baileymum

I am expecting a transfer to the Manchester area from the U.S., and have been looking at rental sites to get a sense of the monthly cost of renting a home. We have two children and a dog, and therefore would prefer a detached home with a garden, with at least 3 bedrooms. I saw a number of properties which seemed pretty nice for between 1500 and 2000 pounds per month. I would have figured that the Manchester suburbs would have been considerably more expensive than that. Am I missing something? Is it really possible to get a nice 3-4 bedroom home with a garden for that price in a decent area?

sallysimmons

Rents in the UK are much cheaper than rents in the US in my experience (London area aside).

Yes, it's definitely possible to get a 3/4 bed house in a good area for your budget. A so-so area would cost about £900 to £1,100, but once you get up around 2 grand, you're talking nice areas.

We're looking around Leeds/York which is similar to Manchester in terms of price, and we've found some lovely 4 bed houses in what I know to be really good areas for between £1,500 and £2,000. Renting an equivalent house where I live just outside New York City would cost about $6,000. But buying in the UK is about as expensive as buying where I live now. It's odd.

baileymum

Thanks! That is great news. Now I just need to cross my fingers for a decent housing allowance. I don't suppose you have any idea what typical housing allowances are for transfers INTO the U.K. from the U.S.?

I am really glad to have found this forum. I know it's not for the likes of me but there's great info.

sallysimmons

No, I'm afraid I can't be any help there. I'm British and relocated with my company to the US, plus it was years ago, so my experience wouldn't be useful. Hopefully someone else can help.

Brigette

You might want to have a look at this thread. I am moving to Manchester later this year and posted a thread about it. Lots of information about housing in this thread. There are 10 pages. Here ya go:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=743566

canadian_critic

You'll do really well for that kind of rent in many pleasant parts of UK. Manchester area is very good value and except for a few locations you'll be able to find a safe pleasant place, a good size property and come in well under your budget. If you need to be commutable to Manchester do your research on travel times, costs and connections on the train, assuming you're not insane and wish to drive. It can vary considerably. If you don't need to be near Manchester there's some pleasant places south of Manchester like Nantwich, where your budget would get an amazing place. There's some huge, American style new builds being rented on fringe of Crewe. Check out Temples.co.uk (property agent) and Wright Manley (rental and resale) for that area. Also rightmove.co.uk include most rentals in most areas, and you can use that to source other agents as well as view all properties in a specific area.

All the best!

isgraham

Worsley is a nice area and you should get something in your price range. Plenty of woodlands around and good transport links.

Victor Meldrew

Go onto www.rightmove.co.uk you can search for properties on there. They have a comprehensive search facility.

DigitalGhost

Why anybody would consider moving from the US to somewhere like Worsley is completely beyond me but you have to remember that there are a lot of hidden costs with rental properties in England e.g. private tenants pay council tax, separate utility bills etc.

I'm not sure how apartment rentals usually work in the US but when I first looked into moving to Canada I was shocked at how expensive the rental market looked and that after a short time here I realised that I was better off since the rent included utility bills (water and electricity) and Canada, like the US, has no TV license. Additionally, rental tenants in Canada do not pay any kind of property tax so the only bill I have to pay on top of my rent here is for my internet connection.

Chances are that even for just a single person you will need to add on a bare minimum of £200 per month to any rental price that you see in Manchester which is why house and flat shares are still so popular there amongst even some older professionals and not all that many people live alone.

sallysimmons

Beyond you perhaps, but not beyond others who have experienced life here and become less than enamored with it. I'm moving from the US to Yorkshire and my reasons are legion.

The OP has a chance to live and work in a different country and, just like most of us here, has decided to take it. Just because you're sour on the UK doesn't mean everyone else is.

btw - I think council tax is amazing in the UK. We're looking at renting a 4-bed house in a nice area and they only want £1850 a year. Right now, I pay over $12,000 in property taxes. Given that my exorbitant monthly healthcare premiums are also disappearing, I'm very happy about the financial trade-offs of the move. Income taxes are a little higher, but nowhere near enough to eat up all the savings.

DigitalGhost

I'm not sour on the UK, I am sour on Worsley and I have to say that I've heard UK council tax called many things before but never amazing.

I honestly had no idea that US property taxes were so high but what wound me up in the UK is that people seem to pay for everything twice (NI contributions are supposed to cover a lot of the organisations which are also cited in a council tax bill) and the services are generally crap anyway. When we needed the police during our time there we were severely let down and they never got rid of the ice on the pavements (despite the fact that I lived in the city centre) which caused a lot of injuries and severely inconvenienced the people who were paying for the council's 'services'.

baileymum

Thanks for the thoughts. Still don't have relo terms in hand, so don't know final budget yet. But now I have a couple school questions, so I'll create a new thread for that!

Grayling

Why anyone would want to leave anywhere in the UK to live in a craphole country like Canada is beyond me

Ozzidoc

Remember to budget for HUGE energy costs, home and vehicular.

robin1234

So many variables in that one..
Miles per year driven may be much less in the UK than in North America for all sorts of reasons.
Generally no need for air conditioning in the UK.
Milder temperatures, smaller houses, availability of efficient gas central heating can mean cheaper heating.. I live in a place where it is extremely cold for several months every winter. Fuel oil alone is costing us about $600 per month for maybe four months of the year...