Greater Manchester tenants have faced soaring rents in recent years amid the rising cost of living. The phenomenon isn’t new, and it has made prices unaffordable for many, particularly in the city centre.
However, new research has found that so-called ‘commuter towns’ are now seeing rent climb faster, as city living becomes out-of-reach for a growing number of tenants. One town which has seen some of the fastest-growing rents in the past year is Bolton.
According to data from property website Zoopla, which was provided to the BBC, the rising cost of new lets in Bolton has recently outpaced those in Manchester. Meanwhile, tenants in Manchester, Bolton and Wigan have all seen rent increases outpacing wage growth, the research found.
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Richard Donnell, executive director of research at Zoopla, said: “Rents have risen fastest in UK cities, but affordability pressures have pushed renters to seek better value for money in commuter towns where there are more homes for rent. Big cities have led the way on rental growth as demand rises in the face of static rental supply – we have the same number of rented homes as in 2016.”
The research found that in Bolton, an average monthly let cost £569 in December 2020 and rose to £789 by December 2023, a 38.7 per cent increase. That’s a faster rate than in Manchester, where the average figure rose by 37.8 per cent from £776 a month in December 2020 to £1,069 in December 2023.
Bolton had the second-highest rent increase over that period in Zoopla’s research, behind Glasgow, while Manchester was third. Wigan was sixth on the list, with a rise of 35.5 per cent, and Rochdale ninth at 33.7 per cent.
Last year alone, Bolton experienced the highest rent rise of any UK area in the Zoopla survey, at 14.8 per cent. Mr Donnell added: “We simply aren’t building enough homes, especially for those on mid to lower incomes.”
Robert Johnson is a UK-based business writer specializing in finance and entrepreneurship. With an eye for market trends and a keen interest in the corporate world, he offers readers valuable insights into business developments.
