A distressed TikTok influencer, 25-year-old Jess Geary, has spoken about her struggles living in Manchester, urging people not to move to the city.
In a now-viral TikTok, she leads with, “Hello, this is a public service announcement”, warning viewers not to move to Manchester because there are “no flats” available. She told her 2.4 million viewers: “I’m going to be homeless in the next week. I’ve been on the phone every day, I’ve had no sleep, I’ve not ate.”
She also added, “Is it cool to live here now? Why is it so sh*t hot to live in Manchester now?” And some comments alluded to gentrification in Manchester. One read: “born and bred here its so gentrified now. im astonished what they’ve done to ancoats… ANCOATS. coffee shops?! [sic].”
Another suggested Manchester was becoming more expensive due to “love islanders” and “influencers” deciding to move there. “All the love islanders & influencers all come here now and the work is here for them all but us who were born here and live here now can’t afford it!”
While another commenter speculated that a new licence fee has been introduced to landlords which means it’s no longer as beneficial to rent out houses, so landlords are raising their prices.
Geary also added: “I know there’s a housing crisis, it’s horrendous, it’s horrific. How do they expect us young people to ever save for a house?”
What is the housing market like in Manchester?
This TikTok was a reminder that London isn’t the only city facing a housing crisis. In May, it was reported that house prices in Manchester have gone up more than any other UK city in the past 20 years.
In research by Plumbnation, it was revealed that Manchester came out on top as the place house prices have risen the most. Plumbnation compiled data from cities across the UK, looking at what the average house price is in 2022 and comparing this to 2002. The research, which is based on figures from the Office for National Statistics, ranked the percentage difference for each city to reveal where property prices have risen the most.
The cost of a Manchester property back in 2002 was just £48,845. With the standard cost of a home now £210,647, according to ONS, this means that house prices have gone up by £161,802 in the past 20 years.
Using the average annual rate of inflation, the cost of a property in Manchester in 2002 would equate to just £84,549 today.
