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The roundtable took place
at Crusader Mill which will
be made into homesreluctance to buy a property might also
have something to do with the desire to
live a certain lifestyle and retain a
certain amount of flexibility, especially
among young people.
Tom said: “[There are] changing
attitudes as well I feel from our
generation to the previous generation
and the generation before that.
“When I speak to my grandparents
about it, they can’t imagine not saving
for a house straight away, like that is
just what they did.
“They didn’t spend, they didn’t go
out.
“Our attitudes are different as well,
we value the ability to chop and change
and move about.”
Chris Moss said: “Everybody likes the
idea of being able to put a little bit
away, but you can’t be too stringent
about it, because life is for living.”
Chris Cawley, a 22-year-old business
masters student and PR intern at
Newgate Communications, said: “You
have to think about your long term
plan... whether I can afford it? How
much deposit can I put down? How
long will it take to pay that off? Am I
going to be able to move out of the city
if I please? Am I going to be able to
expand if I want to have kids?
“In all these things you have to put
yourself in almost
like a map of what
you want to do,where you want to go, when you want
to do it and figure it out that way.”
When talking about the city of
Manchester as a place to live, the group
expressed many reasons why they
would like to continue living here and
what it has to offer.
Chris Moss said he was impressed by
the city’s ‘heritage and attitude.’
He said: “It’s got a good balance of
places that are nice and shiny and
pristine, but it’s also got it’s grittiness,
which I think is essential to give a city
the right vibe.”
Tim Heatley was keen to understand
what Manchester needs to do to
encourage young people to stay and
invest in homes.
Jack Qualtrough, 21, is a recent
graduate working in properly law. He
currently lives at home with his parents
and commutes from Macclesfield in
Cheshire. As well as cost, Jack says that
transport is a crucial issue for him.
He said: “Accessibility is a huge part
for me deciding where I want to live.
“If I was choosing somewhere to live,
I think connections to the city and how
you get around would be a really
important thing for me. I think that’s
the most crucial thing.”
Carys Marsh, 21, who is doing an
apprenticeship to become a chartered
surveyor and working for Arcadis,
agreed that Manchester’s transport
system can be a huge barrier for young
professionals.
She said: “If you can’t afford to live in
the city, you look outside of the city but
the transport is just shocking, the roads
are gridlocked, the trains areappalling.”
So what is Manchester’s top priority,
what does it need to do to continue to
be attractive to young people?
Many expressed concerns about
certain aspects of the city that could
persuade them to leave one day.
As well as the transport issues, the
homelessness crisis was a huge factor.
Carys said: “The homelessness
problem is a massive issue.
“There’s not an easy answer to it but
it needs sorting out somehow, people
need to do what they can.”
Will said: “You can’t just close your
eyes to it, it’s too blatant now.
“It’s been getting more and more
noticeable.
“People come, they walk from
Piccadilly Gardens and you see the
homeless crisis and people are like,
‘God, why isn’t anyone doing anything
about this?’”
Tom agreed: “It’s the first thing
people notice.”
Following the event, Tim Heatley
said: “I was blown away by their
passion for Manchester. Like us, they
love its culture, its history, its diversity
and its attitude.
“As developers they see it, quite
rightly, as our responsibility to make
sure that as Manchester grows it
doesn’t lose this spirit.
“We’re creating places and
communities for years to come and it
seems totally bonkers not to ask the
people that will live in them what
matters.
“This is a generation that knows what
it wants and is not afraid to demand it.”