The story of Manchester has been one of accelerating growth for many years now as it strives for ever-greater heights. The Deloitte Manchester Crane Survey 2021 confirms the extent to which Manchester is expanding.
Overall, Deloitte shows that 12,000 residential units are under construction for the third consecutive year, following the delivery of 5,000 in 2020.
The key for any city looking to grow its economy is the availability of high quality office space for growing businesses to spread out into. It is also a vital tool for attracting multinational companies into the city – and in this regard, Manchester excels. The last two years have seen BT, Amazon, Huawei and other such companies open headquarters in the city.
Manchester needs to continue building office space to keep the momentum up, and the Crane Survey shows that this is happening, with 1.2m sqft of space delivered to market in 2020 - the highest level since 2008. A further 1.2m sqft remains under construction in 2021.
Office space development is also linked to population growth, as more and more people move to the city to take advantage of the employment opportunities on offer.
The latest data from the Greater Manchester Forecasting Model shows that the city population alone will grow by a further 70,000 people by 2025. All of these people will need homes, and the future of the residential sector in Manchester is perhaps the most interesting part of the latest Crane Survey.
The overall number of homes under construction in Manchester is just 12,322 – nowhere near enough to meet demand. Whilst the level of completions has been enough to sustain population growth thus far, it is unlikely to in the future unless many more new homes are built in short order.
The combination of a rapidly growing population and a stalling pipeline of new homes means that property values in Manchester will shoot up in the coming years as competition for homes increases. House prices in Manchester are already growing far more quickly than the national average according to the latest UK Cities House Price Index from Hometrack, and this will continue in the foreseeable future.
This makes it the perfect time to buy a property in Manchester and take advantage of the upcoming capital appreciation. For more information on the Manchester market and our available properties in the city centre, please click here.
