Besses
Bury 021 · 5 sub-areas · 8,807 residents
Bury 021 is a residential area within Bury, home to around 8,800 people and noticeably more affordable than much of Greater Manchester. A typical two-bedroom home lets for around £884 a month — well below the UK national median for a 2-bed — and a large share of residents are owner-occupiers, giving it a more settled, family-oriented feel than many urban neighbourhoods.
Besses is a commuter neighbourhood within Bury — train into Manchester runs in around 46 minutes, and the rhythm of weekday mornings is shaped by it. The demographic profile leans family-aged, with a clear share of households with school-age children.
Overview
What's it like to live in Besses?
Greenspace is on the doorstep — a park or playing field is within walking distance of most homes; Public transport is genuinely strong; most errands and a fair share of social life don't need a car; rents are roughly in line with the national norm, at around £965 a month for a typical home; gigabit broadband is effectively universal.
Generated from the latest May 2026 data · refreshed automatically
Figures are aggregated across 5 sub-areas — population-weighted means for rates, sums for counts. Sources cited beneath each section.
Besses in Bury
Living in Besses
This part of Bury has a distinctly residential character — around half of homes here are owner-occupied, and the neighbourhood's age profile skews younger than you might expect, with over a quarter of residents under 18. That makes it a different proposition from the denser, more transient rental areas closer to Manchester city centre. You're looking at somewhere people put down roots rather than pass through.
Rents here are among the more affordable you'll find within commuting reach of Manchester. A 2-bed comes in at roughly £884 a month, and even a 3-bed stays under £1,100. The median house price sits at around £228,000, which translates to a deposit-saving window of about 3.6 years for a typical resident — competitive by any northern standard. Council tax at Band D runs to about £2,555 a year.
The population is broadly mixed by age, though the under-18 share at 26% is relatively high — families are clearly a fixture here. Social housing makes up a notable 32% of tenure, which is above the national average, and private renting is fairly limited at around 15%. That tenure mix tells you this isn't a young-professional hotspot; it's an established community with a range of households.
The tram is the practical transport lifeline — the nearest Metrolink stop is under 900 metres away, an easy ten-minute walk. The nearest mainline rail station is roughly 3.8 km away in a straight line. Most residents, though, drive: over half travel to work by car. See the streets and sub-areas below for more.
What you'll need on day one
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Frequently asked
- Is Bury 021 a nice place to live?
- It depends what you're after. It's a settled, family-oriented neighbourhood with affordable rents and a high proportion of owner-occupiers. The tram connection keeps Manchester accessible, and greenspace is within easy reach. The deprivation score is on the higher side nationally, and fewer than half of nearby schools are rated Good or Outstanding, so it's worth weighing those factors against the low cost of living.
- What is the rent in Bury 021?
- A 1-bed typically costs around £683 a month, a 2-bed around £884, and a 3-bed around £1,059. These are estimates scaled from council-level data using local sale prices. All three are well below the UK national median, making this one of the more affordable options within commuting reach of Manchester.
- Is Bury 021 safe?
- No specific crime figures are available for this neighbourhood in our dataset. Bury as a borough sits in the mid-range for Greater Manchester. The area's high owner-occupier share and family-heavy population are generally associated with lower crime levels, but the neighbourhood sits in the third deprivation decile nationally, so it's worth checking the latest police.uk data for your specific streets.
- What's the commute from Bury 021 to Manchester city centre?
- By public transport it takes around 47 minutes. The nearest Metrolink stop is under 900 metres away — about a 10-minute walk — which is the most practical route. Most residents drive rather than take public transport, so if you're car-free, factor in that the tram will be your main link to the city.
- Who lives in Bury 021?
- Predominantly families — over a quarter of residents are under 18, and couples with children make up about 20% of households. Around half of homes are owner-occupied and nearly a third are social housing, so it's a genuinely mixed community rather than a private rental market. It's not a young-professional hotspot.
- What schools are near Bury 021?
- There are 103 schools within typical catchment distance, so choice isn't lacking. Around 48% are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted — well below the national average of roughly 89%. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is about 1,319 metres away. Check individual Ofsted reports before committing to a catchment area.
- How affordable is buying a home in Bury 021?
- The median sale price is around £228,000, and a typical resident can save a deposit in roughly 3.6 years — more achievable than most of Greater Manchester and far better than southern England. Rents are tight relative to local take-home pay (around 48% of net income), so buying rather than renting long-term makes financial sense here for those who can.