Trio of major Manchester projects to go back under the microscope

A hat-trick of proposals featuring a combined 3,600 homes across nine buildings will be stress tested by the city council’s planning committee next week.

McGoff’s proposed 17-storey, 153-home build-to-rent scheme on Rochdale Road has already been before planners once before. Back in October, members voted against the recommendation of officers to refuse the plans due largely to their impact on the Marble Arch pub, which is located next door.

However, Manchester’s planning department has been unable to find a “policy-based reason to refuse the application”, which means it will return to committee next Thursday with a recommendation for approval.

To learn more, search for planning reference number 145583/FO/2026 on Manchester City Council’s planning portal.

Within the Oxford Road corridor, two applications for dense student schemes located either side of Charles Street were deferred in October pending site visits.

RG Real Estate wants to demolish Charles Street Car Park and build a 1,041-bed student housing scheme featuring three interlinked buildings including a 38-storey tower.

Meanwhile, IQ Student Accommodation has applied to demolish its Western Halls and Pendulum Hotel assets to pave the way for a five-building cluster that tops out at 50 storeys.

Together, the schemes would provide 3,500 student beds across eight buildings. Both are recommended for approval by officers but will have to withstand protestations from residents who live in the nearby Granby Village, who claim the proposed towers would impinge on light levels within their homes.

Read more about the two student schemes or search for the applications by searching for reference number PLA-2026-000312 for RG’s scheme and 144791/FO/2025 for IQ’s.