Manchester disposals to unlock land for 378 homes
The city council is to offload 27 brownfield plots in the north and east of the city to pave the way for the delivery of affordable homes by a consortium of housing providers.
First proposed in 2019, Manchester City Council’s Project 500 aims to provide affordable homes on underused brownfield sites in areas such as Moston and Harpurhey.
The first phase of Project 500 comprises 378 homes and forms part of the authority’s recently adopted housing strategy, which sets out an ambition to deliver 10,000 affordable properties in the next decade.
To progress the projects through to construction, the city council is seeking executive approval to dispose of the freeholds of the sites to companies within the Manchester Housing Providers Partnership.
The partnership comprises One Manchester, Great Places Housing Association, Southway Housing Trust, Mosscare St Vincents Housing Group, The Guinness Partnership, Jigsaw Homes, and Irwell Valley Housing Association.
The homes that are subsequently delivered will provide 100% affordable housing, with 89% of the homes available for social rent or Manchester Living Rent. The remainder will be available for shared ownership and rent to buy.
“We know that building affordable homes in the current economic climate is a real challenge, but we need to do everything we can to increase the number of genuinely affordable, low-carbon homes available to our residents,” said Cllr Gavin White, Manchester City Council’s executive member for housing and development.
“This is an ambitious approach to affordable home building, which draws on the collective energies of the city’s affordable housing providers, working in close partnership with the city council to bring underused, brownfield land into use and build the homes that Manchester people need.”
The largest project within the initiative will see MSV deliver 48 homes off Heatherdale Drive and Tamerton Drive in Cheetham Hill.
In total MSV is to build 123 homes across four sites; two in Cheetham Hill and two in Harpurhey.
The breakdown of the remaining sites and homes is as follows:
- Guinness – 79 homes across five sites in Charlestown, Harpurhey, and Clayton and Openshaw
- One Manchester – 57 homes across six sites, four of which are in Moston
- Great Places – 47 homes spilt between a pair of sites in Crumpsall and Higher Blackley
- Irwell Valley Homes – 25 homes across two sites in Higher Blackley
- Southway – 15 homes across three sites; two in Gorton and Abbey Hey and one Didsbury East
- Jigsaw – 10 homes each in Moston and Harpurhey.
An additional two sites in Harpurhey that are earmarked for 12 homes in total have yet to be assigned to a housing association.
View the full list of sites to be sold.
The city council has not disclosed how much it will make from the sale of the site.
Construction of the first Project 500 homes could begin next spring, according to the MHPP.
Dwelling numbers proposed at these sites doesn’t look to be very high. If the council and its partners are looking to deliver yet more 2/3 storey houses on these sites instead of maximising potential with 4/5 storey+ apartment buildings then the opportunity will be wasted IMO. We cannot carry on filling up all available sites with tiny homes in a sea of car parking and then wonder why Manchester is facing a crippling housing shortage and skyrocketing rents/prices. Building at low densities will neither solve the housing shortage, nor will it regenerate local high streets. We need high dwelling densities in the form of apartment buildings and townhouses to achieve this. Looking forward to seeing more plans.
By Anonymous
I’m sure the residents will appreciate the greenspace opposite turning into residential.
By Anonymous
This initially sound like positive and much-needed progress to provide “affordable” housing, albeit the term affordable is questionable.
That said, the photo in this article shows green-space, which may well be a temporary green-space following demolition, which is what I am hoping to be the case, and that any development and the Council’s wider public realm works, allow for suitable open green spaces for the people who live there.
By Anon
Those grass lawns beween built-up street are “brown fields” are they? Which Central Community for the Destruction of Nice Places decided that.? But, oh no, we must never build on the Green Belt where the fancy folk live!
By Anonymous
Agree with Anonymous. In this country if you are on a low income, you have to live on a former, bleach works, site. You can’t have a nice view, or a decent school for your children.
By Elephant
Hopefully none of these will go to outsiders, they should be for locals only, and should have parking
By Anonymous
All well and good, but most of not all of these properties seem to be being built on the north side of Manchester. What about Hulme & Moss Side, seems to have been a long time since social housing has been built in these sort of areas. All we seem to get is large amounts of student accommodation (PBSA).
By Roy Bennett
Shocking
By Anonymous