Sheffield Renting Guide for Young Professionals

Right then - you’ve decided to make the move to Sheffield. Solid choice - and we’ll tell you why. Artistry and innovation? Check. Grassroots creative art community? Check. Friendly people, lush green spaces, amazing long-term job opportunities? Check, check and check. Let’s be real you’d be mad not to want to live here. We’re proud to have a strong presence in the city here at Ollo, with loads of top-notch Sheffield apartments to choose from in Eyewitness. That means we know all there is to know about the so-called Steel City, and all the many reasons why so many young professionals end up calling it home.

So if you’re looking for a heads-up on what it’s like to rent here - here’s the lowdown.  

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Work - Building A Career Here

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Simply put, Sheffield is a great place to work, with tonnes of employment opportunities. There are almost 300,000 jobs available, with just a 2.7% unemployment rate. Some of the single biggest sectors here include healthcare, advanced manufacturing, and tech, and we do a decent trade in education, retail and business services too.

Let’s kick things off by looking at healthcare. The sector makes up about 16.5% of all Sheffield jobs, and we’ve got six massive hospitals, so it’s no shocker that the NHS is one of the city’s biggest employers. Plus, Sheffield’s universities have close partnerships with the health sector, which is one of the reasons why private healthcare is booming.

Right after healthcare is advanced manufacturing (being called the Steel City - the clue’s in the name). Aerospace, automotive, nuclear, and of course steel and metals - you name it, they all have big industry names based right here in the city. That includes players like Rolls Royce for example, McLaren, Boeing, BAE Systems… it’s an engineer’s dream, is what we’re saying here. If that’s where your career is heading, there’s literally no better place to be.

Speaking of big names actually, there’s loads here in the digital and tech sector too. Capita, Plusnet and ARM Holdings are some of the ones you might recognise right off the bat. On top of that though, Sheffield has also got a rep as being a great place for tech startups. There are some solid government grants, and costs tend to be lower than London too, plus there’s a steady stream of young pros from universities.

All that means Sheffield is home to a massive range of tech businesses covering software development, data science, digital marketing and IT support. We mentioned education is another major sector too, and there’s a lot of overlap with the tech scene - in fact, over 60% of the UK’s educational technology capacity is based in Sheffield.

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Lifestyle - Things To Do

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Life in Sheffield isn’t like life in any other city. It’s got that tricky balance just right. On the one hand, a bustling city vibe, and on the other it’s still quiet enough in places to make it almost downright cosy.

A big part of that is to do with all the green spaces in Sheffield. It’s weird to think that a place often called the Steel City is also referred to as the Green City… but it is! In fact, here are a couple of things you may not have known - it has more trees per person than any European city, and lush green spaces make up 60% of its entire area, as we covered recently. That means you can take your pick between losing yourself in the big-city buzz, or nipping off to proper stretches of green space, and home again - all in the space of a single afternoon. As you can imagine, there’s a bunch of outdoor communities here, including rock climbing, running, and hiking.

Whatever you’re into, there’s never any shortage of stuff to do in Sheffield.

Culture

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It’s a creative, vibrant city with a thriving music and arts scene. That makes for a great nightlife for starters, and one of the qualities that makes it one of the UK’s top student cities. You’re spoiled for choice with all the pubs, bars and clubs about, especially around Division Street and West Street. Corporation is a particularly popular club and a great place to turn some heads with your best moves, possibly with a bit of Dutch courage.

Speaking of! As well as being the birthplace of stainless steel, Sheffield also has a legendary rep as th original home of the UK’s craft ale scene. Today, it’s home to more than 50 breweries, which serve as a nice complement to its quality restaurants and eateries.

History

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Or if history is more your kind of thing, most of Sheffield’s parks and green spaces are dotted with museums and monuments that’ll give you the lowdown on some of its modern quirks. For example, during WWII Sheffield’s steel production made it a priority target for German bombers, which is the reason why Weston Park Museum is missing an entire wing. Basically, a bomb exploded on a nearby street and obliterated the original structure during the Sheffield Blitz, so in the end they just went for a redesign rather than rebuilding it.

Community - Places To Go, People To Meet

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Sheffield has enjoyed a tonne of nicknames over the years - we’ve covered a couple already, and another of them is “England’s largest village”. That’s less to do with the architecture, and more referencing the fact that it’s a decent-sized city with all the charm of a small-town village. People here are friendly and outgoing, and visitors and residents often say it feels more personal and down-to-earth than massive metropolises like London.

We’ve mentioned already how it’s one of the top student cities in the country, so a good proportion of its population is pretty young, and highly diverse too. It’s one of the reasons why Sheffield’s arts scene is the pride of the city - it’s buzzing with a tonne of different nations and cultures.

See, that’s the thing: if the brief rundown of our industries didn’t tell you already, Sheffield is a city of creators.

Take art - there’s loads of prolific artists in Sheffield. One of them is Peachzz, a graduate of Sheffield Hallam University, and the talent behind the mural that overlooks Pound Park. It’s one of several stunning works you can find all around the city. Or you can head to one of Sheffield’s many performing arts venues, including the Crucible and Lyceum, which is the UK’s largest theatre complex outside of London.

It’s got a strong festival scene too - one of the most well-known ones is Tramlines, which is an annual event that’s been running since 2009. Originally, it took over spots all across the city, but since 2018 it’s been concentrated into a single location: Hillsborough Park, in the city’s north-west. As well as live music, the festival also encompasses family entertainment, comedy, poetry and DJs - so you can see why so many people love it for its inclusive and effortlessly friendly vibe. It’s a proper celebration of the arts, and we love it.

Oh, and if you’re an outdoorsy type looking to make new friends, it’s definitely worth looking into the festivals that tap into Sheffield’s relationship with its green spaces - such as the Festival of the Outdoors, and Sheffield Walking Festival.

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Ready to Get Settled in Our Sheffield Apartments?

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To be honest, it’s almost impossible to sum up everything that makes Sheffield an awesome place to live; when it comes right down to it, you’ll just have to come and experience it for yourself. And that’s exactly where we can help here at Ollo Living, with a great range of Sheffield apartments to choose from in Eyewitness, in the heart of the city’s Devonshire Quarter. If you’ve got any questions, or you’d like to book a viewing, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team at at hello@olloliving.co.uk or by giving us a call on 07780 301353. We’re here to help!

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