M9 Monopoly: How do rental values vary?

Earlier this year we were promised the hottest summer since records began, headlines warning of a 100 day heatwave haven’t really happened here in M9. As I sit and write this blog post, its actually quite a pleasant morning, however for the past couple of weeks we’ve seen nothing but rain rain and more rain.

Over the weekend I sat down with my grandkids and we dusted off an old box of monopoly and set it up to play. Interestingly, the game was originally patented in 1904 and was initially called ‘The Landlord’s Game’and looked like this:

Quite a leap from what we sat round and played this weekend. By 1935 the game had been acquired by the Parker Brothers, rebranded as Monopoly and followed the format we love and know today.

As we bickered over who had dipped the bank and whether money went to the bank or in the middle I got to thinking about what an M9 version of this much loved classic would look like. Property prices since 1935 have skyrocketed beyond all recognition, so for fun, taking the original board, I have revamped it to look at the least and most expensive streets in M9 today in terms of renting.

So, to make things a little more fitting to todays living standards, we collect a salary of £1245 when passing GO (average take home salary of M9 residents) and immediately hit Lakeside Rise, and the flats above the Harpurhey Shopping Centre on Lee Road. On the other end of the scale replacing Mayfair and Park Lane we have the gorgeous properties on Wild Cherry Avenue and Hill Lane

Because I am known to get very excited about these things, I have commissioned a custom M9 monopoly board to be made for my office. I’d be happy to order you a copy at cost price (£50) if you and your family want a local experience and to enjoy my custom “CHANCE” and “COMMUNITY CHEST” cards. Contact me here. Delivery takes about 4 weeks, when my board comes I’ll be sure to upload some photos for you to see.

So when making my board it got me thinking what you would have had to have paid for a property in M9 back in 1935, when the game originally came out? Finding historical house prices for Blackley, Harpurhey and Moston in 1935 is surprisingly difficult. What I did manage to find was the average UK house price for 1935 - £500 (old money) which is around £32,250 in todays money. Currently the Average UK house costs £200,000 and the average M9 house costs around £109,000 (54.5%).

So in 1935 it would be safe to assume the average M9 house cost around £17,575 in todays money, or £272 11 Shillings and 3 Pence in old money.

If, unlike me, you're too young to remember old money you may or may not know that prior to 1971, our currency was not decimal. For hundreds of years we worked on a system that has 12 pence to a Shilling and 20 Shillings to a pound. Valentines day 1971 that all changed and overnight we had 100 new pence to the pound, have a look closely at a penny in your pocket, and you’ll see its called “new pence” and that is why.

Anyway, given the grave nature of all the current news, I hope you enjoyed this bit of fun, but underlying all this is one important fact. Property investing is a long game, which has seen impressive rises over the last 80 years.

In my previous articles I have talked about what is happening on a month by month or year by year basis and if you are going to invest in the North Manchester property market, you should consider the M9 property you buy a medium to long term investment, because Buy to let is pretty much what it sounds like – you buy a property in order to rent it out to tenants.