Dispatches from MIPIM 2026: delivery optimism, bold metro mayors and celebrity-led regeneration

Tom Copley, London’s deputy mayor for housing and residential development, told Inside Housing that “there’s no getting away from the fact that [the conflict] is likely to have an impact” on housebuilding in the capital.

But enthusiasm for the potential for growth in UK cities, and the role of affordable homes, seemed to remain high. As MIPIM packs up and the sea of blue suits retreat from Cannes for another year, here are Inside Housing’s key takeaways.

Affordable housing delivery ambition high

For anyone looking out at the fleet of yachts hosting networking drinks beside the conference centre, affordable housing may not immediately spring to mind. Indeed, only a small number of housing associations attended MIPIM this year.

But day one of the festival – named ‘Housing Matters!’ – put the theme front and centre, with a session looking at how to create the conditions for affordable housing.

Panellist Paul Dennett, deputy mayor of Greater Manchester and mayor of Salford, warned that viability constraints could impact the region’s target of 10,000 net zero carbon homes by 2027. But he also told delegates that numbers were showing a “significant shift” in the delivery of affordable housing, thanks to the government’s new Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP).

He said the target for 60% social rent homes under the programme sends “a very clear message from the top” which the market and local authorities then go on to deliver.

“At the moment, one of the biggest challenges we face isn’t necessarily the delivery of housing units, it’s the associated infrastructure”

This optimism was shared by Homes England’s new executive regional directors who attended MIPIM this year, ahead of the agency’s new regional model going live from 1 April.

Danielle Gillespie, executive director for the North West, said that in the first few weeks of SAHP bidding, the agency has seen “ambitious bids coming forward”.

She cited clarity around rent settlements as “really helpful for partners”, and said the presence of some social landlords at MIPIM points to a “joined-up” conversation around placemaking.

Ms Gillespie said Homes England has seen a number of housing associations “really raising their game” when it comes to delivery ambition.

And in London, where starts were dismally low last year, Mr Copley told Inside Housing there is a mood of “cautious optimism” among developers. He said this is down to speedier approvals by the Building Safety Regulator and the government’s incoming emergency package of measures to boost London’s housebuilding.

Solving infrastructure delays key to unlocking development

But the challenges around development were never far from the conversation, with several sessions referencing the viability challenge across the UK.

High interest rates, rising construction costs and skills shortages continue to constrain the housebuilding sector. But leaders at MIPIM also emphasised the need to solve infrastructure problems. 

Mr Dennett said this is a key part of the city region’s spatial plan. “At the moment, one of the biggest challenges we face isn’t necessarily the delivery of housing units, it’s the associated infrastructure,” he told delegates. 

Gerraint Oakley, chief growth and development officer at Platform, echoed this sentiment over a coffee with Inside Housing.

The Midlands-based landlord has an ambitious delivery target of 1,600 new homes a year, and is not constrained by some of the same financial woes as its London peers. But delays to sign-off on key infrastructure such as highways and utilities are holding up delivery.

Mr Oakley said more than 60 completed homes are currently standing empty as a result. He may be pleased to know, then, that Claire Ward, mayor of the East Midlands, is keen to take up this issue with housing associations.

She told Inside Housing this is an area where she wants to support social landlords, using funding available to the combined authority.

City regions up the ante

For metro mayors, the Cannes beachfront is perhaps not their usual arena. But their presence at MIPIM has become a regular fixture, and some look right at home talking up the wealth of investment opportunities in their city regions. 

Liverpool mayor Steve Rotheram, in a sit-down with Inside Housing, said his first visit to MIPIM four years ago was something of a flop. “The first time put me off because we didn’t have our act together,” he said.

But his confidence seems to have grown this time around: he turned up with £11bn of “genuine, investible opportunities”, and a £2bn investment fund that will help fast-track housebuilding.

He seemed optimistic that the four-day affair would result in some new deals, which are “normally in the tens of millions rather than 10 bobs”. Otherwise, Mr Rotheram said, he simply wouldn’t come (he despises flying).

For potential investors exiting the Liverpool stand, they had only to walk a few paces to the Belfast City Council stand for a Guinness, or pop next door again to speak to representatives from Cardiff Capital Region. London, Newcastle and Manchester had also set up shop on the shoreline.

The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) is a regular at the conference, but this time around, mayor Andy Burnham had a new, shiny selling point for the North West city: his recently announced £1bn Good Growth Fund.

The investment is set to pump-prime more than 30 projects across the city, and the first £400m will deliver nearly 3,000 homes. That initial investment is set to unlock a further £1.3bn in private capital.

And at MIPIM, Mr Burnham never misses a chance to mention that Manchester is the UK’s fastest-growing city region, with current growth levels at 3.1%.

But some metro mayors need not look too far afield for cash to build more homes. Six metro mayors, including Mr Rotheram and Mr Burnham, have been allocated a total of £7bn from the new SAHP. Liverpool’s mayor told Inside Housing that he will be going for more, with plans to go “far beyond” current housebuilding targets.

Meanwhile, Ms Ward said the East Midlands would like a piece of pie, but doesn’t yet have established status. “I’m definitely pushing hard, and I expect to get established status, but we won’t be in for an integrated settlement until the next spending round,” she told Inside Housing before being rushed off by her advisor to the next event.

East Midlands Combined County Authority has, however, recently become Homes England’s 10th strategic partner, which will support Ms Ward’s ambition to build 100,000 new homes.

Regeneration and the rise of MDCs

Mayoral development corporations (MDC) are gaining momentum as effective vehicles for regenerating town centres. 

Part of Mr Rotheram’s pitch at MIPIM was his plan for a new MDC to speed up regeneration in Liverpool. Last month, GMCA set out plans for three new MDCs, and in Cannes, Stockport’s MDC announced the appointment of former housing minister Lord Barwell as its new chair.

On Monday, Birmingham City Council set out its ambition to establish an MDC by 2027 as part of a new vision presented to the “global investment stage”.

Homes England’s Ms Gillespie told Inside Housing that the agency is “seeing real momentum across the country” when it comes to development corporations and other types of “intensely focused, place-based teams” that drive delivery.

“Those sorts of models bring to life that if you are going to do large-scale project delivery, you really need to put in place a focused team that can be directing their activities on the place, understand how each of the phases relates to one another and be dedicated to taking it forward,” added Ms Gillespie, who is also a board member at Stockport MDC.

But perhaps the most interesting spotlight on MDCs in Cannes – if only for being the most surprising – was actor and comedian Steve Coogan’s plans to regenerate his hometown, Middleton. 

Mr Coogan’s presence at MIPIM may have felt slightly surreal for many UK delegates, but any hoping to catch a glimpse of Alan Partridge would have been disappointed.

At his panel session on Middleton’s new MDC, Mr Coogan cracked only one joke of that kind, and was for the most part sincere about his enthusiasm for improving the town where he was born and grew up, and where his mum still lives.

Inside Housing grabbed Mr Coogan and his co-chair Rose Marley after the session to talk about how their plans might “disrupt” conventional ways of carrying out regeneration projects. Affordable housing seemed high on their agenda, with the comedian suggesting he would like to see all homes as affordable – rather than just a portion.