£900 a month to sleep next to your cooker

Rent prices for small studios in Manchester are climbing steeply, with some listings showing shocking conditions like toilets in shower cubicles and beds crammed next to kitchen taps. Prices range from £800 to over £1,400 per month, and renters are facing fierce competition, leading to absurd bids for subpar properties. Experts argue the rental system is “broken,” exacerbated by high demand and limited social housing, as private landlords convert larger homes into cramped living spaces to maximise profits. The average private rent in Manchester hit £1,337 in December 2025, a 3.4% increase from the previous year, with one-bed studios seeing even higher increases. While the Manchester City Council expects landlords to adhere to minimum space standards and aims to deliver 36,000 homes by 2032, many renters feel trapped, spending around 37% of their income on rent, well above the government’s target of 30%. There are calls for rent caps and reforms, as the new Renter Rights Act set to take effect seems insufficient to tackle the housing crisis or prevent landlords from exploiting desperate tenants.

Read the full article at Manchester Evening News