Ancoats, Manchester

Manchester City Council launch housing development company

A housing development company, wholly owned by Manchester City Council, has formally launched today and aims to accelerate the number of new homes for people in the city.

Schemes developed through This City will focus on high-quality, low carbon homes and will deliver a mix of accessible rent and market properties.

The latter will help to subsidise the development of homes priced at or below the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rate, meaning they will be accessible to people in receipt of housing benefit. 

The first development site in the Ancoats area of the city has been unveiled as the debut project by the new company, resulting in 128 new apartments and townhouses being built, 30% of which will be for accessible rent.

All future This City developments will include a minimum of 20% accessible rented homes on completion, which will be available at or below the Local Housing Allowance level.

This City is a new concept that will allow the authority to take control of part of the affordable housing delivery pipeline for the city and has the ambition to scale up to deliver up to 500 new homes each year.

Manchester City Council is currently on track to exceed the target of helping build 6,400 new affordable homes between 2015 and 2025, accounting for at least 20% of the city’s pipeline of 32,000 homes.

Now, more than 7,000 affordable homes are expected to be built by 2025.

The Ancoats development will include high-quality facilities for residents, with public green space accessible to all being a key element of the final proposals, complementing the wider public realm aims for the local area.

The council said the new homes will be energy efficient properties that ensure lower energy costs for residents and also contribute to Manchester’s 2038 zero carbon ambitions.

Planning applications for the site are expected to be submitted in summer 2022. 

Commenting, Leader of Manchester City Council, Councillor Bev Craig said:

“Manchester has some ambitious and radical plans to see more homes built in our city that everyone can afford. Every resident in our city should have access to a good quality home and Manchester is leading the way in building our own homes as part of this.

“Seeing more homes at accessible rent is a real challenge in the city centre, so we’re building our own. That’s why I’m really pleased to launch This City with the development plan for Rodney Street [Ancoats], helping to meet demand for accessible rent homes. 

“There is a lot more to come from This City. We will grow the potential of the company to deliver around 500 properties each year, using council-owned land to maximise our investment in new housing. And we hope to bring forward new sites quickly, so watch this space.” 

Manchester City Council’s Executive Member for Housing and Employment, Councillor Gavin White added:

“Our bottom line is that everyone in this city deserves a safe, secure and decent home, and as Manchester continues to grow, we also need to increase the number of affordable rent and low carbon homes for Manchester people on lower incomes.

“This City will help us meet this demand, giving us a development vehicle for the first time to deliver the homes the city needs on our own terms.”

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