MIPIM | Landsec buoyed by GM Good Growth Fund amid gloomy viability outlook

Chief executive Mark Allan said the launch of the £1bn fund has given the investor-developer more confidence about its ability to deliver its Greater Manchester pipeline against a backdrop of market uncertainty.

Speaking on a panel session on the UK Stage, Allan underlined Landsec’s downbeat outlook on development amid constrained viability.

“Ordinarily, as a business, we would have around £1bn committed to development at any point in time,” he said. “As of June of this year, that will be about £150m.”

Mark Allan was speaking at MIPIM 2026. Credit: Landsec

That £150m is being spent on the development of a 230,000 sq ft office at Mayfield in Manchester, one of Landsec’s two large GM schemes, the other being MediaCity.

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Allan added that there is no prospect of scaling up its development pipeline until 2027 “at the very earliest” and admitted that at Mayfield “there’s a real risk that this is just one office next to a fabulous park”.

However, having taken the plunge on the first office, Manchester’s first speculative workspace to start on site in several years, Landsec has secured £13m from Mayor Andy Burnham’s Good Growth Fund to put towards a mobility hub and the 92,000 sq ft second office.

The developer’s build-to-rent pipeline looks less certain at present. Landsec has 9,000 consented units in the UK, half of which are in Greater Manchester, but “none are viable”, Allan said.

Speaking on the same panel, Burnham asked Allan if he was encouraged by the ripple effect that could come from the regeneration of Old Trafford, particularly Manchester United’s plans for a new stadium, which is across the water from Landsec’s MediaCity.

“It’s a bit of a double-edged sword, if I’m honest,” he said.

“I think first of all, fundamentally, if you believe in the momentum and the vision for the city and for the region, it gives you a higher degree of confidence and conviction to back yourself.

“But also…I’ve seen a lot more CGI than I’ve seen actual projects delivered,” he said, alluding to Manchester United’s Old Trafford Stadium launch at MIPIM last year.

“There can be a distraction and a focus on the next big thing,” he added.

“Media City is there right now. We can get a lot more growth through making the most of what we have alongside some of the big visionary projects.”