Relocating to Manchester

[CheekyHare]

Hellooo! Myself, my partner & our roommate are relocating from Newcastle to Manchester and need some help with areas we should be avoiding. We don’t currently have any children, however it’s something we would be considering in the future and would therefore like to be in a decent area.

We need a 3 bed - (house or flat/apartment), ideally within a 45 min commute from the city centre. Our budget is around 1250pcm.

We are all in our mid 20s. 2 of us work in healthcare - 1 with a job offer at the Royal infirmary. 3rd works from home.

Areas we are currently considering which fit within our budget -
Gorton
Pendlebury/Swinton
Altrincham
Urmston

Areas we’ve been advised to avoid so far -
Moss side
Cheetham Hill
Clayton
Anywhere near the Etihad

Is there anywhere else we should be looking at that would be within budget? Or anywhere else we should 100% avoid?

Thank you in advance :)

Prestwich is nice. Trams to city centre every 10 minutes take 20 to 25 minutes. Should be able to rent in your budget.

Swinton/Pendlebury would be good - direct fast bus to MRI and in reach of Salford Royal. Also has Worsley Woods for walking and a few other country parks & 2 train stations.

Eccles/Monton are good for tram and train connections to Manchester and walkable to Salford Royal. Monton has a thriving high-street full of bars/restaurants / cafes.

Fallowfield and Wythenshaw are typical student areas, so depending on age may be worth considering.

If you're looking to avoid the listed areas because they're rough, I'd be careful with Gorton also. It is very, very different to Altrincham and Urmston!

How will you be commuting? MRI is great for buses but not close to trams.

Think you may mean Withington? Wythenshawe isn't studenty. It's also quite a trek from the city centre. If you do mean Withington I agree, it has buses into town every minute or two and they'd go past the MRI.

I lived in Altrincham for years and loathed it. it's a dump and full of overly entitled people and it's very expensive. I doubt you'd get a 3 bed property there for £1250 pcm either. The tram is also a nightmare to commute on - I tried and gave up after a year.

Swinton is much more affordable and it's quite pleasant plus not full of range rovers and footballers.

You won’t be able to swing a cat in a property for that budget in Altrincham, it’s an absolute rip off, I lived there for the first 30odd years of my life and moved away 8 years ago and got exactly the same sized house 17 miles away for half of the price and in another ‘wealthy’ area - the tram access is good though!

Gorton and Altrincham!! On the same list?!

If Altrincham is in your budget, you can afford anywhere in Manchester.

It depends on whether you want a shoe box or want to live somewhere much more gritty.

I would suggest you do a visit to Manchester because you'd very quickly grasp how the two places are worlds apart.

Agree that when and how you are travelling to MRI is relevant. Getting across town from North or West Manchester for 08.30-09.30 to the MRI by car is pretty grim. Easier if you've a 07.00 start, or on the bus.

Yes apologies Withington was meant

Commute would be via bus most likely, although I do drive but I think it’d take me some time to be confident driving anywhere near the centre 😅

We have seen a couple of 3 bed flats in Altrincham within budget but ideally would like a bit more space. We’ve viewed some properties in Gorton and tbh the area seems pretty similar to the area we currently live in. Obviously don’t want to live somewhere extremely dangerous but a bit on the rougher side is doable for us

In that case I wouldn't necessarily rule out Moss Side. It's not as rough as it was, easily walkable to MRI if you stay on the east side of the Parkway and a very short hop into the city centre. I'd say it's preferable to Gorton, albeit probably a bit dearer.

Withington or Didsbury handy for MRI as very good bus links but might struggle with your budget. Chorlton and bits of Whalley Range also nice although a bit less handy bus route. Worth looking at Levenshulme too as area is on the up.

Stretford is good for the tram, it borders Chorlton but is cheaper

Swinton, providing you're close to the A580, which everyone locally calls the East Lancs, is good for the V bus. There's not much available. Monton is probably nicer, but more sought after and nothing comes up on Rightmove.

I’d be more inclined to search in the Wilmslow / Alderley Edge areas except I think it’ll be too costly. Macclesfield is pretty nice too.
it may be that I favour towns to cities though!

Have a look at Withington, Burnage, Ladybarn and also Levenshulme.

This!

If you can afford Altrincham you could afford somewhere on or near the Wilmslow Road corridor which would make travelling to MRI easy. DIdsbury is the most desirable and expensive area along there so you could start looking there and circle around until you find something you can afford. In general, south Manchester is nicer and safer than north, east or west / Salford.

Macclesfield to central Manchester is going to be an extremely annoying drive commute or a more expensive rail one than you'd think for a fairly short distance. Like £250 a month. Certainly people do it, but there doesn't seem much point for anyone who has no specific reason to prefer Macclesfield.

If I wanted to live in a town outside GM and commute in I'd look at the Peaks, somewhere over Glossop way. Not even attempt to drive but get the train.

New Mills or Stockport?

I work at MRI and live in Stalybridge in Tameside. I lived Hulme originally which felt a bit rough at times but generally fine but that was quite a few years ago.

Tameside can have a bit of a bad rep but we really like Stalybridge and it's definitely getting some more upmarket restaurants/shops. Beautiful surrounding scenery as well. It's about a 30-50 minute drive or 10-15 mins on the train to Piccadilly or Victoria stations and then there's plenty of buses to get you to MRI. Trams are in the next town over in Ashton-under-Lyne.

Most people I work with at MRI live in Stockport or Salford and the surrounding areas.

Why not just get an apartment in town?

Agree. Close, fine & tons transport links

Northenden too

Gortons rough. I’d try withington for that money