.

Home to the famous Lowry Theatre, one of the most visited tourist destinations in the North West, the Imperial War Museum and the Salford Museum & Art Gallery, there is no question that Salford is defining itself as a truly unique and independent city. View video

The £550m pound investment in Salford’s MediaCityUK has created a unique waterfront destination for leisure, innovation and digital media and now home to the BBC and ITV among others.
The largest purpose-built telecommunications and media hub in Europe, MediaCityUK is on the rise as big businesses look to relocate and premium establishments aim to be represented in the area.

To cope with the growing numbers of people wishing to work and live in Salford there are significant plans in place to develop the local infrastructure and encourage economic growth.
Consequently, house prices and rental yields are on the rise, making Salford one of the UK’s premier destinations for property investors.

So it should come as no surprise that we have targeted this area for our next three residential developments coming soon. Don’t forget to register your interest today to be placed on our priority mailing list to receive full launch details !