£170m funding deal secured to unlock Old Trafford resi 

Glenbrook has signed two major funding agreements with Moorfield and Clarion Housing Group for the delivery of the 693-home Lumina Village. 

Moorfield, which has funded several Glenbrook schemes in the past, will fund the 440-home build-to-rent element of the Old Trafford project, which has a GDV of £120m. 

Clarion Housing Group has committed £49.1m to deliver 199 affordable homes at Lumina Village, offering a mixture of shared ownership and social rent options across a range of apartment types and townhouses. 

Grants from Homes England and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority have also been secured to support the affordable element of the project. 

“We have been working on this site for a long time with the Bruntwood Trafford JV and to achieve a funding commitment of this scale is testament to everyone’s commitment and stamina particularly over the last 12 months,” said Ian Sherry, director at Glenbrook. 

“This will be our fourth BTR deal with Moorfield following the success of The Keel, Trilogy, and Duet and our second scheme with Clarion following the completion of High Definition at MediaCity.” 

Glenbrook was selected by Bruntwood and Trafford Council to deliver the residential portion of the scheme in 2022.   

Totalling 639 homes, the project is part of the wider mixed-use redevelopment of the 12-acre former Kellogg’s site, located within Trafford Council’s Civic Quarter. 

The residential offering, featuring 5.4 acres of public realm, forms the larger part of the wider Lumina Village mixed-use development. 

Future phases benefit from outline consent granted in 2020 and will feature 200,000 sq ft of offices, a primary school and a 100-bedroom hotel.  

“Old Trafford is at the start of a huge transformation and is attracting new investment and people to the area,” Sherry added. 

“This funding and development will offer a mix of much-needed housing types and tenures and is a significant step in unlocking the wider redevelopment of Trafford’s Civic Quarter.”  

Domis Construction has been appointed to build the 440-home BTR scheme and a large proportion of the public realm, with Caddick Construction delivering 199 homes and associated public spaces. LK Group is undertaking land remediation for Caddick.

For Moorfield, advised by CBRE, the investment in Lumina Village marks a welcome return to BTR. 

“Our early BTR investments performed well and we are now excited to be getting back into the subsector, having been priced out for a number of years and having sold all of our projects between 2018 and 2022,” said Charles Ferguson-Davie, chief investment officer at Moorfield Group. 

“Lumina Village is a fantastic asset in one of the UK’s most attractive BTR markets, and the next in our strong relationship with Glenbrook, whose expertise we value enormously.”

Sheppard Robson is the architect working on the scheme. Credit: via Inform Comms

Richard Cook, group director of development at Clarion Housing Group, added: “We are excited to be delivering sustainable and modern homes for the Lumina Village scheme.  

“The agreement with Homes England and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority reflects our commitment to providing affordable housing options in Greater Manchester. Clarion is dedicated to providing affordable homes that will contribute to Manchester’s diverse and inclusive community.” 

Chris Roberts, chief development officer at Bruntwood, said: “Our joint venture with Trafford Council is helping to shape Trafford’ continued aspiration to create a vibrant and sustainably focused borough. We’re excited to see Lumina Village reach another key milestone, which brings us a step closer to creating a variety of high-quality, people centric homes and spaces for Trafford’s residents to come together and thrive.” 

Cllr Ged Cooney, Greater Manchester lead for housing, said: “Unlocking brownfield land for regeneration is essential to delivering the homes that Greater Manchester needs. Our Brownfield Housing Fund is doing exactly that, supporting developments like Lumina Village to create new green spaces, pedestrian-friendly streets, and good affordable homes in our city-region. 

“We’re excited to see Lumina Village take shape, as we continue to use our devolved powers and funding to prioritise brownfield land for development and deliver new homes across Greater Manchester.”