By Jon Robinson
For decades, young professionals moving to a new city for their first job have been faced with a familiar choice – partnering up with a friend to secure an apartment or take a gamble with a house share.
But things could change after a property giant launched the UK’s first rent-by-the-room apartment building in Manchester.
Union, a £300m project, is located in the St John’s area of the city centre, the former site of ITV’s Granada Studios, and is the brainchild of Cheshire-based Vita Group, the property giant run by Stockport County owner Mark Stott.
Billed as “one of, if not the UK’s most important residential building in the last decade” in its marketing, the property is the first to use technology to match housemates by “age, gender, sociability, considerateness and cleanliness.”
According to figures from Vita Group, around 160 young professionals have already moved in, with approximately 40 per cent from making the move from London.
Union includes 1,676 beds with 870 bedrooms launching in the first phase, with a further 806 opening in 2025. The largest co-living development currently in operation consists of 705 beds.
Russell Hayes, director of residential at Vita Group, said: “For too long, the rental industry has been crying out for innovation, new products which address the needs of today’s more transient twenty-something renters starting out in a city.
“That’s what Union is all about, creating not just functional, but aspirational places for people who’re starting out in a city to live.
“For these people, we play the pivotal role of the perfect host, helping residents to forge new friendships, enabling them to come and go with ease and aligning our needs with theirs.
“We know there’s huge demand, and whilst there’s marketplaces servicing individuals, there isn’t a product designed which has been designed for them. It’s why we’ve created this unique rent-by-the-room model with technology which helps residents to form new social connections and find new housemates, removing many of the common stumbling points people face in their early days renting.”
Union uses the group’s SmartMatch technology which uses algorithms to match customers based on preferences around lifestyle and living habits with the aim to create apartments filled with flatmates who are more likely to gel.
Later in the year, Union will also launch a resident’s social app, helping young professionals to connect with residents from across the building with shared interests.
The technology has been developed by Vita Group’s in-house tech team, headed up by CTO Jonathan Tizard, former head of technology at Ladbible and Missguided.
Tizard added: “We know that people will have a better time living together if they have more in common and the things which are likely to grate on them over time are kept to a minimum, that’s SmartMatch’s objective, help bring people together who’re likely to have a better chance of getting on.
“Our social app will help to build the community, we’re not looking to take on large existing platforms like Instagram or Tik Tok, for us it’s about helping to remove the first awkward hello so people can grow their network, go to in-building events together, work out as a group, and make friends to explore the city.
“If you like who you live with, you’ll be more likely to stay,” Tizard concluded.
