Why invest in Manchester?

Manchester is the UK’s number one property location. Extensive public and private investment into the city has seen the local housing market boom – particularly the market for luxury off-plan apartments in the city centre.

Manchester is connected to major rail stations across the UK, and the development of HS2 will further open up its borders as a commuter city. What’s more, Manchester international airport is currently benefiting from a multi-million-pound investment. Bringing in visitors from across the world, the new and improved airport will serve as a global gateway to UK.

Over the next 10 years, 55,000 new homes are required in Manchester to meet current demand. Completions are falling significantly short of this, meaning there are not enough luxury new build flats in Manchester to house the growing population. As a consequence, off-plan homes in Manchester city centre are growing in popularity.

The population of Manchester is growing incredibly quickly. The latest State of the City Report – published by Manchester City Council – projects the city centre population increasing to 100,000 by 2025. This means that 5,000 more people a year are anticipated to move into the heart of Manchester, and it goes without saying that this will put immense pressure on the available stock of homes and push property values up.

The most popular properties in Manchester are likely to be luxury city centre apartments. Premium new apartment developments in the most popular areas – Deansgate, Piccadilly, Ancoats, Victoria and others – will be the most in-demand homes in Manchester. The best way to ensure you secure your dream home in Manchester city centre is to purchase off-plan and get ahead of the market, as well as locking in significant capital appreciation in the future.

According to data from Hometrack, property values in Manchester are growing at twice the rate they are in London. What’s more, Savills expects further growth of 24% by 2024 thanks to an undersupply of available properties and the huge number of people moving into the city.

This is the perfect time to buy property in Manchester and take advantage of the upcoming capital appreciation – a benefit that is magnified when purchasing at a below-market off-plan rate.

Manchester is an economic powerhouse – a centre of industry not just in the UK, but for Europe as a whole. It is the heart of the Northern Powerhouse project, and Knight Frank has recorded business growth of 41% in the last five years alone.

Overall, the Greater Manchester economy is growing at a rate of 4.3% a year, with Manchester accounting for the vast majority of that. In particular, Manchester city centre is home to 10% of all employment in the region and its local economy will be worth more than £6bn a year by 2025, employing more than 150,000 people.

With this in mind, it is no surprise that so many people are moving to the city centre, desperate to buy homes in one of the most dynamic places in Europe.

Huge organisations like Amazon, BT, GCHQ and Google have a significant presence in Manchester, and the highly-skilled jobs they create makes Manchester the UK’s number one city for affluent technology workers.

According to the latest annual report from Tech Nation, investment into Manchester’s technology sector increased by 277% in just one year – making Manchester by far the fastest-growing tech cluster in Europe. As with the business sector, this incredible growth is attracting a new generation of highly-skilled workers who see their futures in Manchester. All of these people need homes, and apartments in key areas of the city centre are the preferred option – causing house prices to go up due to the increased demand.