Manchester City Council and the Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF) will form a new partnership to deliver around 1,600 new homes in the coming years through the This City housing company.

A report submitted to the Council’s Executive this week will look to approve the arrangements with the pension fund that will help deliver the next phase of This City over at least the next 10 years, which could be extended by mutual agreement.   

The joint venture will create a collaboration agreement to deliver new low-carbon homes across seven council-owned sites, including at least 20% genuinely affordable homes capped at the affordable Manchester Living Rent.   

The investment will look to support local economic growth, investing in communities to create sustainable neighbourhoods, while also delivering a range of green employment opportunities.   

The first This City development has already completed at No. 1 Ancoats Green, which welcomed new residents last year.   

The seven initial future sites are spread across the city, with a particular focus on north and east Manchester, while the next site being brought forward is, Postal Street in the Northern Quarter area of the city centre.   

Demolition of a previous single-story commercial building has already been completed at the site, allowing for detailed design of the new residential development that will deliver 126 new low-carbon homes, with at least 20% capped at the Manchester Living Rent level.   

A planning application for the site has now been submitted to RIBA Stage 2 design and consultation ahead of a formal planning submission with an expected start on site later in 2027.  

Further to Postal Street, five other future sites have been identified:

  • Monsall in Harpurhey, north Manchester – four phases will deliver 651 homes  
  • Kirkmanshulme Lane, Longsight, east Manchester – 88 homes  
  • Hyde Road, Longsight, east Manchester – 84 homes  
  • Grey Mare Lane, Ancoats and Beswick, east Manchester – 145 homes  
  • Downing Street, Ardwick, central Manchester – 181 homes.   

Early community engagement activity around proposals to develop sites in Monsall and Hyde has already taken place to gather local feedback that will help guide initial design work in the coming months.   

This City’s focus is to increase the number of quality homes built on council-owned brownfield land, with at least 20% of the homes built made available at the Manchester Living Rent – a level of rent that is covered by housing benefit, making sure as many people as possible can afford to live in the new homes.    

Both the market and affordable housing delivered through This City will contribute to the Council’s housing strategy that has set a target to help build at least 36,000 homes up to 2032, including 10,000 genuinely affordable, council and social homes – of which at least 3,000 will be in the city centre.    

Cllr Bev Craig, leader of Manchester City Council, said: “Our housing strategy is both about building the homes our city needs, but also intervening to make our city affordable to everyone.  Our plan for 10,000 genuinely affordable, social and council homes is building record numbers. We built more last year than any year since the early 2000s.”

“This partnership with the Greater Manchester Pension Fund will enable us to drive forward the work of This City to build the homes the city needs on council-owned land.”

“Completing No.1 Ancoats Green last year was a great start – but this collaboration with the Greater Manchester Pension Fund provides long-term assurance that we can bring forward and deliver even more ambitious schemes.”

“We already have a strong pipeline of projects in place, including the next This City development in the Northern Quarter, with further sites across Manchester. This means we are building many more homes capped at the Manchester Living Rent in the coming years .”