GP writes: The first of a weekly series for Metro, the UK’s biggest-circulation newspaper. No pressure.

From cotton to Canal Street and science to the Stone Roses, Manchester has plenty to recommend it. Gary Parkinson introduces the original northern powerhouse

The city formerly known as ‘Cottonopolis’ was once so powerful and rich that it could afford its own inland port, building a 36-mile Ship Canal to circumvent its local rival Liverpool and spread its influence worldwide; some Australians still refer to household linen as ‘manchester’. A scientific and cultural hub, Manchester is where Rutherford split the atom, Marx met Engels, the first stored-program computer was developed and any number of banging tunes were composed.

In the post-industrial era, “MCR” has rejuvenated itself: one of Britain’s best student cities is now also a major media centre with a thriving social life. Victorian warehouses and infrastructure have been lovingly (and lucratively) reimagined for shopping, socialising and living. Two world-renowned Premier League football teams compete for attention, and closer to home several towns and villages around the Mancunian conurbation – estimated population around 2.8m – feel its gravitational pull: Metrolink trams snake through the suburbs serving 92 stops across seven lines.  

Manchester’s worker-bee symbol expresses the city’s pride in its work, but it also knows how to play. Besides the latest bands on a pop production line snaking from Joy Division through New Order, The Smiths, The Stone Roses, Oasis and Elbow, the city hosts two symphony orchestras, an opera house, several large theatres and dozens of arts venues. Those who prefer their entertainment in liquid form won’t go thirsty, either: more than 500 licenced premises cater for around 120,000 revellers on an average weekend night, with special mention for Canal Street – one of Britain’s oldest and best LGBT-friendly areas with around 20,000 visitors per weekend.

Starting out Manchester has thousands of one-bed flats, and not all are new-builds. The city centre’s buzzing Northern Quarter is rife with tastefully reworked industrial architecture, like a £130,000 one-bed in The Wentwood, a grade II-listed former warehouse and Ministry of Defence office.

Great for families Manchester has plenty of family-friendly properties. Gardened semis with OSP abound off the main arterial routes: a three-bed on Withington’s Mauldeth Road West is £220,000, but something similar in leafy commuter village Alderley Edge will at least double that.

Just won the lottery? If you like a good view, bag a pad in the new 52-storey Elizabeth Tower, looming over the city centre’s revived Bridgewater Canal basin. A three-bed flat will set you back £1.8m, but the housewarming party will have to wait until the tower’s completion in late 2021.

HEAD FOR RURAL BLISS IN… 

Edale About 12 miles south-east of Manchester, the Peak District village from which begins the Pennine Way is prime hiking country – but feel free if you prefer to lounge around the Site of Special Scientific Interest along the burbling River Noe, or the pubs made of honey-coloured gritstone. Expect to pay £400,000 for a three-bed.

Rivington Manchester sits in a geological bowl; Rivington perches on its northern rim, where the West Pennine Moors flatten into the fields of Lancashire. The reservoir-dotted landscape earns the nickname Little Lake District – but also a £500,000 price-tag for a two-bed cottage.

Goostrey Down on the Cheshire plain south of the city is a former farming village centred on a 1,200-year-old churchyard yew tree. There are 24 listed heritage assets, a scheduled ancient monument and the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Jodrell Bank observatory; £400,000 should get you a four-bed.

THE COST OF LIVING

Average rent: The city-wide average rent is around £1,300pcm but studio flats in student areas start at £400. Manchester has plenty of four-bed family homes around £1,500, including new-builds near the popular Chorlton Village. 

Average house price: £150,000 for a one-bed up to £350,000 for a four-bed, although there are exceptions at either end: unwanted former family properties north of the centre are being refit for student multiple occupancy, while generous houses in the leafier suburbs might threaten seven figures.

Average rental yield: Housing demand outstrips supply: a December 2018 report by the Manchester Evening News suggested the average rental cost had shot up 30 percent in four years. As usual, the best dividends can come in the areas yet to be gentrified: postcodes M18 (around Gorton) and M12 (Belle Vue/Longsight) tend to post 7% annual yields.

Average house price rise: In the 12 months to December 2019, the average house price rose 1.43% to £198,331.

Average price of a pint: £4.

Council tax: From £1097.34 to £3292.04 per year. 

MANCHESTER AT A GLANCE

Connections: Manchester has its own orbital motorway, the M60; Liverpool is 50 minutes down the M62, Leeds an hour the other way, Sheffield an hour through the Peak District. By train, Birmingham is 90 minutes and London a shade over two hours. 

Amenities: 5/5 Culture at Manchester Arena, Apollo, Bridgewater Hall, Albert Hall, Palace Theatre, Opera House and others. City-centre shopping plus huge Trafford Centre on the M60.

Festivals and events: Biennial Manchester International Festival, Parklife, Sounds of the City, Chinese New Year, Manchester Irish Festival, Jazz Festival, Pride, Diwali Mela.

Open space: 4/5 Even in the Industrial Revolution Manchester was protecting green lungs like Alexandra Park, Peel Park and the huge Heaton Park. Later on and farther out, it was cushioned by the 1960s North West Green Belt, while the Peak District National Park is on its eastern doorstep.

Landmarks: Two Premier League football grounds, the 47-storey Beetham Tower, the Gothic-revival Manchester Town Hall, the Castlefield industrial conservation area.

Schools: 4/5 ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted ratings for 32 primaries and nine secondaries. Exam-selective secondaries include Manchester Grammar School plus grammars in Altrincham, Sale, Stretford and Urmston.

Crime: 2/5 As a major city, Manchester has relatively high crime rates; they decreased in 2019, with notable drops in anti-social behaviour but an increase in drug-related crimes.   

Famous faces: Comedy writer Caroline Aherne, England cricket captain Mike Atherton, A Clockwork Orange author Anthony Burgess, starchitect Norma Foster, feuding Oasis brother Noel and Liam Gallagher, most recent Liberal prime minister David Lloyd George, suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst.

Originally published in the Metro newspaper, 7 Jan 2020