City centre or suburbs: where are renters actually heading?

Are renters abandoning city centres for more space? Or returning to walkable streets with everything close by? Both headlines appear regularly, and both can describe somebody’s experience. Neither tells an investor enough about a particular home. A city-centre graduate, a family needing a second bedroom and a shift worker near a major employer do not search with the same map.

The English Housing Survey provides national evidence about housing and renters. It is valuable context, but it cannot tell you the exact demand for a flat on a particular street in Salford or Liverpool. Local research needs to identify who might rent that apartment, what competing properties are available and whether its features suit the person in mind.

The city-centre proposition

A central address can make daily life simpler for someone whose work, friends and transport connections are concentrated there. Walking to several employment areas may appeal more than having a parking space. Cafés, cultural venues and late transport can be significant amenities. Yet the benefits differ between individual streets. One building may sit beside a useful station and groceries; another may feel isolated after office hours.

For an investor, the centre can bring a high concentration of comparable homes. New apartment blocks may complete near one another, placing landlords in direct competition. Check not just the asking rents but how long similar listings have been advertised, what furnishing is included and what service charges do to the net income. A desirable district cannot cancel out excessive ownership costs.

The appeal beyond the centre

More space, a quieter street, access to green areas or parking may be decisive for other households. Suburban is not synonymous with disconnected: an established rail or bus route can make a location practical for commuters. Equally, an address a short distance from town may involve an awkward journey without a car. Draw the route before accepting labels such as ‘well connected’.

A household’s needs can change over time. Someone who rented a studio near their first job may later need a separate room for working at home. Others may prefer a smaller home if it keeps everyday errands on foot. The point is not that one trend will overpower the other; it is that housing should match a plausible tenant rather than a vague demographic.

Three different parts of our market

Waterhouse Gardens is a completed scheme on Dutton Street at the Manchester–Salford edge. West One is in Salford, with a different relationship to the Quays and wider employment area. Trafford Waters sits at TraffordCity in the borough of Trafford. These are not interchangeable examples of ‘Manchester property’. Their developers, delivery stages and likely daily journeys differ; 36 Partners selects and sells available stock rather than building all three.

In Liverpool, The Gateway and SoapWorks offer a Pumpfields, city-fringe discussion rather than a blanket conclusion about every Liverpool renter. A scheme’s location may appeal to a tenant who wants access to the centre while still having specific trade-offs in the immediate street. Visit rather than relying on a broad label.

Compare the homes that compete

For each candidate property, identify three similar rental listings nearby and note size, condition, furnishing, walk to transport and asking rent. Then look at alternatives that a tenant might realistically choose a little further away. A tenant comparing two homes may accept a longer commute for more space—or pay more for an easier journey. Either decision depends on the person and on what is actually available that month.

Do not confuse asking rent with achieved rent, or a projected yield with an outcome. Include vacancies, agent fees, maintenance, insurance, financing where relevant and tax. Consider the exit too: who would buy the property if you needed to sell? The renter’s preferences today are only one part of a longer investment decision.

City centres and suburbs will both contain good and weak propositions. The productive question is not ‘where is everyone heading?’ but ‘who would choose this home, and why over the alternatives?’ Our location guides and current developments can help frame that comparison; speak to us about the address you are considering.

Do not treat a postcode as a tenant profile

A central postcode contains quiet residential streets as well as busy nightlife. An outer-area postcode can include a walkable high street and a direct train, or a poorly connected estate requiring a car. Visit the exact address on a weekday evening. Note the route to shops, the condition of shared spaces, the availability of parking if relevant, and whether a tenant can reasonably get home after a late shift.

Ask local letting agents what similar properties currently compete with your target home and what compromises applicants most commonly raise. This is not independent proof of future demand—agents also have an interest in winning business—but their observations can help form questions to check against live listings. Take a conservative view of how long the property might be empty between tenancies, and allow for repair costs that do not appear in a headline yield.

Source: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, English Housing Survey. Property examples refer to current listings; cover is illustrative.

One more comparison is worth making before committing: who would buy the property from you? A central flat might appeal to another landlord or an owner-occupier, but building fees and lease terms can narrow that pool. An outer-area home may have broader household appeal, yet its condition or transport links can still limit interest. Ask a solicitor and surveyor about the particular property rather than assuming its resale route from its neighbourhood label.

This article is for general information only and does not constitute financial advice.