Manchester has a stronger pipeline of residential towers than Paris and Berlin combined, with the wider city centre population forecast to grow by one third to 154,000 by 2022, according to new research from Manchester-based residential property management specialist urbanbubble.
The company’s data arm UrbInfo Manchester reveals that, once occupied, thousands of new apartments being delivered in Manchester’s central core in the next four years will increase the city centre’s ‘current’ population by 50,000 from a total of 104,357 in 2017 to 154,357 in 2022.
The central core area takes in Manchester city centre and neighbouring wards in Salford and Trafford where the city living trend is booming.
The future population figure is calculated from an average occupancy of 1.4 persons per home, based on urbanbubble’s current portfolio of 4,500 apartments under management in Manchester.
The research shows a pipeline of 35,990 new apartments being delivered in the central core by 2022 via 53 residential schemes, including 21 now under construction and 32 with planning approval.
Of the 53 schemes, 21 are tall towers of more than 20-storeys in heigh, four more than the 17 in Paris and 19 in Berlin either approved or under construction.
Michael Howard, founder and managing director of urbanbubble, said the arrival of tens of thousands of new, high-quality apartments to rent between 2019 and 2022 cements Manchester’s status as a major European hub city and will make city centre living affordable to more people by creating an over-supply, thereby exerting downward pressure on rental values of existing stock.
He said: “The new wave of residential schemes provides outside space, gyms, lounges, swimming pools and home working spaces as a matter of course. This higher quality offer will push down rents for older stock, creating a more diverse rental market, with a more affordable level for more people.
“We welcome that, because people previously priced out of the city centre will be able to move in. For example, a working couple or two friends will be able to afford to move into town as rents for older stock soften.”
Mr Howard added: “The first city living phase saw blocks spring up with living experience and customer journey design low down on the priority list. However, plenty of people live in them and the demographics strongly point to all levels of amenity continuing to find residents to suit different levels of housing product.”
urbanbubble handles holistic care of property, facilities, management, lettings and residents’ management for a growing number of blue-chip developers.
Its exclusive Build to Rent (BtR) partnership with institutional investor Legal & General (L&G) led to L&G’s first BtR development at The Slate Yard, Salford, now followed by L&G BtR schemes in Bath, Bristol, Birmingham and London. urbanbubble also manages residential schemes across Manchester and Liverpool for developers including Salboy, Elliot Group, PAG, Mulbury and Capital & Centric.
Mr Howard is certain that the BtR model will continue to thrive as developers and investors introduce a step change to traditional levels of care, services and facilities for occupiers.
He says: “It’s in the developer’s interest to create a community so residents move in and want to stay long-term. We are seeing a revolution in the new generation of schemes, not only in amenities but also in rental terms, with no fees, open-ended leases and a much fairer approach to deposits.”
