Manchester approves £1bn plans for 15,000 new homes as part of Northern Gateway

Manchester City Council has approved 15,000 new homes over the next 15-20 years as part of the city’s ambitious ‘Northern Gateway’ project.

Following a Cabinet meeting yesterday, the proposals, which include 3,000 affordable homes, will see homes built by 2038 as part of a joint venture between the council and Far Eastern Consortium developers.

Cllr Suzanne Richards, executive member for housing regeneration, said the “really ambitious” plans would comprise of seven areas north of the city centre.

The closest area to the city centre would stretch from Angel Meadow at New Cross, and moving further north-west from the centre would be places such New Town, Red Bank— an area aimed at being developed along the River Irk which borders popular housing area the Green Quarter— and South Collyhurst.

Along the river and adjacent to South Collyhurst is Vauxhall Gardens, with Collyhurst Village and Eggington Street and Smedley Dip being targeted as the two furthest areas from the city centre.

The proposals include the creation of City River Park, a central space to be located along the banks of the River Irk. All seven areas will include new homes, including new social housing.

Cllr John Leech, Liberal Democrat leader for Didsbury, expressed concerns about the placement of social housing in the plans. He said: “The biggest gap in the market is for affordable rented and social rented homes. I would like to ensure that the biggest majority of those properties are going to be for affordable rent as opposed to shared ownership which tends to be more available than affordable homes.

“We ought to be ensuring there is a proper mix across the board—it’s great to see that there will be affordable housing built in Collyhurst but it makes no reference to the Redbank and Newtown [areas closer to the city centre] neighbourhoods.”

Leech also raised issues such as ensuring that the new properties are not bought by foreign investors and allowed to stay empty.

Richards noted that an eight-week consultation will be held starting in August to get local communities’ opinions on the plans.

She said: “We want to ensure what was put forward reflects the area and the communities in that area—but the next stage is to give the communities the opportunity to look further and in more detail, and really listen to those voices and ensure that what we come forward with is really rooted within the Manchester community want to see.”

The council said the development will be one of the largest the UK has ever seen, stretching 1.5 miles in total. 

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Image credit: Farrells