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Influencer warns people not to move to Manchester amid ‘ridiculous’ housing crisis
She claims to have secured just one flat viewing in three months
A TikTok influencer has issued a warning to people thinking of moving to Manchester amid the city’s ‘ridiculous’ housing crisis.
Jessica Geary shared the video with her 18.3k followers over the weekend, where she explained she was having to move out of her two-bedroom flat in the Green Quarter as a result of her landlord raising the rent to £1,300 a month.
However, despite being given three months notice, Jessica has had no such luck with finding a new flat to move into, with her saying she has only managed to get one viewing during that entire time period.
In the video, Jessica told her followers: “This is a public service announcement from me to you – don’t move to Manchester! There’s no flats, there’s no flats available.”
She continued: “I’m going to be homeless as of next f*****g week, because I can’t find a flat. I’ve been on the phone every day, I’ve had no sleep, I’ve not ate [sic].”
Jessica later told the Manchester Evening News that she hadn’t anticipated the ‘nightmare’ three month flat hunt, and that she wouldn’t live in the centre at all if it wasn’t for her job.
She said: “Don’t move to Manchester city centre right now if you have a choice. It’s ridiculous. I can’t afford to pay £1,400 for a flat, and that’s not even thinking about bills or anything like that.”
In a message to those who may be looking to move to Manchester, Jessica advised trying to find somewhere cheaper in the outskirts, or even waiting until the situation has improved to rent.
She continued in her video: “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?
“Don’t move to Manchester. Is it cool to live here now?”
Jessica’s video has since had over 2.2million views, with many people sharing their own rental horror stories. One person wrote: “Born and bred here its so gentrified now… I’m astonished what they’ve done to Ancoats… ANCOATS… coffee shops?!”
Another commented: “Literally, me and my flatmate had to move into an Airbnb for a week because we couldn’t find anywhere to live.”