Could Manchester be the answer to the UK housing crisis? It is certainly leading the way when it comes to long-awaited institutional investment in the rental sector. Sources have told The Times that £50 million of rental investment deals have been done in the past 18 months and that there will be £700 million of further investment in the next year.
After a tumultuous decade of overbuilding, a glut of unsold high-rises, mothballed sites and plummeting property prices, Manchester now appears to be not only back on track but leading the way where the UK’s rental market is concerned. The property company JLL forecasts that rents will rise by 9 per cent this year alone in Manchester, and by 26.3 per cent over the next