The rental market in Greater Manchester is nothing short of a nightmare for most tenants these days. Not only have rent costs gone up by a staggering amount over the last few years, taking the average rent in Manchester to £1,600 per month, but securing a rented home seems to be somewhat impossible.
As demand for rented properties continues to outweigh supply across the region, anyone who wants to be in with a chance of getting a rental has to fight off fierce competition. Tenants who are desperate to rent are having to do whatever it takes to win the battle - including signing up to rent without even viewing their new home, and paying a big chunk of money upfront.
Matt and his partner George are currently renting a flat in the sought after area of Didsbury in south Manchester, but getting there was far from easy. Matt, 34, spoke to us as part of our Where I Live series, where each week we speak to tenants and homeowners about their journey, the costs involved and see how they've renovated to make their place their own.
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Matt, who is originally from Bath, works as a volunteer manager and over the last decade he has worked and lived all over the country from London to Manchester as well as internationally.
Matt moved to Dubai for two and a half years during the pandemic for a work opportunity where he managed to save up 'tax free' cash in the hopes of one day putting it towards his own home.
But after his job contract came to an end, the 34-year-old said he was ready to return to the UK.
“I was working on an event out there but by the time my contract finished I was ready to move back to the UK so that I could see my friends and family again," Matt told the Manchester Evening News.
"A big reason I went over there was to try and save a deposit which I managed to do, but once that tax-free cash stopped coming then I wanted to come back home."
Whilst in Dubai, Matt began his search for somewhere for himself and George to rent in the UK and they quickly decided on Didsbury in Manchester.
“When I initially moved to Manchester in 2013 I met a friend who lived in Didsbury. Even when I moved to London I kept coming back to visit her and I just knew it was a really nice area to live," Matt explained.
"I knew that we couldn't afford to buy here, so renting here was a way of feeling like we live here but without having to pay the huge house prices.
"Didsbury has a really nice feel to it because there's so many independent pubs, cafes, restaurants, bars and shops and it has a village feel to it. But it’s a super competitive place to move to and places don’t come up for sale or rent around here very often."
With being thousands of miles away from the UK and not having a job, the search for rented accommodation proved to be extremely difficult.
"When we were looking to move to Manchester neither myself or my boyfriend were employed, so trying to find a place to rent whilst living in Dubai and not having a job either made it really hard," Matt said.
"What surprised me was how quickly places were going. The time difference didn’t help because I’d message in the evening, go to sleep and then by the next morning the listing had gone.
"Where we couldn't view in person either meant we couldn't put across how we were reliable tenants and so it was quite hard to do it all from afar."
The couple ended up finding a two-bed ground floor flat in the heart of Didsbury which cost £1,150 per month, but they had to make a big sacrifice in order to secure it.
“Because we were in Dubai we couldn't go view it, so we didn’t actually see it until the day we got the keys and moved in," Matt said.
"We actually ended up paying a full year's rent ahead because it was the only way that we could basically guarantee somewhere and we knew it would set us apart from other tenants. We used our savings and now we’re paying ourselves back each month instead of paying the landlord.
"I was in a really fortunate position to have the money to be able to pay a year’s rent ahead, if I didn’t I think we'd have had to move back home. It's pretty tough for people especially if they want to live in areas like Didsbury."
In terms of the rent cost, Matt said: "I’ve rented since I was 18 and before looking for a flat in Manchester I thought prices here were going to be significantly less, but I would say now there is not as big of a difference in terms of price than in London.
"However I do think our rent is fair. It’s a really good sized flat and it’s in a really good location."
The couple moved into their unfurnished flat in May 2022 and began putting their own stamp on it.
“Luckily we were happy with how the flat looked when we first saw it. It had been newly refurbished before we moved in so it was freshly painted and some of the carpets looked quite new which was really good," Matt said.
"It was a bit weird walking around it because I didn’t really know what to expect, but everything was pretty much as we thought.
“It was completely unfurnished so we had some bits delivered that we'd kept in storage from when we were living in London, we also shipped some things back from Dubai and then we bought some furniture brand new.
"It was nice to finally pull all of our different items together as some of the things from London I hadn’t seen in years."
Matt says he has always had a passion for interior design and tried to implement his own style and personality into the flat.
“My general advice when people ask is that I think it's really important to try and live somewhere for a little bit before you commit to any style or décor choices because you sometimes use the rooms a bit differently once you live there," he advised.
"I try to add colour to a space based on how the room feels. If it feels quite cold and grey I try to warm it up with warmer colours.
"I'm a big fan of colour and fun, I think your home should be a reflection of you. I think it's really important that people have fun with it and don't take it too seriously and just put things that they love in their home."
Matt said that he settled into his new home very quickly and made an effort to interact with his new neighbours.
"I wasn’t working when I first moved here so I had a bit of time to really nest and make it super homely and so I'd say we settled in pretty quickly," he said.
"The communal building is a big old house that has been converted into eight flats. I tend to do this when I move somewhere new, but I put a little card through everyone's door to introduce us.
"I think when there's only eight flats, you never know when you might get locked out or when you might need something. We've made a couple of mates now and obviously with being new to the area that's really nice."
Giving us a tour around his flat, Matt explained: “When you come in there's a little hallway, the bathroom is on the right which has a walk-in shower and then if you keep going down the corridor there is the master bedroom which is a nice sized double.
"At the end of the corridor is the second bedroom which we also use as an office because we both work from home on different days a week.
"Then if you go back into the corridor to the left is the living room and then there's a step down which takes you to the kitchen which is at the back of the flat."
Matt and George are now in the midst of trying to get on the property ladder, which he says is even more difficult than renting.
“It is really difficult especially with all the mortgage rates being high at the moment because what we thought we could afford a year ago we now can’t," Matt admitted.
"It's frustrating because you feel like you can't save enough, it is getting harder and harder. We know we can't afford to buy in Didsbury so we're looking in Withington, Sale, Chorlton or Urmston.
"Ideally I want somewhere I can put my own mark on, somewhere that maybe needs a bit of work. We’ve put in a couple of offers for places but then lost them, including one where we went significantly over, but they are just selling for crazy amounts of money.
"It's a bit of a challenge and I think it's going to take a bit longer than I originally thought."
Giving advice to other renters who are trying to save up to buy their own home, Matt said: "Buying somewhere of my own is something I’ve always dreamt about since I was a kid. So many decisions I've made in my life have been to try and raise the money so that I can get to this point.
"It depends how serious you are about it, but if it's something that you really want I'd say to try live somewhere where your rent is a lot cheaper so that you can save up quicker and start saving as early as you can.
"It's difficult because you want to just enjoy your life and have money to get takeaways, go out, go on holiday and do fun stuff with your friends but you also have to have a bit of a balance, you have to make some compromises which isn’t easy but then when you're in the position that you can get on the ladder, it will be worth it.
"I’m 34 and I was in a good position because I got to save up whilst living in Dubai but I’m still finding it difficult. Life is short and you also don't want to regret being too sensible, you’ve still got to enjoy yourself and make memories.
"Buying a property is an investment for our future and hopefully it will earn us money in the years to come.”
You can see more of Matt and George's flat on their Instagram account @hattathome.
Want to get involved in Where I Live? If you are interested in featuring your home in our weekly series, please email your details to phoebe.jobling@reachplc.com.
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