What will the North West property market be talking about in 2026?

Growing angst around Grey Belt, plenty of Gary Neville, and shockwaves from a possible Reform landslide at May’s local elections are all on the menu for the year ahead.

The BSA

While showing signs of improvement, the process for obtaining Gateway 2 sign off for tall buildings is still a lot slower than the industry would hope for.

All eyes will be on Andy Roe, chair of the Building Safety Regulator, and Charlie Pugsley, chief executive, to see if recent progress in slashing waiting times can continue into 2026.

If the government is going to get anywhere near its 1.5m homes target, it could do with its skyscraper developers not being hamstrung.

Expect to see an increase in the number of six-storey schemes coming forward, as developers seek to swerve the gateway process.

Defence

The UK government’s commitment to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP by 2035 could have a knock-on effect for the property industry.

Savills reported earlier this year that the increase could generate 400m sq ft of demand for industrial and logistics space by 2033.

The preference from suppliers within the defence industry to cluster together could be good news for places like Barrow, which is pinning its regeneration hopes to military spending.

Barrow is the home of the UK’s defence industry. Credit: Geograph user habiloid via CC BY-SA 2.0, bit.ly/3MVQefT

The rise of Greater Manchester’s towns

2026 looks set to be a good year for towns across Greater Manchester. The recently announced £1bn GM Good Growth Fund has already pledged financial support for places like Stretford, Prestwich, and Ashton as Mayor Andy Burnham looks to build on the city region’s above average growth rate.

Crompton Place and St Petersfield, large regeneration projects in Bolton and Tameside respectively, will progress in 2026 with the appointment of developer partners, while Oldham’s Sports Town could also emerge as a new way of delivering regeneration.

The question is, if all of these projects are now ready to go, will there be enough builders, electricians, and plumbers to deliver them? Expect the skills crisis to reach a crescendo next year.

More uncertainty

Politics, both local and national, will continue to do its best to unsettle the market in 2026.

We all witnessed the mass hand sitting that preceded the chancellor’s delayed but ultimately benign budget in November. Expect more of that in the lead up to next year’s local elections in May.

Depending on how badly things go for Labour – Reform is expected to clean up for a second consecutive year across the UK – it is a very real possibility that we could have a new Prime Minister and chancellor by the summer.

Regardless of your political persuasion, this kind of upheaval cannot be good if its stability you crave.

Reform voters were out in force at the May elections. Will it be the same story in 2026? Credit: Red Dot via Unsplash

Grey Belt grumbling

Labour did its best to define the concept of Grey Belt but it would appear that it remains open to interpretation, much to the chagrin of some councils and their residents.

Many developers progressing schemes on land previously designated as Green Belt have seized on the idea of Grey Belt and put forward arguments as to why their site fits this new designation.

This has ruffled some feathers. Including those of Chorley Council, which claims it has been inundated with applications for schemes on so-called Grey Belt land and is asking for a moratorium on this type of application.

The Campaign for the Protection of Rural England is, perhaps unsurprisingly, not happy about the Grey Belt direction of travel. The group has blasted the policy as “vague, subjective and misleading to the public”.

In 2026, there will be more instances of developers claiming land is grey and councils and campaign groups swearing blind its green.

Gary Neville

You will be hearing the former Manchester United captain’s name a lot again next year. After completing the first phase of St Micheal’s and letting it to a series of blue-chip occupiers, the ex-full back is turning his attention to the St Mary’s Parsonage regeneration area.

Neville has his hands on four large sites with huge redevelopment potential in the form of the now demolished Alberton House, its neighbour Cardinal House, Reedham House across the road, and the Kendal Milne building.

With such a firm grip on this part of the city, the market awaits with interest more detail on Neville’s vision.

Gary Neville speaking at the official launch of No1 St Micheal’s in November. Credit: PNW

Office market

Office market sentiment will continue to warm in 2026 but the floodgates will remain firmly shut with regards to speculative development and investment deals.

Refurbished stock due to come online in 2026 will be snapped up quickly by occupiers in search of space as the availability of prime, new-build stock across our regional cities dwindles.

Office agents will continue to insist everything is fine and, in the long run, it probably will be.

Bubbles

If bubbles excite you as much as my young daughter, you could be in for an absolute treat in 2026.

There are two to watch out for. The first, AI, is potentially catastrophic and already has some economists stockpiling rations. The second, padel, will be less consequential but could leave some landowners banking on a steady income caught out. However, 2026 is more likely to be the peak of the padel boom than the nadir.

Your thoughts

Those are our predictions for 2026. Share your own crystal ball visions in comments section.