A Tight Rental Market: Manchester Rents Rose 13%
Europe has been facing what’s been called a once-in-a-century rental supply shortage, and Manchester, the commercial hub of northern England, was no exception. Manchester is a young commercial city, with population growth of 9.7% and employment growth as high as 28% at the time. Housing supply, however, hadn’t kept pace, and with mortgage rates staying high, more first-time buyers chose to hold cash rather than buy, shifting into the rental market instead. This kept pushing Manchester rents higher. As of June 2023, the city’s rent had risen 13% year-on-year — the highest increase in England outside London at the time.
Rising Expectations for Living Quality After the Pandemic
Cash-holding buyers and tenants had increasingly high expectations for housing quality, wanting a quiet living environment and private green space within a busy city. Especially after the pandemic, as people spent more time at home, well-designed communal amenities became close to essential. Research at the time found that good amenities could both raise achievable rents and support tenancy stability.
How Different Amenities Affect a Building’s Popularity
According to a 2021 report from UK resident-review platform HomeViews, *How Do Advertised Facilities Affect Other Category Ratings?*, well-designed building amenities can attract tenants and improve resident retention. The report analyzed how different amenities affected overall building ratings, and found that the following amenities had a positive effect on ratings: a gym, concierge service, Wi-Fi, bike storage, a residents’ lounge, and being pet-friendly.
Interestingly, parking had a relatively small effect on ratings — just 4.6%. Resident activities/events, by contrast, had the strongest effect on ratings of any factor. This suggests that offering resident activities can raise a building’s rating, since such activities build community cohesion and enrich the living experience.
Notably, being pet-friendly correlated with a rating uplift of up to 11.3% across every category measured, meaning pet-friendliness was a particularly important factor in raising overall resident satisfaction.
Amenities as a Competitive Edge for Branded Residences
A separate report, *Amenities: Creating a Point of Difference*, reached similar conclusions. Wi-Fi, a swimming pool, a gym and 24-hour concierge service were found to matter most to owners and tenants. The report explained why, noting that, in the wake of the pandemic, people’s focus on health and wellbeing had increased, and that wellness facilities and communal space would become a key factor going forward — making the provision of such amenities an important competitive edge in the branded residential market. It also noted rising demand for high-speed broadband, driven by more people working from home and needing a reliable connection.
Pulling several reports together, the five amenities that mattered most to owners and tenants were: a gym, 24-hour concierge service, stable high-speed Wi-Fi, being pet-friendly, and communal green space.
Amenities Can Lift Manchester Rents by Up to 30%
According to data compiled by the Zagdim team from UK property platform Zoopla, around Manchester city center’s three main train stations (Deansgate, Piccadilly and Victoria), most developments offering amenities such as Wi-Fi, a gym and 24-hour concierge were concentrated in the Deansgate and Piccadilly areas, while the Victoria area had no comparable developments at the time — likely because the first two areas had more new developments underway. Overall, the rent gap between buildings with amenities and those without reached 24%, and once “pets allowed” or “pet friendly” was factored in, the gap widened to as much as 33%. For Manchester — rated one of the UK’s most dog-friendly cities — this is a factor investors can’t afford to overlook.
Watch for Local Differences in Amenities
Another point worth noting: when assessing a development you like, it’s not just your own building’s amenities that matter — you should also consider whether competing developments in the same area offer similar facilities and services. If the building you choose offers something distinctive — for example, being pet-friendly, or having a larger, well-equipped gym — that brand value (selling point) tends to spread quickly by word of mouth, which naturally helps both the sale price and rental performance.
If you’d like help thinking through which amenities matter for your own Manchester property, ask Zagdim.
Have a question about this guide? Leave a comment below, or ask Zagdim directly.
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Sources
- HomeViews – *How Do Advertised Facilities Affect Other Category Ratings?* (2021)
- Savills – *Amenities: Creating a Point of Difference*
- Zoopla data, compiled by the Zagdim research team
- *Manchester Named as One of the Top Cities in the UK for Dog-Friendly Venues*
