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Greater Manchester to deliver 3,000 homes in first wave of £1bn growth fund
Greater Manchester is aiming to deliver nearly 3,000 homes as part of the first wave of its new £1bn fund to “turbocharge regeneration”.
Greater Manchester is aiming to deliver nearly 3,000 homes as part of the first wave of its new £1bn fund to “turbocharge regeneration” #UKHousingIn a speech on Thursday, mayor Andy Burnham unveiled the combined authority’s “new model of economic growth”, under which the £1bn Good Growth Fund will “pump prime building at a pace and scale not seen before this century”.
He set out plans to invest an initial £400m in a first wave of projects, which is expected to unlock a further £1.3bn in private capital.
Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) said the first wave of allocations will help the region “turn the tide on the housing crisis” by building “well-connected new homes”.
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It will invest in schemes to deliver “affordable, sustainable housing” such as Victoria North, set to be one of the government’s new towns, and Salford’s Adelphi Village, which will create around 800 homes.
Another example includes the Prince’s Gate scheme in Oldham, where the GMCA will commit £31.5m in investment this month to help build 331 homes, 75 of which will be social housing.
“By providing just enough finance to make projects viable, we aim to unlock billions of pounds in private and public capital over the next decade,” the GMCA said.
The £1bn Good Growth Fund brings together different pots of funding, including an initial £300m invested by the Greater Manchester Pension Fund.
Leaders across the city region are expected to approve the £400m first wave allocations next Friday, and a second wave will be announced in March.
The GMCA added: “Catalysed by our Good Growth Fund, the pipeline will speed up development and enable us to build the new and affordable homes we need to solve the housing crisis, revive our town centres, build new innovation and employment sites, create high-quality jobs and install the energy and transport infrastructure to power and connect it all.”
Mr Burnham explained that the combined authority is “asking other public finance institutions to join it as investment partners” in order to maximise economic growth.
He continued: “It is time to move away from a project-by-project appraisal approach, with all of its bureaucracy and delay, to a portfolio approach.
“By doing this, we can speed up decision-making and delivery and give funders like Homes England and the National Wealth Fund accelerated achievement of their own goals.
“We are confident we can prove this creates a more powerful vehicle for growth and a template which can be taken around the country, as other combined authorities move towards integrated settlements.”
Under the new Social and Affordable Homes Programme 2026-2036, Greater Manchester has been allocated £1.8bn and will work with Homes England to decide how and where affordable housing will be built across the region.
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