A skyscraper city, what will Manchester look like a decade from now?

We don’t need to tell you that Manchester has changed dramatically in the last decade. With new high rises popping up on what seems like a weekly basis and the number of cranes dominating the skyline, Manchester’s growth doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon.

With a thriving job market and increased investment in commercial and residential developments, Manchester is attracting more people than ever to live, work and study here. Manchester City Centre’s population is set to hit 100,000 by 2025, with 600,000 people living across Greater Manchester already.

With businesses like Amazon setting up their Northern HQ here and the creation of new business districts such as NOMA, Manchester’s job market is flourishing, which in turn increases demand from renters wanting to live in the city centre and therefore the number of developers trying to keep up with demand.

According to Ed Howe, Founder at UrbInfo, Manchester now has a larger high rise pipeline than any other European city outside of London. There are more high rise buildings under construction or in planning stages than in Berlin, Rotterdam, Lisbon, Paris and Munich combined.

Howe said: “Tall buildings are essential to Manchester’s development. They maximise land efficiency and take the pressure off the city’s transport network by concentrating homes and businesses in the city’s compact, walkable core.

“Tall buildings have the potential to deliver up to 28,000 new homes for Manchester, taking pressure off the Green Belt. 2018 saw more tall buildings start construction in Manchester than any other year on record, while 36 new tall buildings were proposed, also representing a new record.”

Howe cleverly uses Google Sketchup to render proposed buildings, using elevation information from various planning applications. Sketchup allows you to create models to an accurate scale, with Google Earth puts these buildings on the exact sites. Take a look at recently completed, under construction, planned and approved schemes here.

Residential developments under construction in Manchester

With hundreds of residential developments under construction in Manchester, from new build high-rises sitting at 200.5m high to renovations of existing buildings, the Manchester skyline will look very different to how it did even just five years ago.

The Manchester City Centre boundary is constantly expanding to encompass more areas and one of these areas is Ancoats. Once one of the most forgotten fringes of the city, Ancoats is now a flourishing neighbourhood where some of the city’s best restaurants (and even a Michelin star) can be found.

Ancoats has quickly become Manchester’s most popular location to live, eat and work. Due to its popularity, rental demand is through the roof in Ancoats and developers are quickly trying to build in this area so investors can make the most of the rental yield and tenant demand.

One of our latest developments, Ancoats Gardens, is located in the area. With 155 1,2, and 3-bedroom apartments, two roof gardens, a resident’s lounge and a private high-spec gym, Ancoats Gardens will be in exceptionally high demand from tenants. With a projected return of 7% Ancoats Gardens is a lucrative offer for investors.

For those wondering how Manchester will look in the next few years, Manchester Confidential and Ed Howe recently put together projected CGIS of how Manchester will look when all planned, approved and under construction developments are finished.

Not only does this showcase Manchester’s growth to potential investors, it also cements Manchester’s position as the UK’s second city with scope for residences, office space and retail offerings in abundance for the future.

Investment in infrastructure

The perception that Manchester has as a good place to live, visit, invest and do business in is crucial to Manchester’s economy. With vast development in both housing and commercial space, the public transport offering in the future needs to match this growth.

While Manchester’s Metrolink network has played a pivotal role in regenerating and connecting boroughs across Greater Manchester to the centre and beyond, improvements need to be made to the transport infrastructure to cope with Manchester’s growth in the future.

Now is the time to invest in Manchester

With some of the best rental yields in the UK, Manchester is a buy to let hotspot and an investors paradise. On top of great yields, the UK currency hasn’t fully recovered to how it was before Brexit. With the UK due to leave the European Union (EU) on 31 January 2020, it’s likely that the pound will recover its losses and Manchester property will no longer be as cheap to invest in as it is now.

Combining high-quality contemporary finishes and cutting-edge low-carbon technologies, Beech Holdings’ developments are in huge demand from both tenants and investors. If you’re interested in investing in property in an area experiencing major growth and rental demand, get in touch with our team today.

Explore our other areas which include: Ancoats, City Border, City Centre, Northern Quarter, Princess Street, Salford Quays, Spinningfields, and Trafford.