Returning to the UK - Manchester

Soldato
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Matakana New Zealand
I am budgeting 750 pm but can go to 850 if its worth it. Looking for a minimum 2 bed with a nice enough garden as we have a cat coming with us. I would like something near a tram line as the job is close to that. Not looking to get a car yet as I know its horrendous in a city to drive sometimes. Auckland is excellent for 1 hour commutes if you leave the house after 6am from the suburbs. I will get a car in a few months after being there as I would like to explore a bit with the wife.

Believe me, if you can handle Auckland driving, Manchester will be easy! I've done both.
 
Soldato
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St Breward Cornwall
NZ has never really appealed to me because i imagine the spaces and hence the isolation been so big ,a magnification of where i live ,but thats only in my mind ,however the thought of going to a hole like that fills me with sadness for you ,i think Cornwall would be a better choice ,just saying
 
Associate
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4 Dec 2009
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518
I am budgeting 750 pm but can go to 850 if its worth it. Looking for a minimum 2 bed with a nice enough garden as we have a cat coming with us. I would like something near a tram line as the job is close to that. Not looking to get a car yet as I know its horrendous in a city to drive sometimes. Auckland is excellent for 1 hour commutes if you leave the house after 6am from the suburbs. I will get a car in a few months after being there as I would like to explore a bit with the wife.
For that amount of money you should be able to rent something in withington/olds moat or ladybarn closeish to the main bus route or the airport train line.
You dont want to go any further south than withington/didsbury or your commute to the city will be too long.
You will not get a 2 bed with a garden for anywhere close to that amount in any of the didsburys.

Sale, Northenden, Altrincham and Chorltan are all possibles although there prices do vary and Chorlton/Altrinchham are the `in thing` now. Also a fair commute. Chorlton on the tram line and Altrincham on the train line.
The city centre like most i expect gets pack solid at the usual times. Depending on when I leave work it can add 45 mins onto a bus journey.
 
Soldato
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also so much pinotage when i posted , its just how some of the replies talked about places in manchester (within a certain budget) it just seems a massive lifestyle drop (also my old workmate came down to escape manchester as i did west yorkshire ,just the negativity ive picked up from her also ,i know if you have money you can always find a nice area
anyway this is my kindle reading spot 15mins away ,very hard to access ,tourist free

IMG-20190907-135921.jpg
 
Soldato
Joined
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Matakana New Zealand
also so much pinotage when i posted , its just how some of the replies talked about places in manchester (within a certain budget) it just seems a massive lifestyle drop (also my old workmate came down to escape manchester as i did west yorkshire ,just the negativity ive picked up from her also ,i know if you have money you can always find a nice area
anyway this is my kindle reading spot 15mins away ,very hard to access ,tourist free
I meant what you said....
NZ has never really appealed to me because i imagine the spaces and hence the isolation been so big

Then you recommend Cornwall, which is a lot of vast nothingness! Sure, there are cities and towns like Newquay, Barnstaple, Perranporth ect, (I'm a fan of cornwall btw, been a few times), it's infact, a lot like New Zealand, in the fact that it's long and narrow, with loads of coastal towns and cities, excpet, NZ has places in it's centre too (Rotorua / Taupo / Queenstown) whereas, Cornwall has literally nothing it it's centre!

I'm also a big fan of Manchester, which again has just been voted most liveable city in the UK for 2nd year running, Mancunians are fantastic people, really friendly, there's so much going on in Manchester, if anything, coming from NZ ,it'll be overwhelming for some people, but in a good way! It's also a good base for visiting the lakes and the peak district, North Wales is just over an hour away, as is Chester.

Point is, i know where i'd rather live.....

New Zealand ;)

More seriously though, if i had to choose Cornwall or Manchester, i wouldn't think twice about choosing Manchester! It just has so much more going for it than Cornwall.[/quote]
 
Soldato
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my knowledge of NZ is more from the lotr extended extas than anything else :),but tbh i find cornwall far from full of nothingness its so easy to get to newquay or truro or anywhere ,rnd the beauty is on your doorstep rarther than setting off to the lakes or north wales ,ie if its so good why do you need to travel out of it
anyway the surf sucks in Manchester
 
Soldato
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And as for your view,
my knowledge of NZ is more from the lotr extended extas than anything else :),but tbh i find cornwall far from full of nothingness its so easy to get to newquay or truro or anywhere ,rnd the beauty is on your doorstep rarther than setting off to the lakes or north wales ,ie if its so good why do you need to travel out of it
anyway the surf sucks in Manchester

It's more the variety from Manchester, you can have the city life, the excellent night life, then when you want to escape, everything is on your doorstep. Best of both worlds.
 
Soldato
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France, Alsace
NZ has never really appealed to me because i imagine the spaces and hence the isolation been so big ,a magnification of where i live ,but thats only in my mind ,however the thought of going to a hole like that fills me with sadness for you ,i think Cornwall would be a better choice ,just saying
Has living in Cornwall made you incapable of using commas?
 
Soldato
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France, Alsace
my knowledge of NZ is more from the lotr extended extas than anything else :),but tbh i find cornwall far from full of nothingness its so easy to get to newquay or truro or anywhere ,rnd the beauty is on your doorstep rarther than setting off to the lakes or north wales ,ie if its so good why do you need to travel out of it
anyway the surf sucks in Manchester
It's just full of weirdos and racists in Cornwall. :p
 
Associate
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Manchester
You'll get much better value going west (I imagine anything south on that budget will not be too great)
This popped up on one of my feeds over the weekend just as an example. Decent area (and right next to some very nice areas)
https://www.zoopla.co.uk/to-rent/details/40952531?search_identifier=bca230a07de1c35e2204a842133648fe
Not on tram line but right next to guided busway (every 15 mins) and near train station on victoria line

Three bed. A little further out but still on guided bus line. Again, nice area
https://www.zoopla.co.uk/to-rent/details/52374600

You'll get whitefield on your budget too but maybe not prestwich
 
Associate
OP
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14 Nov 2006
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407
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Manchester, UK
Hey guys, Just updating on my move. I have booked my flights, meaning my feet will be on UK soil on the 2nd October. So freaking excited!!!
Got a motel booked and a rental car booked so I'm stationed to get about and sleep. My real question now to everyone who has rented in the Manchester area: How long from viewing/applying that an approval would happen? A couple of days? Weeks? Years?
I know here, depending on references, we could be signed up and keys in the hand the same day. Is this the same in the UK? Been so long since I have done rentals in the UK... No doubt they are the same thing as here in NZ
Because it's been nothing but a pain in the seat cushion trying to apply for rentals from NZ, I have to now do everything on the urgent path when I am there. My wife and I will be booking viewings the day we land all the way through till we get something, prioritising the ones we prefer to the ones that are not so preferred.

Any tips/tricks would be grand.
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Mar 2010
Posts
12,305
I am budgeting 750 pm but can go to 850 if its worth it. Looking for a minimum 2 bed with a nice enough garden as we have a cat coming with us. I would like something near a tram line as the job is close to that. Not looking to get a car yet as I know its horrendous in a city to drive sometimes. Auckland is excellent for 1 hour commutes if you leave the house after 6am from the suburbs. I will get a car in a few months after being there as I would like to explore a bit with the wife.

Insisting on a garden does kind of limit you as that would mean ruling out a majority of flats, you may still find the ones where big Victorian house split up into flats and usually the ground floor flat is the one with access to the garden.

Hey guys, Just updating on my move. I have booked my flights, meaning my feet will be on UK soil on the 2nd October. So freaking excited!!!
Got a motel booked and a rental car booked so I'm stationed to get about and sleep. My real question now to everyone who has rented in the Manchester area: How long from viewing/applying that an approval would happen? A couple of days? Weeks? Years?
I know here, depending on references, we could be signed up and keys in the hand the same day. Is this the same in the UK? Been so long since I have done rentals in the UK... No doubt they are the same thing as here in NZ
Because it's been nothing but a pain in the seat cushion trying to apply for rentals from NZ, I have to now do everything on the urgent path when I am there. My wife and I will be booking viewings the day we land all the way through till we get something, prioritising the ones we prefer to the ones that are not so preferred.

Any tips/tricks would be grand.

I think it really depends. The big factor is whether the property is currently vacant or not, as over here you have to give at least a months notice to vacate, so the property could still occupied many weeks before it's available to move into.

Do you already have a job offer lined up? I think most will want to do some sort of employment checks, or have a sizeable deposit upfront. Personally if it was me, i'd look at a few properties that you're considering and then phone the letting agents and ask what details they require from you - at least this way you can get what you need sorted before you fly back. You can probably also ask how long the references/checks will take.
 
Associate
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4 Apr 2003
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1,804
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Manchester
My mate owns a letting agency so here is the latest after new law changes
You find somewhere and submit a holding deposit which is max 1 weeks rent. As standard you get this back after 15 days once you are in and all checks are complete. That's the theory however he is saying it takes generally longer than that to get replies from employers/refrences etc so they ask to extend that to 30 days. If you accept somewhere and then pull out, you loose that deposit. Otherwise you get it back after the period even if you fail the checks and end up not moving in
 
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