New data released by Alliance City Living has shown that despite the current economic uncertainty, the outlook for landlords in Manchester continues to be extremely positive. In our regular quarterly update, we looked at a number of factors in the Manchester rental marketplace including achieved and asking rents, the number of properties available and the number of homes under construction in the city across Q3 2022.
The report shows that landlords are enjoying increased rents across the city, with some areas seeing prices increase by 38% in just one year. The rates have been driven by demand as more and more people are looking to move to Manchester. Despite an increase in supply with more homes starting construction in the city this year than any year previously over the last decade – it is highly unlikely that there will be enough rental stock available to meet the phenomenal demand.
In fact, demand for rental properties in Manchester is so high that there were never more than 550 properties listed available to rent at one time over the last three months. This number reached an all-time low of 360 in August 2022. Unsurprisingly, properties were let at record speed with our rental team reporting that many lets were agreed in just a few hours of reaching the market.
As a result of this exceptional demand, rents in Manchester have increased to record levels – up 15.3% year-on-year. For the first time since before the pandemic, achieved rents have risen above asking rents on average. This suggests that renters are now bidding higher than asking price when trying to secure their rental property. This is probably a result of the restricted supply and increase in demand for rental homes in the city right now. Two-bed homes are showing the largest uplift between asking and achieved rents at the moment. Average asking rents for two-beds were £1,372pcm in September, while achieved rents were £1,413pcm – a £4.10pcm increase.
There is further evidence that Manchester continues to enjoy a period of significant confidence in its residential rental market with the news that Q3 2022 saw a recorded amount of office space submitted in Manchester for planning. A total of 1.3 million sq. ft. of office space was proposed across seven schemes. These new jobs will bring with them further increases in demand for homes in the city
Despite the outlook of national economic uncertainty including rising interest rates, the Manchester marketplace continues to offer exceptional returns for landlords. However, with demand for property so high right now, it is important that landlords are supported by a property manager that has the capability to deliver and exceptional level of service for both the landlord and resident.
If you’d like to find out more about Alliance City Living’s lettings and property management service, you can contact the team <here> . And you can download the full Alliance City Living Q3 Report here.