The former Prime Minister’s wife Cherie and son Euan Blair have turned into private landlords, buying up nearly 30 flats in south Manchester, Stockport and Trafford.

Cherie Blair has once again proved what a great bargain hunter she is. This time she has cast her eagle eye over the North West’s booming property market, snapping up dozens of properties in the Greater Manchester area at a knock-down rate to be more specific.

In roughly 18 months, since October 2014, Tony Blair’s wife and son have spent approximately £2.5m on homes in Stockport town centre, Whalley Range and Urmston, all of them seemingly to rent out.

Currently their 28 one-bed apartment portfolio would net them around £170,000 a year from letting it out the young professionals.

In 2014, the decided to set up their property firm “Oldbury Residential” and then began by snapping up 14 flats on Higher Hillgate in Stockport town centre from a development that had gone into receivership.

The total price for the development, which is located around the corner from the magistrates court, came up to £1.3m, meaning each apartment was bought for £92,000.

At almost the same time, the Blairs also bought 10 flats in two rebuilt Victorian terraces on Gloucester Road in Urmston centre, the same road the area’s Labour MP calls their home.

Here, the flats cost them a total of £650,000, which was marketed as a “knock-down price” by the local agent.

The development had been repossessed a year prior to the Blair’s making it their own and features nine one-beds and a “simply spectacular and utterly unique 950ft penthouse apartment.”

In September 2015, Stockport caught their eye again, this time going for three new-build flats in Renaissance House for approximately £75,000 each.

And last month, they finally made the move into Manchester itself.

With a focus on Whalley Range, a rental destination for young professionals wanting somewhere relatively cheap but still on Chorlton’s doorstep, the they bought four flats in a period conversion on Whalley Road, all around £90,000.

All apartments can be rented out at about £500 a month – or slightly more – leaving the Blair’s with an enjoyable rental income of £170,000 a year.

And to top it off, Manchester’s property prices are continuing the upward trend, meaning the investments by family Blair are set to become increasingly lucrative over the next years.

Source: Manchester Evening News