GM Mayor targets 10,000 new social homes by May 2028

A Greater Manchester public sector land bank will enable Mayor Bev Craig to make a sizeable dent in her overall goal to see 50,000 council and social homes built by 2039 – with a fifth due to be constructed, on site, or through planning within two years.

The 10,000 goal is achievable through the £1.8bn Greater Manchester is due to receive from Homes England’s Social and Affordable Housing Programme, Craig said.

Helping move delivery along will be the Greater Manchester Public Sector Land Bank, an initiative Craig launched yesterday. This will be made up of sites owned by local authorities and government bodies that could be released for affordable housing. She called on her fellow public sector organisations to get on board and contribute their sites to the bank.

“I want us to lead the way in Greater Manchester with the new generation of council and social homes,” she said.

Craig made the pledge and land bank announcement on Wednesday during a tour of Jigsaw Homes’ recently completed 35-apartment Stamford Street Central development in Ashton-under-Lyne.

The social housing scheme exemplified the types of homes Craig wants to see delivered: energy efficient, truly affordable, and built on brownfield land.

Rents on the former car park site are £107/week for a one-bedroom flat and £122/week for a two-bedroom one. The EPC A project was created using a fabric first building approach, with rooftop solar panels and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery systems.

It was built over the course of two years by J. Greenwood Builders and with support from Tameside Council. The project team included JDA Architects, Sutcliffe Engineers, and Neo Projects.

Jigsaw Homes chair Roli Barker was supportive of Craig’s land bank proposal. Credit: PNW

Land bank potential

The creation of the Public Sector Land Bank could help drive the delivery of more projects like Stamford Street Central, according to Jigsaw Homes’ chair Roli Barker.

“As much as we want to build and we have the desire, the strategy, and the commitment – what we need is the land,” Barker said. “So, if there is a commitment and a fund or way for us to access that land – that’s going to be brilliant because we’re ready to build.”

The land bank builds upon the Project 500 housing strategy Craig put into place during her time as Leader of Manchester City Council. Project 500 identified 35 small brownfield sites owned by the city council that could hold 517 affordable homes – 75% of which would be for social rent.

Reflecting on the still underway Project 500, Craig said: “We were able to pull together lots of different pockets of land that wouldn’t sell for loads on the open market and were just going to sit derelict. I want us to do something similar at a Greater Manchester scale, working with registered providers and working with councils to get those council and social homes we desperately need.”

Tackling delivery challenges

The land bank will not solve all of the challenges facing affordable housing delivery, which is still dependent on grant support.

Case in point: Stamford Street Central cost £6.9m to deliver, according to Jigsaw. Stamford Street Central was supported through £2.8m from the Affordable Homes Programme and £700,000 from the Greater Manchester Brownfield Housing Fund.

When it comes to meeting Craig’s 10,000 social homes by 2028 target, Jigsaw’s Barker identified three main issues: “I think the real challenge will be getting the land, getting the grant funding drawn down in time, and then making sure that we’ve got the skilled workforce to be able to deliver the homes.”

That being said, Barker said it would not do to get bogged down in the difficulties around delivery.

“We are aware that there are going to be challenges, but I think let’s not focus on the challenges,” she said. “Let’s focus on the ambition and try to do as much as we can, as best as we can.”

Adrian Rooney, managing director of J. Greenwood Builders, agreed.

“You’ve got have a starting point,” he said. “You’ve got to have the ambition to grow. That sort of target number is something to aim at.”

Rooney added that SMEs, like Greenwood, had a prominent role to play.

“One thing that has to happen is SMEs like ourselves have to be involved in the conversations about projects,” he said. “It’s the likes of the SMEs that are going to help deliver those ambitious targets using that local supply chain, local knowledge, and local resource to contribute to the local area.”

Tameside deputy leader Cllr Andrew McLaren said that there was political willpower to back Craig’s target.

“I think it is achievable,” he said. “I think it’s important that people have to realise that we have to start somewhere.”

He added that pushing for housing, including and especially social and affordable housing, was why he entered politics.

It is a passion Craig shares.

“When I look at waiting lists across Greater Manchester, there are too many people that are waiting for a good home,” she said.

Jigsaw Homes’ Stamford Street Central development has delivered 35 apartments for social rent in the heart of Ashton-under-Lyne. Credit: PNW

Looking ahead

When it comes to the affordable nature of the 50,000 homes she wants to see delivered, Craig declined to go the additional step further from social housing and pledge to put the properties under a Manchester Living Rent or an equivalent tenure.

Manchester Living Rent, another city council initiative from Craig’s tenure as Leader, is set at or below the Local Housing Allowance.

But she did not rule it out.

“I want to see where I get to in the coming weeks with Homes England, because I believe they might have some changes coming to their definitions,” she said, referencing the government’s current categorising of affordable housing as properties offer at 80% of market value and social housing as those offered at 60% of market value.

Craig has another ask of national government beyond changing definitions around what is designated as affordable housing and what is not.

Looking out the window of one of the apartments at Stamford Street Central alongside McLaren, she pointed at a dilapidated former church just opposite.

She told McLaren that she had pitched to national government a forced sell order – a move that would set a time frame for how long private landowners could hold onto blighted sites before being forced to sell.

“This could be one of the first victims,” she told him, looking at the site.

McLaren noted that it had potential – adding that he saw not a problem, but an opportunity.

Craig also teased a future announcement that would see the combined authority tackle the skills crisis in construction. News on that, she said, would be shared in the coming weeks.