What I Rent: I pay £1,275 for a one-bedroom Birmingham flat — my friends want to move in too

Welcome back to What I Rent – Metro’s tenant diary series exploring what renting is like in the UK and further afield.

This week, we’re up in Birmingham chatting to Patrick Magner. Having moved to the West Midlands to study at university, he fell in love with the city and decided to stay.

Now, he pays £1,275 per month for a one-bedroom flat he shares with his girlfriend, and they’re hoping to save enough money in an ISA to buy one day.

In the meantime though, his current flat is so beloved by friends that he’s become the designated host for get-togethers – and some mates even want to move into the building themselves.

Here’s what Patrick had to say about their renting situation…

Tell us a bit about yourself!

I’m 24 and work as a transport planner in the city. I moved to Birmingham about seven years ago for university, following in the footsteps of my parents, and fell in love with the city so I decided to stay.

It’s got so much going on and so much exciting potential that you don’t tend to realise until you’ve been. I now live with my partner who works at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital – also nice and close to our new apartment.

What kind of property do you rent and how long have you been there?  

We’re renting a one-bedroom apartment and moved in at the end of June this year, shortly after the building’s completion.

How much do you pay to live here?

We pay a total of £1,275 a month for a fully furnished apartment, along with use of all the amenities across what is a brand-new, purpose-built rental address.

And what do you get for what you pay?

We get a really spacious apartment which is furnished throughout with a king-size bed and extremely modern furniture. It also has lots of windows, which (bizarrely) not all city centre flats seem to have in my experience.

The real highlight is the residents’ facilities which we have full access to, including a ‘Sky Lounge’ – a big entertaining space on the rooftop with views over the entire West Midlands.

It makes us the envy of our friends, who have nominated us very much the hosts of most get-togethers now. In fact, some are already looking to join us here once their tenancies are up.

The facilities also include a great gym which we’re in all the time. In my opinion, it matches the quality of any mainstream membership chain and is well above the other purpose-built rental offerings we looked at in the area. There are squat racks, trap bars, watt bikes and Smith machines! As a runner, having all this quite literally under the same roof enables me to keep up all the necessary strength and conditioning training.

We also have a business lounge, with superb broadband, quiet areas and meeting rooms, ideal for my WFH days. 

In addition to the amenities, there’s also a courtyard garden, we have a concierge-style onsite team round the clock, a residents’ app and various events, which are great for getting to know other people.

Do you feel like you have a good deal?

I’ve lived in Birmingham for over seven years and experienced my fair share of renting.

When you look at the market, most decent one-bed properties in the city are well over £1,000 a month so this stacks up as great value given all the extras, and what I’m ultimately saving in things like gym membership fees.

As a brand, Cortland is on the more luxurious spectrum of renting experience, but the difference is abundantly clear and it still makes good financial sense.

So much so, several of our friends are considering moving in together to take the step up now they’ve seen what renting could be like.

What do you love to do in your flat?

I love to cook! The kitchen is fantastic: extremely spacious and fully equipped with modern appliances. We also love hosting and entertaining friends, especially up in the Sky Lounge.

Where is your home based? What do you think of the area?

We’re set on Broad Street in the city’s Westside district. I’m just a 20-minute walk from my office in the Jewellery Quarter (a perfect commute) and equally well located to make the most of the nightlife and bars that both Broad Street and the nearby Brindley Street have to offer.

We’re really well connected with the tram network close by, train station and a plethora of bus services which run along Broad Street into the city centre and out towards Selly Oak. I couldn’t ask for a better location.

How did you find this property?

We’d been scouring the portals in a rather stressful lead-up to the end of our previous tenancy when the Cortland Broad Street properties suddenly came to the market, which we spotted via Rightmove.

We went to see one other purpose-built rental development but fell in love with Broad Street straight away when we visited and made the decision the same day. 

How have you made this place feel like home?

We’re part of the community WhatsApp group and have attended a Cortland event to get to know our neighbours and the brilliant team. We’re looking forward to doing more of these as more people move in and our neighbour pool grows.  

Have you found it difficult to decorate when renting? Is your landlord happy with you doing bits?

We don’t feel the need to really decorate as we really like the existing layout and style of the apartment, particularly as it’s brand new and done by a professional designer.

Do you feel like you have enough space?

At first, we were dubious of the idea of a one-bedroom apartment, worried it would be too small for the two of us. However, we were pleasantly surprised here as they are spacious by comparison and have a lot of clever storage too.

The under-bed storage is a real game-changer and allows us to ensure we can store lots of stuff here to avoid visible clutter within the apartment.

What would you like to have but don’t with this flat?

The only thing I can think we were missing was an ironing board. But that’s it. Which says a lot about how well-equipped it all is for us.

Are there any problems with the home you have to deal with?

We’ve had no problems here. There was one small snag when we moved in, but it was sorted by the onsite team on the very same day.

Do you have plans to move again any time soon? What about buying a place?

We do want to buy our own place eventually, when we’re settled longer term and the investment makes the best financial sense.

For now, as we build up our Help to Buy ISAs, this is an ideal home – and we intend to stay until we’re ready to put down a deposit.

Shall we take a look around?

Do you have a story to share?

Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.

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