GMCA hiring for housing fund

The Greater Manchester Combined Authority is looking to recruit four new members of staff to its core investment team, to support the delivery of the Manchester Place £300m housing fund at a combined salary of £290,000.

A meeting of the GMCA on Friday 24 April is being asked to approve the cost of expanding the team, which is currently made up of 11 people. Funding for the recruits which would initially come from the core investment team budget, and then be covered by income generated on housing investments.

The four additional posts are:

• A risk director with a salary of £85,000, who would lead the credit risk unit and ensure that sufficient and appropriate resources are in place to implement the management framework
• Two transaction managers with a salary of £55,000 each, who would review bid summaries and undertake due diligence on the proposals
• Administrative support at a £28,000 salary

The GMCA core investment team currently manages the £100m Regional Growth Fund and Growing Places monies, and oversees the £50m North West Evergreen Fund.

The £300m housing investment fund, delivered through a deal with the Department for Communities & Local Government, is due to go live in May and will provide recoverable loans or investment to smaller housebuilders to support around 15,000 new homes as part of the Manchester Place initiative.

Manchester Place is a collaboration between Manchester City Council and the Homes & Communities Agency launched in July 2014 with the aim of creating a pipeline of development-ready sites to help the city meet its target of 55,000 new homes by 2027

In order to receive the funds from DCLG, Greater Manchester needs to demonstrate that it has recruited appropriate personnel to key positions and established governance arrangements by June 2015. The first phase of the loan will be for £40m and will need to be committed during 2015/16.

Alongside the hiring of new staff, the GMCA is being asked to approve the creation of a housing scrutiny committee to advise on the fund, which will be led by the GMCA chief investment officer, supported by four external individuals "with appropriate expertise in housebuilding, commercial banking, property and law".

The total remuneration package for external members of the committee would be £50,000 each year.