ADVERTISEMENT

News

Manchester named one of the most in-demand places to buy your first home

Who wouldn't want to live here?

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 14th May 2025
ADVERTISEMENT

Manchester has been named among the best places in the UK to buy your first home in 2025.

There’s no doubt the property market in our region has been booming over the last decade or so, with average house prices seeming to rise year-on-year, and more and more areas becoming viewed as the places to live.

You may remember that one Greater Manchester area was recently named a ‘property hotspot’ for 2025 by Rightmove based on last year’s data, while not too long ago, neighbourhoods such as Bramhall, Broadheath, and Bowdon were identified as being the places where houses prices were shooting up the most.

Another recent national ranking by Savills singled-out two of our region’s neighbourhoods as being some of the ‘most desirable’ Britain has to offer.

But this time round, it’s the city itself getting its chance to shine.

ADVERTISEMENT
Houses
Manchester has been named one of the most in-demand places to buy your first home / Credit: Benjamin Elliott (via Unsplash)

Rightmove has compiled a list of what it believes are the top 10 best areas in the UK for first time buyers looking to get their foot on the property ladder in 2025 – and Manchester has made the cut right near the top.

Rightmove analysed the 50 highest-populated cities in Great Britain to see where first time buyers are looking to settle down in the most this year.

ADVERTISEMENT

Manchester takes second place on Rightmove’s list though, with average asking prices just below £211,000, with Edinburgh following closely behind in third at £251,000.

Top 10 most in-demand UK areas for first time buyers 2025

  1. Glasgow
  2. Manchester
  3. Edinburgh
  4. Leeds
  5. Sheffield
  6. Liverpool
  7. Birmingham
  8. Bristol
  9. Nottingham
  10. Southampton

But it’s Glasgow that has been named Britain’s most in-demand city for first time buyers.

Here the average asking price for a typical first time buyer property in the city is £148,979, which is significantly below the national average first time buyer asking price of £228,551.

ADVERTISEMENT

Overall, Rightmove says the data from this year’s analysis shows a trend of first time buyers looking towards northern cities, with five of the top 10 locations situated in the north of England, considering Leeds takes fourth place with an average asking price of £182,420, while both Sheffiled and Liverpool round out the top six.

Read more:

Birmingham, Bristol, Nottingham, and Southampton complete the list, with Bristol having the highest average asking price among the top 10 at just above £283,000.

Featured Image – Mylo Kaye (via Unsplash)

OSZAR »

News

New endometriosis pill helping hundreds of women with ‘debilitating’ condition to be made available on NHS

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant
ADVERTISEMENT

A groundbreaking new pill to help women with a ‘debilitating’ condition is set to be made available on the NHS.

The new daily pill for endometriosis – which has been approved for use on the NHS in England by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) – is called linzagolix, and will be available for those who have had previous treatment for endometriosis, working to manage any symptoms they may be experiencing.

Around 1.5 million women in the UK are thought to be currently living with endometriosis.

Endometriosis can cause chronic pain, heavy periods, and extreme tiredness when tissue similar to the womb lining grows elsewhere in the body.

As mentioned, linzagolix will be available specifically for patients whose previous medical or surgical treatments for endometriosis have been unsuccessful, and will be given alongside ‘add-back’ hormone therapy – which involves using low-dose hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to prevent menopause-like symptoms and bone loss.

This is the second take-at-home treatment to be approved to treat endometriosis on the NHS, and it’s thought that more than 1,000 women will benefit.

In clinical trials, linzagolix was shown to be successful in reducing painful periods and non-menstrual pelvic pain, compared with placebo, hence why it has been approved on the NHS by NICE.

“This is welcome news for women with endometriosis who haven’t found relief from previous therapies or surgery,” commented Dr Sue Mann, who is the National Clinical Director in Women’s Health for NHS England.

Read more:

“It’s another treatment option which will help women take control of their health and better manage the symptoms of this often painful and debilitating condition.

“This is a testament to our ongoing commitment to improving treatment, care and quality of life for women.”

Featured Image – Heute

OSZAR »

News

Wigan woman jailed after hitting pedestrian in Fiat 500 while driving high on nitrous oxide ‘balloons’

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant Louisa Tunstall
ADVERTISEMENT

A young woman from Wigan has been handed jail time after hitting a pedestrian while driving high on nitrous oxide.

Louisa Tunstall was driving a white Fiat 500 towards the East Lancashire Road in Wigan at around 7pm on Friday 24 May 2024 – a time when traffic conditions were said to be ‘quiet’ – but Tunstall was under the influence of a now-banned drug, nitrous oxide, at the time of the incident, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) confirmed.

While driving under the influence, 19-year-old Tunstall veered to the left onto the pavement and collided with a 51-year-old woman pedestrian.

After striking the woman, the car then overturned and, in the process, caused serious life-changing injuries.

When questioned by police, Tunstall stated that she ‘took her eyes off the road’ to retrieve something in the footwell before knowing the car had flipped, but she also confirmed that she had just been out to purchase nitrous oxide to use that evening.

After obtaining witness accounts, investigating officers were able to track down nearby CCTV footable which showed Tunstall inhaling nitrous oxide through a balloon whilst driving, seconds before the collision occurred.

Further investigation by GMP’s Forensic Vehicle Examination Unit examined the Fiat 500 and confirmed that no defects were found on the car to contribute towards the collision.

Still to this day, the victim says she is trying to recover from the injuries sustained to her leg that will prevent her from continuing life as she did before.

“The incident is still very raw when I think about it,” the victim explained in her impact statement released by GMP. “I become upset when I think at everything which has been taken away from me and the ongoing affect it has had and continues to have on my daily life.”

GMP says it’s seeing the use of nitrous oxide being a factor in incidents they attend increasing year on year.

Nitrous oxide, also known as ‘laughing gas’, is reported to produce euphoria, relaxation, dizziness, giggling or laughing fits, impaired judgement, and occasionally dissociation and hallucinations – which GMP says affects reaction time and and is ‘likely lead to impairment’ in driving performance, particularly when faced with an unexpected or hazardous situation.

Read more:

Tunstall appeared at Bolton Crown Court this week, and has been sentenced to one year and eight months imprisonment for having possession of a Class C drug, driving under the influence of drugs, and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Alongside being jailed, she was also disqualified from driving for two years and eight months, and has been ordered to take an extended test when she is released.

Featured Image – GMP

OSZAR »

More News

Affiliate

Kylie Minogue in Manchester – tickets, times, setlist and more for ‘Tension’ tour

Mental Health Awareness Week activities Greater Manchester

Feature

Five mindful activities for you to enjoy in Greater Manchester this Mental Health Awareness Week

Manchester

Coronation Street and Emmerdale set for special crossover episode

Audio

Clint Boon takes us around Manchester's iconic Deaf Institute

Eats

We go meatballs deep with Mira's traditional Neapolitan sandwiches