Landsec ‘very confident’ of 2025 start on Mayfield offices

Fresh from announcing the company’s £243m pre-tax profit for the half year ending 30 September, chief executive Mark Allan singled out the Manchester project as one of its key future developments.

In particular, Allan played up Mayfield’s renegotiated development agreement that will enable Landsec to deliver itself the scheme’s 1,700-home residential phases. He said that he hopes to begin delivery of the homes in 2026, with an eye towards completing the residential aspects of Mayfield in 2034.

Preliminary work has already begun, with a scoping report submitted in October to Manchester City Council for the first batch of 900 flats and a public consultation starting soon after.

The Labour government’s outward focus on housing delivery has led Allan and Landsec to feel confident in leaning into the residential market. The company said it has the potential to invest more than £1bn in the sector by 2030 and £3bn over the next decade.

But the £400m offices phase at Mayfield has not been forgotten in the excitement of a pro-housing development Whitehall, he assured Place North West.

“I am very confident we will start with the office phase next year,” he said. “That will bring a vibrancy to that area within the next two to three years and, more importantly, that will unlock the opportunity for residential later on.”

Allan doubled down on the offices being a major element to the larger Mayfield project, adding that in order for the development to be successful it needs to have both residential and commercial uses.

Landsec has been promising delivery of the 320,000 sq ft of offices at Mayfield for a while, with Allan telling Place in May that he was “hopeful” of a start on site before the end of the year. That, obviously, has not materialised.

MediaCity was absent from the results highlight for the half-year from Landsec. The group took full ownership of the Salford site earlier this month. Allan said the chance to take full control over MediaCity was “too good an opportunity to pass up on”, adding that from the start of Landsec’s involvement in the neighbourhood he had felt that it was loaded with potential.

He mentioned three components to MediaCity that made it special: the economic prospects of Greater Manchester, the creative sector’s potential for growth, and the opportunity to develop a second phase.

Allan teased that more news from MediaCity should be expected in the coming year as Landsec works with occupiers, including the BBC, on its next phase.

Landsec’s stock price on the London Stock Exchange was up 2% following the half-year results reveal.