Manchester picks GMPF as This City investment partner
The city council’s housing company and the Greater Manchester Pension Fund will form a joint venture to deliver 1,600 homes across a variety of neighbourhoods.
The deal is mutually beneficial, allowing Manchester City Council to leverage GMPF’s financial firepower to deliver its pipeline, while also aligned with the fund’s aim to increase its exposure to the living market.
In recent months, GMPF has pumped more than £200m into affordable housing via L&G affordable homes as it looks to support the government’s 1.5m homes target.
The city council’s executive will be asked to enter into the JV at a meeting next week.
This City is yet to complete a scheme but work on No1 Ancoats Green, a 129-home project, is nearing completion. This pr0ject will transfer into the JV’s ownership once complete.
The next site to come forward will be on Postal Street in the Northern Quarter, where 126 flats are planned. A planning application for this project is expected in the coming weeks.
This City’s pipeline also features plans for:
- 85 homes on Hyde Road in Longsight
- 750 homes in Monsall
- 136 homes on the Grey Mare Lane estate
- 166 homes on Downing Street in Ardwick
- 256 homes on Heyrod Street in Piccadilly
- 64 homes on Kirkmanshulme Lane in Longsight
At least 20% of these new homes will be affordable homes to rent with some at the Manchester Living Rent level – set at or below the Local Housing Allowance level – according to the city council.
Manchester City Council Leader Cllr Bev Craig said the deal with GMPF would help the city on its way to its target of delivering 36,000 new homes by 2032.
“This City is about accelerating home building on council-owned land so that we can build the homes that Manchester needs on our own terms,” she said.
“These are ambitious numbers and we are on track to meet them. For example, last year we built more council and social homes than any year for more than a decade, but we want to go even further.
She added: “We plan to build new council and social housing in every part of the city and being creative, using our land and building the homes ourselves, we will do just that. And having the Greater Manchester Pension Fund on board gives us the financial boost to go further and build much needed low cost, low carbon homes for Manchester residents.”
Cllr Eleanor Wills, chair of GMPF, said: “We are acutely aware of the severe housing crisis both nationally and in the North West region. This is why we are proud to continue our longstanding partnership with Manchester City Council investing in the This City vehicle that supports the Government’s plan to provide much-needed affordable homes for hardworking families while ensuring strong, low-risk returns to secure the pensions of our members.”
This is an excellent move from both parties.
Interesting however that the Newton Street/ Postal Street scheme has now disappeared.
By Anonymous
Hi Anonymous. Please see this line from the article – The next site to come forward will be on Postal Street in the Northern Quarter, where 126 flats are planned. A planning application for this project is expected in the coming weeks. Best wishes, Dan
By Dan Whelan
To build what are defined as affordable homes in 2925 is not possible.After the land of the site has been purchased because the current building regulations have to meet stringent targets for insulation and energy efficient heating systems such as electric heat pumps plus all the infrastructure including surface water drainage , sewage , electrical power only people earning high salaries will be able to afford them.
If the homes are for people living off benefits and the council has to pay the rent the council will never recover the debt if the money is borrowed from finance or other institutions.
Manchester City Council made big mistakes in the 1960s by the clearing of slum houses only to be replaced with more slums twenty years later .Remember fort Ardwick ?
By Paul griffiths
That’s a lot of new homes and some of them even affordable..whatever that means.
By Anonymous
Won’t get vary far not paying equivalent to private sector salaries for the development and delivery team. All the jobs they have advertised at least 50% off. The public sector will go nowhere whilst this is the case – in fact will probs make big errors not having the right people there making commercial decisions.
By Old Faithful
They’re also funding the Levenshulme Baths development
By Anonymous
This is very good in principle. But whether it will / can happen is another thing. For example of the £200m with L&G how much has been deployed? It’s really hard!
By Challenging