Residential Schemes In 2012: A Guide For Buyers And Renters

SO, did you try and find a new place to live in 2011 or like most of the nation did you stay put?

“We still have BBC people turning up on a Friday saying have you got a flat to rent I’m starting work on Monday. They are under the wrong impression that we have buildings lying empty and we don’t”

Forget what is happening to house prices - and that varies wildly from area to area - it is the level of actual sales that has most of the industry concerned, if no-one is moving then the whole thing grinds to a halt.

It also meant that last year was the year of the renter and with little new stock coming onto the market in city centre Manchester the lack of supply caused a bit of panic amongst people(mainly overseas students and BBC folk) needing to  find a place fast. Agents like to use the word frenzy.

They also used the imbalance of supply and demand to increase rents.

At Eastbank, in Ancoats, a two bedroom flat that started out at £900 was fetching £1,400 by the end of the summer. It’s fallen back again but a lesson to all – get your lease renewed in the depths of winter rather than high summer.

Steve Hogg from Jones Lang La Salle says there’s a severe lack of supply, not just in the city centre but at Salford Quays where he has a waiting list of people looking to rent rather than buy.

He said: “We still have BBC people turning up on a Friday saying have you got a flat to rent I’m starting work on Monday. They are under the wrong impression that we have buildings lying empty and we don’t”

He apparently had to tell a London hedge fund manager (do they still exist?) looking to invest some residential fund squillions that there was probably nothing suitable.

“He was gobsmacked. A lot of the investment funds are looking at residential blocks and the private rental model as the most secure investment around at the moment. And with the severe lack of supply I can only see residential rents continuing to increase.”

He thinks the Manchester market is one of the most resilient outside of London and the South East and could even see a mini surge on the back of a national Olympics feel good factor. It also benefits from the big investment stuff like NOMA, Media City, Airport City and new Metrolink lines.

Over at Hunters, boss Kevin Hollinrake also saw rents fetching above guide prices but he also reports a 20% increase in the number of sales with buyers split between buy to letters looking for a repo bargain and parents buying for their student offspring. He does not anticipate much change next year with lettings staying strong but some respectable sales as well. A couple of apartments in No1 Deansgate changed hands at £1m plus over the year

Julie Twist made a move of her own this year shifting offices along Deansgate and also reports cash buyers who are happy to proceed if the price was right.

“But it’s just as well because anyone needing a mortgage has really struggled,” she said: “Rentals though have been phenomenal and any landlord who has not had a rent increase should be reviewing things now.”

She is optimistic that Manchester will continue to grow and is increasingly having conversations with developers about possible schemes or refurbishments.

And it means sellers are having to be more pragmatic.

Chester based Interior designer Mark Gillette owns one of the most beautifully fitted apartments in Manchester in the Burton Building on Oldham Street but after 12 months on the market he has not found a buyer.

Even dropping the price from £375,000 to £337,500 failed to spark much interest.

Maybe it’s the wrong part of town for a buyer at this value despite having parking and a roof terrace so now he is considering renting it out.

He said: “I don’t want to but I need to be based nearer Chester for business and there seems no other way but to rent this and in turn I will rent something.”

Burton Building

So what have we got to look forward to in 2012?

The Ice Plant in Ancoats will finally launch in January (about six months later than planned) with 83 apartments above ground floor commercial units flanking Cutting Room Square.

I had a sneaky tour earlier this month and even without the finishing touches it was looking pretty swanky - top class fittings, great detailing and big, interesting spaces. It has a nice feel with a central ‘street’ topped by a glass roof, a bit like The Lock Building on Whitworth Street, but a better scale.

It’s going to be pricey though, some of the one beds will be touching £900 a month and two beds up to £1,300 and parking is extra but Nathan Ezair from the developers the Northern Group believes this is what the city needs and one premiership footballer has already decided to hang his boots here.

Word is that Lend Lease may make a move to finish off Cyprus Place, the last tower in The Green Quarter, sooner rather than later and again the feeling is that it will cater for the top end of the market.

The public realm that will eventually surround the Co-op’s new HQ will run down underneath the railway tracks and end almost at its front door, so repositioning it to face the city rather than Cheetham Hill Road.

Expect something official from Lend Lease before the end of January, see here.

Manchester Ship Canal Developments (MSCD) - the joint venture partnership between developer Peel Land & Property and Manchester City Council still have some units to shift at Eastbank off Great Ancoats Street. But the terraced rows of mews houses have been so successful with buyers rather than renters they want to build more on the corner bit of land originally earmarked for a hotel. Here's their website.

And just down the road ISIS Waterside Developments is understood to be talking to the Town Hall about replacing existing plans for apartments on plots it owns around Islington Wharf with town houses. They have only a couple of apartments left here as their shared equity scheme allowed buyers to get a place of their own in a quality scheme in a good spot.

The arrival of the Metrolink in the spring will suddenly make this side of the ring road more accessible.

UK Land and Property are plugging away trying to salvage something from the wreck of Bashir Issa’s empire and turn Sarah Point into 126 apartments in a building re-named Nuovo. They were scheduled to be complete by the back end of 2012 but it’s looking unlikely now.

The only other developer constructing in the city centre right now is Renaker who are working on Bengal Mill in Ancoats. They recently completed Delta Point behind the Renault Garage on Trinity Way and are also responsible for Quantum. A bad admission but I have never been inside a Renaker building so I can’t comment on the standard but it appears to be one of the most industrious outfits going and is also on-site now on Ordsall Lane in Salford building 150 units due to come up for sale at the end of next year.

Sadly there seems scant hope of similar activity on the development scar that is Origin. The Princess Street site and others owned by West Properties are currently being marketed by Savills for NAMA, the National Asset Management Agency.

Interesting piece here in the Irish Independent on the latest shenanigans. You really could not make it up.

For other development delights you have to cast a bit further but it’s worth going the extra mile because the quality and value on offer just outside the city centre is refreshing.

Maine Place, the mix of housing and apartments that now occupy Machester City’s old ground in Moss Side, came to a halt when Lowry Homes went into administration but it is now back on track with Warrington based Prospect GB and they have just completed a good looking apartment block. You can get a three bed duplex here for £109,950. New roads are going in as well as the new school and Confidential is going for a show home tour early in the New Year to check out the space and the spec. Click here

Just round the corner the Government has pumped in millions to turn streets of two bed terraces into bigger three and four bed houses. Re-named Infusion they are being marketed by Miller Homes and show what can be done with some clever planning and lots of dosh. Three bed houses here are £115,000 but they are also doing new three storey four beds at £165,000. The restored streets look great – so it’s a scandal that the landmark bus station with its glorious arch and clock tower is being demolished to make way for the next phase of new builds. Click here

At New Broughton in Salford, Countryside Properties continue to transform the area on a grand scale and can offer shared equity deals which allow people to get a place to call their own for £66 a week and a three bed duplex with garden for £485.

It’s good news that the council has also recently signed them up to take on the barren wastes of Higher Broughton as well. Maybe something will finally happen there now. Click here

Lots still happening down at Ordsall with the opening of Morrisons and a Travelodge as well the completion of a new row of townhouses. LPC Living has tweaked its designs to give clever balconies and the street scene looks good. They still have lots of plots to go round and about but this summer should see the completion of a new square. Click here and here

Burton Building