Renting a flat in Manchester

[meghatronic]

So just incase I have missed something, what do I need to consider as monthly outgoings?

Rent
Council Tax
TV License
Mobile Bill
Food
Water
Electric
Internet
landline telephone rental

You may have to pay a maintenance charge at your flats

I assume you don't have gas... but other than that you look good to go, unless you want contents insurance.

 

[meghatronic]

Blimey, prices have really come down! I've not lived in manc for a couple of years. When me and my friend tried to find a place in the NQ, prices were around the 800- 1k mark for a shoebox!

I'm quite excited about coming back if the prices don't fluctuate too much.

Still can be expensive in places. I wanted a 1.5/2 bed in NQ... and was looking at £800 for a nice place. However, lots of new builds have gone up, especially around the green quarter, so it's pushed prices down. There are a lot of empty lots.

 

[Messiah Khan]

You may have to pay a maintenance charge at your flats

I assume you don't have gas... but other than that you look good to go, unless you want contents insurance.

A lot of places demand you have contents insurance.

 

[Abraham]

nowhere I've been has, if it's furnished the landlord should have contents insurance to cover their property. Also I've not seen anywhere for rent in manchester where the maintenance charge is passed on to the tenant (seperately from the rent)

 

[meghatronic]

nowhere I've been has, if it's furnished the landlord should have contents insurance to cover their property. Also I've not seen anywhere for rent in manchester where the maintenance charge is passed on to the tenant (seperately from the rent)

Loads of places charge maintenance that I've found. I obviously avoided them.

And, the landlord will have contents insurance (maybe) to cover THEIR property as you said, but what about yours?!?

 

[Baplad]

Whoops, i should have read the whole thread, just seen you got somewhere!

 

[Abraham]

Loads of places charge maintenance that I've found. I obviously avoided them.

And, the landlord will have contents insurance (maybe) to cover THEIR property as you said, but what about yours?!?

Obviously it's sensible to have your own, although I've never felt at any risk in the flats i've lived in. But I've not heard of it being compulsory.

I must've avoided all the places that the landlord passes on the maintenance charge, never seen it not included in the rent.

 

[tsinc80697]

Yeah I did have contents insurance, forgot to put it on the list! Any one recommend any companies or are they much the same? Also how much would I be expecting to pay? At the moments its just my clothes, tv, consoles, mac pro and other computer bits coming with me.
Gas isn't an option in the flat which normally I hate due to crappy electric hobs but these ones are brand new and are meant to be decent!
I'm hoping there is no maintenance change as it wasn't mentioned at all and I know the landlord for these apartments has pretty much handed everything over toe the estate agents so I hope they would have said something to me!

 

[Abraham]

I'm with endsleigh for my contents, they're cheap and although the cover amount is comparatively low it's enough to cover most of my stuff

 

[tsinc80697]

Thanks Ill take a look!
Got a phone call about 30minutes ago to say I can move in Friday afternoon if I want!
Deposit got paid for 24hours ago and I can move in Friday afternoon if I wanted! Waiting till Saturday so I have someone to help move stuff with me but so far Isaac Anthonys have been really good! All referencing and checking in under half a day isn't bad!

Just need to sort out water/electric/phoneline/internet and Im good to go!

 

[Andy]

If you find a smallish flat make sure it has big windows otherwise you feel clostraphobic!
My mate lives just north of teh northen quarter going towards ancoats, it is in that large mill they have converted nearish Toys R Us. You go in and the walls in the halls are all orange like EasyJet and the apartments are pretty small with Tiny windows. I can't stand it tbh..

 

[Messiah Khan]

I got my contents insureance with the AA. Turned out to be far cheaper than anywhere else for what I needed (Needed the insurance to also cover my camera kit outside the flat).

 

[tsinc80697]

I got my contents insureance with the AA. Turned out to be far cheaper than anywhere else for what I needed (Needed the insurance to also cover my camera kit outside the flat).

Exactly what Im after with the camera kit. Ive found endsleigh for £108 and camera insurance for £30 seperately. So going to have a look around at the AA now

The AA is same price as endsleigh, but the AA has no excess and insures my mac pro upto £2.5k. Not bad for £110pa!

Incase anyone is interested ill post below some pics I took on my phone yesterday of my new flat! Cant wait!

 

[tsinc80697]

 

[VaderDSL]

Nice! although get some heavy curtain as that corner will feel cold

 

[tsinc80697]

So after 5 months of living here I'm thinking of moving! Its been the perfect flat but looking for somewhere slightly cheaper! Contacting estate agents this week to see if they will renegotiate another 6 month lease with a bit knocked off the price.

Anyone in/around Manchester heard of Chips or Moho? New(?) development by Urban Splash. I know I asked about these few months ago but what's the area like for these and similar developments or am I best staying away from them?

Chips is located here if anyone knows what its like round there:
http://www.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&so...3.485237,-2.228251&spn=0.043666,0.048409&z=14

Thanks

 

[DanTheMan]

How far away from the city centre would you consider moving?

I live 3 miles north of the centre and Lakeside Apartments in Blackley can be had for as little as £450 a month fully furnished. Me and the girlfriend are looking to move there some time next year.

You also get free access to the gym in there and free parking.

 

[manic_man]

So after 5 months of living here I'm thinking of moving! Its been the perfect flat but looking for somewhere slightly cheaper! Contacting estate agents this week to see if they will renegotiate another 6 month lease with a bit knocked off the price.

Anyone in/around Manchester heard of Chips or Moho? New(?) development by Urban Splash. I know I asked about these few months ago but what's the area like for these and similar developments or am I best staying away from them?

Chips is located here if anyone knows what its like round there:
http://www.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&so...3.485237,-2.228251&spn=0.043666,0.048409&z=14Thanks

I know the ones you are talking about, theres a small glut of new(ish) apartment down in that area. I used to live a bit further up in the MM2 building (pickford street). They call the area itself the Ancoats regeneration area. Unfortunately for a long time Ancoats was almost worse than Moss Side in Manchester, it was a very run down industrial area full of metal work factories... part of the areas heritage, but not making for the most attractive of places. When we moved into MM2, Ancoats looked to be on the up, but in the 12 months we lived there we saw it rapidly going downhill, ILVA closed, two large new VERY prominent (read on the main road..) new apartment developments stopped work and are now derelict, and theres quite a bit more too.

My housemate still works in the area at a small software dev company, he says he sees more and more.. er.. unusual things? daily. AFAIK he works VERY close to the "card room" area you have pinpointed too. While the buildings are nice, the area itself isn't so amazing... Go and have a look yourself though, see if you are happy with it.

You are looking to rent at the right time if you want reduced prices though. We went from a 3 bed in MM2 at £1000 pcm to a 3 bed in Tempus Tower (very close to the GQ, big red tower) for basically the same. When we rented the one in MM2, this place would have been substantially more. I'd start by seeing if IA will negotiate you a lower rent. I have lived in or visited quite a few new developments in the city centre over the past few years and I can honestly say the ones in the GQ are about as good as it gets in Manchester. Both in terms of the complex itself, the general surroundings and the quality/upkeep of the buildings, I'd try and stay there if you can.

 

[tsinc80697]

I don't mind moving a 20min train ride away as it means I can move my car from Liverpool to Manchester, just at the moment I refuse to pay £75pcm for a car park space!

Spoke to estate agents this morning and the best they could offer was £25pcm discount making it £675pcm. Still too expensive really.

Found a nice house in Walkden which is within travelling range.

Thanks for letting me know about Ancoats, been told it might be a bit dodgy. Even if the rent was £450 for a place as nice as where I currently am I wouldn't move to a dodgy area. Living on my own and walking back of a night and having a car there wouldn't be the best thing!

 

[manic_man]

Walkden is a bit dull...

My Grandparents live in Walkden, while its great for them, quiet, full of old people. Its not ideal. Especially if you have been enjoying city centre living.

Personally I'd move into Ancoats well before Walkden I probably should say, over 12 months at MM2, I really didnt have any problems to speak of. Though my parking was underground so I didnt worry about that aspect. Thing is with Ancoats, there is the huge Royal Mills development in that area, and the places in there are darned expensive (lovely too), so while the area may not be as.. posh, as some agents would like you to think, the general populous is always quite well off. I'd go and have a look myself, see how you feel about it, as an area its very varied, I really liked MM2 for example, yet a few backroads away, things look decidely less rosey. Very much like most of Manchester really.

What about the "Fresh!" development? Not sure how much things are in there, but it was reasonably nice when I had a look around and I know 3 beds in there were cheaper than nearly all other new 3 bed places. Bit small in places, but on the whole, quite nice.

I see IA have a 1 bed place in "Central Court" in Salford too. It's actually just outside the catchment of Manchester, so still clsoe the centre. It's a smallish place that unfortunately backs onto an estate, but it was all very secure. We had a look at a 3 bed and on the whole thought it was pretty good, not of the same standard as the NQ, but ok. Might be worth a look at least, though I cant see if it has parking (the place has secure parking though)