Landsec: no resi starts until 2027 at the earliest
The first phase of 897 homes at Mayfield in Manchester and the 2,700 due to come forward as part of the next wave of development at MediaCity will not be on site for at least another 12 months, the developer has confirmed.
Landsec has a pipeline of 9,000 homes to deliver over the next decade, including around 3,500 in Greater Manchester, but will not be pulling the trigger next year due to “insufficient” forecasted returns.
Work on detailed design and Building Safety Act approvals will continue throughout 2026.
The majority of Landsec’s resi pipeline is located in London, where Mayor Sadiq Khan has lowered affordable housing requirements to boost the flagging residential development market.
However, with lower end values in the North and fewer policy levers to pull, the Mayfield and MediaCity resi schemes will be harder to get going than those in the capital.
In a trading update published today, Landsec said: “Each of these [schemes] benefit from strong transport connections, scale, and a demonstrable need for more housing.
“We could see first starts on site in 2027, taking into account detailed design works, Building Safety Act approvals, and site preparation.
“However, returns currently are not at sufficient levels which is an issue across the wider market, as highlighted by the fact that new housing starts in London fell to 3,248 over the first nine months of 2025, which is down c. 75% over the last three years.”
Landsec’s update on its resi position follows another in September in which the company said it would commit no fresh capital to development projects in the near-term, focusing instead on adding more retail to its portfolio.
The Liverpool ONE owner began work on the first office at Mayfield earlier this year; the 230,000 sq ft asset is the first new-build speculative office development in the city for some time.
Wait until the budget – that will put the housing aspect back indefinitely. In fact , it will grossly and disastrously put everything back.. Apart from Liebours ” sacrosanct ” Masters.
By Anonymous
This Mayfield is becoming a farce. This eyesore is the first thing people see when they get off the train. If I was entering Manchester for the first time, would I think that I was entering Britain’s boom city, if I saw this?
By Elephant
I have no idea what the previous comment (Anon 10:31) means. It seems to be the calibre of BTL comment you see on the Manchester Event News. Care to clarify / expand Anon?
By Shouting at clouds
This, in a nutshell, is why housing needs will never be met by continuing the fifty year failed experiment of relying on the private sector to do it.
By Gethin Forslake
So, waiting to see if housing material and labour costs fall over the next year should resolve the issue….. Developers generally dislike “affordable” homes because they offer little profit, and the risk of RSLs (Registered Social Landlords) not purchasing them makes this route to market increasingly unviable.
Perhaps the so-called messiah, AB, could inject some cash from his “investment” fund to make the scheme work—unless, of course, those funds are already committed elsewhere, as previous posts and legal challenges seem to suggest.
By Steve5839
The Budget! Who gives a damn about the Budget?
By Anonymous
At least we got the park
By Anonymous
Anonymous 10.30 am, you are truly insightful and so witty with it. Your posts are PNW gain and the Manchester Evening News loss.
By Anonymous
Architects incapable of creating decent designs. Tacky orange boxes. Not worthy of Manchester. Hope it doesn’t get built
By John
The park that’s not near anything
By Anonymous
U&I had the original vision, great on paper, great salesmen. But reality is that renaker/ salboy and argent would have delivered the whole thing by now. The only progress on site has been by public grant and retail operator’s. New blood experiment hasn’t worked.
By Don cheglioni
To “Shouting at Clouds”……i think Anon 10:31 is referring to “Agenda 2030”, which transcends Parliamentary sovereignty, the objectives of which this Government are in complete lockstep .
By Bill De Burgh
Bill – Although “Agenda 2030” is a favourite for paranoid right wing conspiracy theorist to stress about I doubt Landsec gave it a second thought when they made their Mayfield decision.
By Anonymous
I was hoping those ‘Superman’s underpants’ buildings would have happened by now. They amuse me.
By Lex Luther
@11:13am
The park is next door to Piccadilly Train Station and Mayfield
By Use your brain, it's free
@Bill de Burgh. Oh. You seem to be referring to UN targets around sustainability – a very worthwhile thing. But of course the adoption of such targets involves parliaments in addition to our own because they are international. How else would you do this? You would have the British parliament dictating to the rest of the world what targets they should adopt? We’re not living in colonial times anymore. Anyway, this has got little to nothing to do with domestic housing and planning policy.
By Anonymous