Renting in Manchester

andyrules

Hi

Daughter is student in manchester, wants to look for rented house to share for next year (2008) with student friends. She's not very familiar with surrounding area, can anyone advise on districts to search, ie close to Oxford road but affordable?

I've looked on rightmove, but don't really know which areas to choose/avoid. Also did search here and someone said to avoid one of the agents which is helpful.

I'm also half toying with idea of buying, particularly as it's likely she'll want to stay in manc after graduation.

Any pearls of wisdom gratefully accepted!

Melissa177

A lot of students live in Fallowfield, which is a short bus ride down the Oxford Road from the Uni. Worth checking out?

benb76

Fallowfield/Withington is the student area in Manchester, however there is a lot of crime on student housing here. About 1 mile further south is Didsbury, which is a very nice part of town where a lot of young professionals and students with rich parents live.

If you wanted to buy, you would never be short of potential tennants in any of these areas.

BobProperty

Can only comment to support what has been said. Manchester has (or had) the biggest campus in western Europe so there's a lot of competition and a mixed lot of accommodation. Fallowfield is the main student area followed by Withington. Didsbury is more upmarket and expensive. People avoid Moss Side because of the gang connotations. Hulme is also a possibility, close to the University and city centre but also not without the usual big city type problems.
The students and their houses are targets for burglary and robbery because everyone knows where they are, that they will be coming to the big city for the first time in a lot of cases, and they will be laden down with laptops and hifi's and fancy mobiles. Please do take care, the Police (IIRC) patrol the area heavily in the first few weeks of term, give out security advice etc.
I'm not trying to put you off, just that if you haven't lived in a large city you might not appreciate the situation.

As for buying somewhere, I'd say the market has peaked. You won't get much of a return on anywhere which could rent to students, and in a lot of student type areas the only market will be to sell to a landlord.

Local freebie paper http://www.southmanchesterreporter.co.uk/news/

Shadowplay_2

I currently live in Didsbury but have lived in Moss Side and Fallowfield as a Student (2000-2003). I would recommend Didsbury if you can afford the high rental cost or Fallowfield. Crime is an issue in student areas, we and everyone else i know who lived near us where burgled - although i did come home drunk one night and forgot to shut the front door and eveything was still their in the morning! You just need to be careful like in any big city. I love manchester (hence never leaving) and i'm sure your daughter will too.

S.

andyrules

Thanks, very useful info, if worrying! I'd always be thinking she was being burgled! I would assume that would affect insurance premiums as well, and as music students they'd have expensive equipment around. I know Fallowfield isn't too far as we've used the Sainsburys there.

Thanks for the link, Bob, had a good look at the property. Just out of interest, it all seems to be under one agent?

She already loves Manchester, and needs to be in the city which is why I was thinking of a longer term investment.

Melissa177

I used to go out with a guy at Manchester Uni - I think he got mugged in Moss Side once :eek:

JoeyEmma

I went to Manc Uni (and never left). I lived in Fallowfield and Withington (halfway bwtween Fallowfield and Didsbury). We never got broken into, but neighbours did. We were sensible and kept downstairs windows closed when we weren't in the room etc. If you have a look here, its part of the uni http://www.accommodation.manchester.ac.uk/manchesterstudenthomes/ and more importantly has details of landlords that are safe to use.

before_hollywood

Melissa177 wrote: »

I used to go out with a guy at Manchester Uni - I think he got mugged in Moss Side once :eek:

only once :eek:

moss side is a dive

smeef

Just a thought, I would probably look to buy in Didsbury rather than Fallowfield. Whilst property would probably be cheaper in Fallowfield I think a large proportion of it is already owned by student landlords, and so there may not be as much for sale.

I'm also thinking of re-sale value when you come to sell it on. Fallowfield, whilst a reasonable loacation for students, is not particularly somewhere others would look to buy these days, so your market as a seller would probably be confined to student landlords. Depending where you buy in Didsbury, you might be selling to a more varied market.

My in-laws live in one of the two remaining non-student properties on their road in Fallowfield (15-20 years ago it was all families) and know that when they sell up in the next year or two they will inevitably end up selling to a student landlord, as no-one else would buy there.

sciencegeek

hi
unless you are very rich you will struggle to buy in didsbury village or west didsbury but you could get something reasonably nearby without breaking the bank.
Personally i would avoid moss side and longsight like the plague, also avoid plymouth grove which is crime ridden despite being near to the uni buildings.

As already mentioned withington and fallowfield are popular with students, be aware many properties are 'described' as being in fallowfield but are actually in moss side. The problem with withington is that unless you are near the village you are essentially in the middle of an ENORMOUS housing estate. There are next to no facilities apart from those in the village itself. If you do consider withington, a general rule of thumb is to try to be on the eastern side of oxford road because there are some big rough council estates to the west side of withington.

There is a lot to be said for living near oxford road (i.e. busses home from town at 4 in the morning) but unless you are doing this regularly its worth considering other bus routes which are fine during the day but stop at 11.30pm an example might be burnage (another big housing estate).

ive lived in various places and found west didsbury to be my favorite, its cosmopolitan, smart and a bit cheaper than didsbury village but its still pricy. I currently live in levenshulme which is becoming increasingly popular with young profs and students but has a somewhat bad rep due to its past. like anywhere it has its better and worse parts but i think its fine to be honest.

hope you find somewhere good, there are some real gems out there so dont settle for a flea pit!!