Property
Rightmove reveals how much first-time buyers will have to pay for a home in the North West
Everything you need to know…
Rightmove reveal just how much you can expect to pay as a first-time buyer in your region.
Latest studies by Rightmove show that the North West has seen the biggest annual rise in property prices for first-time buyer homes with two or fewer bedrooms.
The average asking price in the North West is up 8.6% over the past 12 months, the biggest increase in any region across Great Britain.
The second biggest increase is seen in Yorkshire and The Humber with prices up 8.4%, followed by the West Midlands at 7.0%.
The average asking price for a first-time buyer is £200,578, up 3.9% compared to 12 months ago, equating to an annual rise of £7,475.
The average asking price in the North West in January 2021 is £144.453.
The only region where the asking price exceeds £400k is in the capital where the average is £474,950. However, London is the only region where first-time buyer property prices have fallen year on year with prices down 1.4% compared to a year ago.
Rightmove
Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s data expert said: “Many people are deciding that 2021 is the year to get their foot on the property ladder, and this research provides an insightful snapshot into the first-time buyer sector across the British property market right now.
“What’s interesting for me is that, despite the higher asking prices in London, first-time buyers in the capital appear to have a window of opportunity to negotiate a good deal, with this being the only region to have seen average first-time buyer asking prices fall over the past 12 months.
“Conversely, sellers in the North West who are looking to trade up and move into a bigger home are in a strong position, with average asking prices for first-time buyer properties having jumped by 8.6% during the same period, which is a good indicator of a strong market.”
Richard Powell, Director at Ryder & Dutton with branches across East Lancashire, North Manchester and West Yorkshire, said: “I think first-time buyer homes have seen a boom in property prices because demand is outstripping supply.
“We’ve less properties for sale per branch than at any time since the late 1980s, which of course causes prices to rise. Having said that, people still want to buy homes and in many cases it’s no more expensive to buy in the North West than to rent, especially with low mortgage rates available.
“The North West possibly has a greater stock of properties that are more easily accessible for first-time buyers – places such as Oldham, Rochdale, Bury and Blackburn – these big, former mill towns have lots of terraced properties around the £100,000 to £200,000 mark that are available to buy.
“And coupled with more Help to Buy schemes and new-build developments, it’s probably easier to become a first-time buyer in this part of the world than many other regions, which also helps to push prices up.
“We’ve also seen a reluctance from people in their first homes to move up the ladder because they haven’t had confidence in the market to do so. Over the past four years or so with Brexit and now Covid, we’re seeing a lot of pent-up supply as well as pent-up demand.”
We chatted to a property expert last week to find out the top six places to buy in Greater Manchester this year, including Salford, Prestwich and Ancoats! See more here.
Property
New apartment development with huge gardens and outdoor space opening this year
Make sure you check these out!
Manchester is getting a stunning new apartment development this autumn, set in beautiful landscaped gardens.
Acer will be the first residential development to open at Square Gardens, located in the First Street area.
Monthly rental for each apartment includes utility bills, super-fast wi-fi, use of all communal facilities and 24/7 security.
Square Gardens / Acer
You can grab a co-living apartment starting from £935 per month, studios from £1540 per month, and apartments from £2120 per month.
From one-bed apartments to studios and shared apartments, there will be 1,187 living spaces when it opens its doors.
It’ll be home to one of the city’s biggest communal outdoor spaces, with this ethos mirrored inside with several apartment spaces dedicated to co-living.
The community feel is also seen in the various lounge and social spaces, as well as co-working and meeting areas.
Square Gardens / Acer
Acer will boast a large, state-of-the-art gym on site, as well as media rooms, private kitchen and dining rooms to use, and regular resident and community events.
The development’s co-living apartments range from three to five bedrooms, all fully furnished with en-suite rooms, while there are also studio apartments and one-bed apartments – with separate bathrooms and open plan kitchen and living areas.
Head HERE to find out more.
Property
Plans for new tallest tower said to be ‘the landmark of Manchester’
Plans for the new tower will place it among Europe’s tallest high rises
Property developer Salboy is set to submit plans for a new tower which will be the tallest in the city among a cluster of skyscrapers.
If proposals are approved, the 241m (790ft) high Viadux 2 scheme is expected to take four years to build.
Salboy’s Managing Director, Simon Ismail, has said it is going to be ‘the landmark of Manchester’, the BBC reports.
Once completed, the new skyscraper will overtake Deansgate Square’s South Tower at 201m (695ft) high and dwarf the Beetham Tower at 169 m (554ft) high.
“We purposefully wanted to go for the tallest residential building in Europe… it’s a flagship building,” Mr Ismail told the BBC.
The Viadux 2 tower will hold around 800 apartments, providing homes for residents looking to live in Manchester, where housing is in great demand.
Mr Ismail said much of that demand for homes in the city was driven by ‘postgrads staying on, the largest student population in Europe, and a cost of living that’s half of that in London’.
Salboy says it has already provided about 4,000 homes in Manchester, and as long as there is ‘massive demand for homes, the firm will continue to build, Mr Ismail said.
The developer is also working on St Michael’s Tower with the former Manchester United footballer Gary Neville.
Manchester has seen a huge boom in skyscrapers over the last 10 years, with an ever evolving skyline.
Mr Ismail says he has ‘no idea’ how long the city’s skyscraper boom will continue, but that he never believed it when people had previously claimed ‘the bubble was going to burst’.
Adding: “When you look at what Manchester’s got behind it, it’s got too much backing it up, industrious people and a history of doing things right.”
Subject to approval, Salboy hopes to start work on the tower sometime this year.
Property developer Renaker has built a collection of skyscrapers at Great Jackson Street, along the southern border of the city centre.
The firm has also built towers at Colliers Yard in Salford and has started a scheme to build four skyscrapers at Trinity Islands, by the River Irwell.
Renaker has received more than £500m in loans from the Greater Manchester Housing Investment Fund – which was launched by George Osborne when he was chancellor of the exchequer in 2014.
The funding is loaned to developers by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and is then paid back. The value of the loans has now reached £942.5m with more than 10,500 new homes being supported from it so far.
Property
New build-to-rent community launching in Manchester neighbourhood named ‘best up-and-coming place to live’
Some stunning properties on offer
A new build-to-rent community is launching in Piccadilly East, the city centre neighbourhood named one of the ‘best up-and-coming places to live in the UK’ by the Sunday Times.
The Castings will be a new creative hub, owned by the people behind the five-star Lowry Hotel, and situated behind Piccadilly Station.
Made up of studio, one, two and three bedroom apartments, the development on the cusp of the Northern Quarter and Ancoats will feature a host of amenities.
The Castings
This includes a new yoga room and gym, a games room, private dining spaces and a work hub. There will also be three food and beverage outlets on the ground floor.
Piccadilly East was named in the Sunday Times’ list of best places to live in 2020, located within walking distance from the bars and restaurants of Ancoats and the Piccadilly Basin.
Cloudwater and Track brewery taprooms, Diecast, Ducie Street Warehouse and the soon-to-open Co-op Live are all also nearby.
The Castings
As the name suggests, the 350 design-led apartments are inspired by the casting of metals, incorporating industrial shapes, flowing forms and molten textures.
On the imminent launch, The Castings community manager Dave Evans said: “In just a couple of months, we’ll be welcoming residents into our new community. The focus for The Castings has been to create much more than just apartments; it’s a whole new lifestyle, with the best service and living experience that Manchester has to offer.
“Piccadilly East is a really exciting area to be part of which already contains some of the most exciting venues within the city, it’s the next generation of Manchester, and following on from the footsteps of Ancoats we hope to continue to create the next bustling creative hub in the city.”
The Castings
The prices for the new scheme start from £1150 per month for a studio apartment, £1250 for a 1-bed apartment, £1525 per month for a 2-bed and £2175 for a 3-bed apartment.
You can book in for viewings now, with move-in dates from June. Register interest here.
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