Veronica Biggins doesn’t go on any fancy holidays. She doesn’t splurge on luxuries or treat herself to expensive clothes.
With rent prices rising more in Oldham than anywhere else in the north, she can barely even afford her home.
“It’s a horrible life,” the 61-year-old, from Royton, told the Manchester Evening News. “This is why people are killing themselves – because they can’t afford to live.
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“We’re the area where rent has gone up the most. Why? We’re the poorest town going. We’re the roughest town and all.”
The carer is among thousands of renters who are struggling to pay their bills across the borough.
Oldham has seen the largest rent increase of any local authority in the north of England, according to new data.
The average home in Oldham cost £766 a month to rent in the 12 months to April, up by 13.4 per cent compared to the year earlier.
That’s marginally more than in Salford, which has seen the north’s next highest rise. The average home there costs £1,033 a month to rent, up by 13.2 per cent compared to last year.
Veronica says her sky-rocketing rent is causing her so much stress it’s making her ill. “It’s horrible,” she said as she takes a tea break in Oldham town centre. “It’s making me ill. “I’ve got more illnesses now than I ever have.”
And it’s not just rising rental prices the mum is struggling with. “No matter how many days you go shopping, everything has gone up, not down,” she said.
“You have to pinch off Peter to pay Paul. I feel sorry for the young ones. I really do.”
Another Oldham resident, who did not wish to give his name, said: “Nothing is going to come down. You go into the supermarket and everything has gone up by 20p every single day.
“But when you miss a bill, they’re on your case right away.”
The inflation rate for food and drink in the UK was 2.9 percent in April 2024, down from four percent in the previous month, according to the latest stats.
The rate of inflation has fallen significantly since it hit 11.1 per cent in October 2022 – the highest rate for 40 years – as the country became gripped by the cost of living crisis. But prices remain higher than they were before the pandemic.
Around 35 per cent of Oldham residents live in deprivation, according to the council’s Joint Strategic Needs Assessment, which examines the current and future health and care needs of the population.
Meanwhile, new information has revealed rent prices have increased by almost nine per cent across the UK as a whole in the last year – the highest levels on record.
It costs £1,293 a month to rent the average home in England, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics. The stats cover the year to April 2024.
That’s an increase of 8.9 per cent compared to last year.
London has seen the largest increase in rent prices in the country. Rents in the capital as a whole have increased by an average of 10.8 per cent to £2,070 a month.
The Greater Manchester boroughs which have seen the highest increase in rent after Oldham are Rochdale, by 12.3 per cent and Manchester, by 12.2 per cent.
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.
