Forward funding deal close for Bolton town centre regen

Thriving Investments, with backing from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and the GMPF, is in talks to deliver the first phase of the £150m Church Wharf scheme.

Part of Places for People, Thriving Investments has been selected as the preferred delivery model for the affordable homes element of the Bolton project, according to a council report.

Thriving Investments, through a newly-created Greater Manchester-focussed fund, would acquire three plots of land from Watson Homes – the scheme’s master developer – to bring forward more than 200 discounted homes, subject to council approval.

Last July, Bolton entered into a land sale agreement with Watson Homes to revive the stalled project and deliver 417 homes and a 120-bedroom hotel across various phases.

That agreement contained within it a buy-back clause, which would allow the council to take back control of land if Watson failed to deliver.

Bolton is now considering removing that clause so that the Thriving Investments deal can complete.

Thriving Investments considers the clause “an unacceptable risk to the fund”, according to a council report.

Thriving Investment’s GM fund will mirror other funds already established in Scotland.

It has debt backing from GMCA and the Greater Manchester Pension Fund, Places for People, and Better Society Capital are understood to be providing £30m of equity.

The report states that the involvement of GMPF “brings credibility to Bolton’s housing market and will assist in creating the conditions for confident investment in the town via other funding routes”.

All parties were contacted for comment.

Church Wharf has been in the pipeline for several years. Part of a wider £1bn regeneration plan for Bolton, the original vision for the £150m scheme was for almost 300 homes, as well as 130,000 sq ft of commercial space and a hotel, off Folds Road and Manor Street east of the town centre.

Muse was previously working on Church Wharf as the council’s development partner and won planning permission for the project in 2019. That scheme did not materialise and Bolton went back out to the market for a development partner last year.