Guide to best areas to live in Manchester for first job new to the area

[Pistachiomonster]

Best areas to live near Manchester for young graduates early 20’s and best places to look for somewhere to rent needed from July? One will be commuting to Birchwood business park three days a week the other will be commuting to Manchester three days a week.

Two Uni friends new to the area want to find a house or flat to rent. Need parking for two cars, access to good public transport, social life and reasonable rent. Chat GPT comes up with Monton, Didsbury, Altrincham, Urmston, Irlam
and Stretford.

There's 2 of them. A spare bedroom isn't totally unreasonable however for 2 people in their first jobs in Manchester which has spiralling rent it's probably aspirational.

I know I'm biased as I own a flat in this building, but St Georges Island in Spinningfields is a lovely not too high apartment block and it has parking and is in budget (it's a great place to live and very handily located) (also has had all its cladding/fire safety work carried out):

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/174862289#/?channel=RES_LET

Yes?

Which bit is the issue?

It’s wild that a 2-bed in Manchester is now £1800! I rent out a 2-bed flat in London for exactly that, makes me think I’m under-pricing.

OP, I agree with PP that the two women have been given a hell of a lot of advice on this thread and you should now leave it to them to figure out.

Manchester is a fantastic city and I’m actually visiting there (from overseas!) for a festival in a few weeks. They’re lucky to get to live there in their early 20s.

Thanks obv they would not be driving on a night out and would be using public transport for work as stated.

I've done the commute to Birchwood from the Manchester suburbs and it isn't much fun!! The one going into the city centre needs to be on a train or metrolink line. If they need a car for site visits from Birchwood then I'd want to be on the west of the city. From Altrincham / Sale and Urmston you can do the commute by going down the lanes to miss the motorway traffic. That said, traffic can still queue in and out of Birchwood business park at rush hour. Or Salford Quays would put them easily on the M62, there's a number of developments with parking or underground parking. I had friends who lived in Salford Quays years ago and they found it could be quite dead at weekends as a lot of properties were used as city crash pads in the week (that might have changed though with more people now WFH), and it's a nightmare on Man Utd match days!
I wouldn't rule out Urmston, it's got a nice enough little centre these days with a Sainsburys, Aldi, some bars and cafes. I was there recently and it was buzzing with folk eating out on a nice day.

July

Early Aug

In

@Crushed23 so many Londoners who wfh have moved up to Manchester as it’s apparently the place to be now that the rents have rocketed. Dd pays over 1k in a flat share. Well I do as I pay it for her 🙈😆

In what way out on a limb?

I wondered this. Manchester is an excellent university so plenty of bright young people about. Nobody will stand out in the city just because they went to a top 5 uni. I get it’s a disadvantage not knowing anyone when not a student so maybe it’s that.

I’ve not read all the posts but there is loads of on street parking in Didsbury. I lived in West and East Didsbury and always parked on the road outside my flat and house - potentially easier in West Didsbury. A lot of the flats are in converted houses.

Thanks thats heartening. They just have to weigh up whether social life is worth a hellish commute three days a week for the one working @ Birchwood.

It wouldn't be too hellish as long as she can be out of the door by 6.30am.

I live in the Prestwich area but get on the motorway at Whitefield. Yes the m60 anticlockwise can be unpredictable but for 3 days a week I would consider it (there are some decent alternative routes if needed). What would the friend's working hours be?

Disclaimer to say that I haven't lived in the other parts of Manchester recommended but I would think Prestwich, as much as I like it, doesn't yet have the same amount of shops, bars, restaurants etc as some of the South Manchester locations mentioned. Although Prestwich is a very quick tram journey into Manchester too.

Meant to say, right now the commute to birchwood is saying 38 mins from where I live

Would there be an option for the person working at Birchwood to leave the car at Birchwood most of the time (near where she would get off the train, or in a work car park) if she’s only really going to be using it for customer visits?

The parking around Birchwood is quite time-limited, they wouldn’t be able to leave a car near the station.

Eccles! The shopping centre has been knocked down and it’s undergoing massive redevelopment. It’s so well connected, there’s a tram stop, train station and quick access to the motorway. Easy commute to Birchwood, Trafford Centre, Trafford Park, Manchester City Centre and Salford Quays. It’s being redeveloped by Muse who do excellent work. It’s getting more popular and will improve massively but is not overpriced yet like other areas.

Great size balcony on these flats @whirlyhead