Don't know whether this should go in local or in here. Anyway the handy "bee" tracker reports a drop in less than a month of £150. In fact I think the average for a 2bed new build "executive apartment" is now down to £600 from £750 about 6 months ago.

I reckon within another 6 months Liverpool city centre "apartments" averages will be about £500, and with huge choice. Heading towards end of year I think £400 (I'm thinking of moving back to the city for a cheap river view then :-)


http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-185...3&tr_t=rent

13rd Feb 2008 19:57:58

* Agents Address found: 10 Oxton Road, Birkenhead, CH41 2QJ
* Detailed Description found: An opportunity to rent one of eleven new purpose built luxury apartments in this prestigious development. It is ideally situated close to Liverpool city centre. There is communal access and each apart...

13rd Feb 2008 19:57:45

* Price changed: from '£700 pcm' to '£600 pcm'

7th Feb 2008 22:25:12

* Price changed: from '£750 pcm' to '£700 pcm'
* Status found: Available

27th Jan 2008 20:43:18

* Price found: £750 pcm
* Title found: Roscoe Street, LIVERPOOL, Merseyside
* Subtitle found: 2 bedroom apartment
* Brief Description found: An opportunity to rent one of eleven new purpose built luxury apartments in this prestigious development. It is ideally situated close to Liverpool city centre. There is communal access and each apart...
* Agent found: Atkinson Loller
* Agents Location found: Birkenhead
* Agents Telephone found: 08456189467

It's an ill wind and all that ... Good luck with the relocate.
Not being mean, but when you mentioned £400 a little bell went off in the back of my skull.
In April our masters are wheeling out some abomination called the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) to supplant Housing Benefit. It's based on some notional local going rate known as the Broad Rental Market Area (BRMA), which appears to be worked out in utter secrecy by some sort of Star Chamber, damn' difficult getting a handle on it and I'm sure I can't be Rsed right now.

The upshot being that since the legislation requires that Waynetta (17) and her child Frogmella (3) each have a bedroom, and are to be housed within their local authority area, those 2-bedders look just the ticket.

Blackburn Council (it's close enough isn't it, it's somewhere down in england, I imagine) provide a wee pulled-it-out-their-erse example which shows the levels they're considering "reasonable" (although they could be talking about a singleton or a family of nine, I've no idea)
Alert people on this very forum have repeatedly flagged up the possible fate of all those "useless" inner-city newbuilds, a sort of Xtreme-PFI version of social housing being cunningly engineered by NeuLabour.
So if I were you I'd get in the queue, as (4*£120) LHA looks worryingly like convergence with those rents you've been tracking, and I reckon your expectations are bang on the money.

Oh hell sorry this just sounds like p1ssing on your candyfloss. It's just that the govt. are (1) thoroughly untrustworthy and (2) completely evil, so I take a dim view of their activities.

It'll be allright. You'll get the cheap flat with the sea view. Just ignore the neighbours.