here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nIn a statement, Mr Weis\u2019 spokesperson said: \u201cRegarding today’s ruling, leading counsel considers that there are strong grounds for an appeal, not least due to the lack of a transparent and arms length credit approval process that any commercial lender would follow.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis would include Anti Money Laundering procedures which we understand have been rather rigorous in the case of other borrowers from the loans fund but which were not carried out in the case of Renaker.”<\/p>\n
They added the ruling \u2018raises serious questions\u2019 over how Renaker secured a loan from the GMCA for \u2018viable\u2019 projects – for a project the developer told Manchester council was not viable enough to include 20pc affordable housing, as per its rules.<\/p>\n
Representatives for Mr Weis, a major player in Manchester\u2019s property market, argued in May\u2019s court hearings the loans from the Greater Manchester Housing Investment Loans Fund (GMHILF) were priced up in a private meeting.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0_Burnham-presser-of-out-of-area-Taxisjpgurnham.jpg\")
(Image: Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n
A GMCA spokesperson responded to today\u2019s ruling by saying: \u201cToday we won on every count, with the Tribunal Chair praising our approach, which has helped deliver 11,000 new homes across Greater Manchester, regenerating brownfield sites at no cost to the taxpayer and generating income which we\u2019ve used for our wider work to tackle the housing crisis.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday\u2019s judgment should be the final word on the matter. It definitively debunks the false idea that loans were administered corruptly or that there was a cosy relationship between GMCA officers and developers. \u201cWe\u2019ve been clear from the start that all monies lent through the Housing Investment Loan Fund were offered at market rates and were therefore not a form of subsidy. Today\u2019s ruling confirms this.<\/p>\n
Amid the proceedings, the GMHILF has been extended by the government, and the GMCA spokesperson said it will \u2018continue\u2019.<\/p>\n
The year-long case concluded on Thursday, with tribunal chair Hodge Malek KC ruling in the GMCA\u2019s favour.<\/p>\n
In a judgement issued on Thursday (July 24) morning, he concluded: \u201cUnderlying the application is an allegation that because of a possible cosy relationship with Mr Whitaker, the Renaker Group was being provided with loans at unduly favourable rates.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Tribunal is satisfied that this is clearly not the case. The 2024 Renaker Loans went through a proper process and the terms and rates considered by persons with significant experience in development loans.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Tribunal has carefully scrutinised all the material and submissions and is satisfied that there was no subsidy in this case.\u201d<\/p>\n
Renaker has been contacted for comment.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A judge ruled made a ruling on the case this morning – but there could be another twist(Image:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":289442,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[8916,748,393,4884,11564,2465,8086,285,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-289441","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-andy-burnham","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-greater-manchester-combined-authority","13":"tag-manchester","14":"tag-manchester-city-centre","15":"tag-politics","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114911501655243946","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=289441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/289442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=289441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=289441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0_Gvs-of-Hulme.jpg\")
(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n