From tower blocks to apartment blocks 'everyone is suffering' - the many faces of Manchester's cost of living crisis

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Static wages and surging tax, food and energy bills are causing a cost of living crisis across the country. Gas and electricity bills are expected to rise by more than 50% from April when Ofgem, the energy regulator, lifts its price cap to account for rising market costs. Meanwhile, the Institute of Fiscal Studies has claimed benefits need to be twice as much as planned in 2022 in order to support the poorest in society through the crisis. But it is not just the poor that are pinched between the amount of money that is coming in and the amount that has to go out. For first -time buyers, with house prices rocketing, buying a place of their own is becoming a distant dream, while rising rentsgobble up wages, with little left over. Reporter Louisa Gregson asked retirees, young professionals, families and single parents in Manchester just how they are coping with the mounting cost-of-living crisis. Kat Myers, 25, works in marketing and e commerce and lives in a ground floor flat in Murray's Mills in uber-trendy New Islington with her partner.

The pair bought their ground floor apartment 18 months ago and the converted red brick old mill overlooks the picturesque marina in the area ranked one of the coolest neighbourhoods in the world.

Accolades like that come at a price and Kat says she is relieved they aren't trying to buy in the area now, as property prices continue to soar. READ MORE: Warning over surge in winter virus that can leave children struggling to breathe But while she and her partner may be relieved to have a mortgage already in place, she says a hike in the cost of bills, and the expense of living in the area, dominate group Whatsapp chats in the building. "People are saying that London prices were not as bad