Designed to look like the Metrolink map, the blog ended up going viral, with the creator, their then copywriter (and later Marketing Manager) Kirsty Allen, being interviewed by Manchester Evening News.
A lot has changed in Manchester in the last seven years, but one of the biggest changes has been inflation (shocker) - especially with the cost of living crisis over the last year. We knew that rental prices had increased significantly since 2015, but none of us were ready to see just how much they had gone up.
We were intrigued to see how the map would look now, especially with the redesigned Met map, the volume of newly built properties in Manchester City Centre, and the addition of the “Red Line” going to the Trafford Centre. Side note, @Andy Burnham, we *beg* the council to let our copywriters invent some better names for these lines. Why does TfL get the Lizzie Line and we get “Red Line”, “Green Line”, and who can forget “Brown Line”? Yawn.
Anyway, following some research by our Copywriters and incredible design work by our fantastic Designers, we created a newly updated version for a post-pandemic city.
Where's the most expensive place to live in Manchester?
The most expensive location on the original map was tied between Piccadilly & Piccadilly Gardens, at a once-whopping average of £785pcm. In 2022, Piccadilly itself is now £900, with Piccadilly Gardens overtaking at £950pcm. Neither of these stops are even close to the most expensive to live anymore, however: Shudehill tops the charts at an eye-watering £2750, over three times the price of Piccadilly in 2015. In fairness, however, the average of this location was brought up exponentially by one incredibly expensive property.
Other super-spenny areas include the nearby Market Street at £1742, Exchange Square at £1547, Victoria at £1450, and young professional haven New Islington at £1301. Both Market Street and New Islington were the most expensive of these four back in 2015, at just £734pcm - half of what they are now on average.
The Trafford area is the most expensive outside of Zone 1 in 2022, averaging at £1101pcm, although this area did not exist on the map in 2015. Salford was the most expensive Met area outside of the city centre back then, at a fairly reasonable average high of £690. Compare this to the price of Salford Quays now - £1163pcm - rent is truly going through the roof.
Where's the cheapest place to live in Manchester?
But what about the cheapest locations? Back in 2015, the Hollinwood-Westwood portion of the Pink and Brown Lines was by far the cheapest, at just £338. Nearby Rochdale is now the cheapest on the market map, giving you a similar value in 2022 at around £450.
However, we should take a lot of this with a pinch of salt. We built this map the same way Kirsty did all those years ago - by taking the average price of 1 bedroom rental properties across the city and Greater Manchester area from Zoopla. The issue is that in 2022 there are far fewer properties available in a lot of these locations than there were in 2015, even with the huge growth the city is experiencing. The affordable area of Rochdale actually only had one property available with this criteria, and it was a (very scary looking) one-room basement. Signs point to the fact that we may be in the midst of a property crisis, and with rents continuing to rise, this will likely just get worse.
On that sunny note, here’s a look at the full map:
Click to view the full-size map.
For a full breakdown of the current prices, old prices, averages and differences, take a look at our shiny little Metrolink Rent Map Breakdown spreadsheet.
And, compare these prices to the 2015 map here.
Average price of a 1 bed flat near Manchester Metrolink tram stops:
- Abraham Moss - £716
- Altrincham - £805
- Anchorage - £1016
- Ashton Moss - £565
- Ashton West - £567
- Ashton-under-Lyne - £575
- Audenshaw - £535
- Baguley - £748
- Barlow Moor Road - £710
- Barton Dock Road - £1350
- Benchill - £827
- Besses o' th' Barn - £529
- Bowker Vale - £633
- Broadway - £910
- Brooklands - £650
- Burton Road - £695
- Bury - £528
- Cemetery Road - £619
- Central Park - £775
- Chorlton - £710
- Clayton Hall - £612
- Cornbrook - £845
- Crossacres - £827
- Crumpsall - £617
- Dane Road - £688
- Deansgate-Castlefield - £1035
- Derker - £568
- Didsbury Village - £733
- Droylsden - £619
- East Didsbury - £575
- Eccles - £438
- Edge Lane - £646
- Etihad Campus - £498
- Exchange Quay - £960
- Exchange Square - £1545
- Failsworth - £786
- Firswood - £797
- Freehold - £656
- Harbour City - £1058
- Heaton Park - £629
- Hollinwood - £641
- Holt Town - £1205
- Imperial War Museum - £1163
- Kingsway Business Park - £502
- Ladywell - £450
- Langworthy - £760
- Manchester Airport - N/A
- Market Street - £1742
- Martinscroft - £827
- MediaCity UK - £946
- Milnrow - £595
- Monsall - £725
- Moor Road - £748
- Navigation Road - £805
- New Islington - £1301
- Newbold - £450
- Newhey - £595
- Newton Heath and Moston - £790
- Northern Moor - £748
- Old Trafford - £806
- Oldham Central - £633
- Oldham King Street - £633
- Oldham Mumps - £633
- Parkway - £1350
- Peel Hall - £827
- Piccadilly - £900
- Piccadilly Gardens - £950
- Pomona - £625
- Prestwich - £641
- Queens Road - £750
- Radcliffe - £675
- Robinswood Road - £827
- Rochdale Railway Station - £450
- Rochdale Town Centre - £450
- Roundthorn - £748
- Sale - £688
- Sale Water Park - £710
- Salford Quays - £1163
- Shadowmoss - £827
- Shaw and Crompton - £527
- Shudehill - £2750
- South Chadderton - £656
- St Peter's Square - £1157
- St Werburgh's Road - £758
- Stretford - £944
- The Trafford Centre - N/A
- Timperley - £744
- Trafford Bar - £797
- Velopark - £649
- Victoria - £1450
- Village - £1350
- Weaste - £599
- West Didsbury - £789
- Westwood - £568
- Wharfside - £1025
- Whitefield - £529
- Withington - £697
- Wythenshawe Park - £748
- Wythenshawe Town Centre - £827
