Despite the challenges facing Farnworth Green it has been hailed as a blueprint for town centre living in ‘less fashionable’ areas of Greater Manchester
Tim Heatley, co founder of Capital & Centric at the Farnworth Green development
Residents moving into a town’s flagship development faced ‘harassment, intimidation and racism’ after it opened its doors, a regeneration boss has said.
Farnworth Green, a development of 97 homes, was completed in 2025 and is fully-let to residential tenants. It was built by developers Capital & Centric, with the town centre complex hailed as a vision for town centre living in ‘overlooked and under invested’ areas of Greater Manchester.
Tim Heatley, the co-founder of Capital & Centric said Farnworth Green ‘has been well worth the effort’ and he is ‘most proud of this project, more than anything else’ the developer has done.
However, he has conceded there have been many challenges in the opening months after residents moved in. Those issues included false rumours circulating on social media that asylum seekers were living there and that newly moved in tenants faced anti-social behaviour, crime, vandalism and even violence.
Mr Heatley said: “When we first opened the doors there were queues around the block to live in the homes, which was brilliant. “That went successfully, which I think is testament to the quality and the value of the homes. “It’s not cheap, but it’s affordable.”
The regeneration boss explained the issues that had clouded the launch of the development. “Within weeks we realised that the underinvestment and the complete lack of focus given to Farnworth meant there was lots of anti-social behaviour,” he said.
The new Farnworth Green development was completed in 2025
“There was crime, vandalism, there was violence. “We had issues of people breaking into the building, gate-rushing the doors, harassing and intimidating the residents. “It was a major problem.
“We also had incidents of racism towards some residents.”
Mr Heatley said that after Capital & Centric engaged with various agencies ‘we’ve seen a huge improvement’. He said: “As a long term community investor we had to get involved in all of those issues. “These issues are not unique to Farnworth, they happen across Greater Manchester.
“There’s no quick fixes, the work’s ongoing but in recent months we’ve seen a huge improvement. “We’ve worked with the police, the council, local community groups, the residents and local businesses to mitigate it.
“We’ve also worked with some of the young adults in question. “Essentially the people who were causing these issues were our neighbours in part so we had to communicate with them.
“The opportunities for developments like this across Greater Manchester are massive but it will need collaboration, partnership and long term thinking.”
Mr Heatley also addressed false online rumours of asylum seekers being housed in the flats. He said: “There are absolutely no asylum seekers housed here.
“That’s not a political stance we have taken. “The fact of the matter is we are not geared up to house asylum seekers.
“Neither the government, any private organisation or asylum seekers themselves have approached us, to so there are none here. “All our residents here are paying rent to live here privately.
“The majority of them working young families.”
The Capital & Centric boss is full of positivity about the future of the town centre scheme. “It’s been really hard work, exhausting, stressful not necessarily financially rewarding,” he said.
“But I’m most proud of this project more than anything else we;ve done.
“The transformation from what it was to where it is and where it’s going is unrecognisable. “It has been well worth the effort.”