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<\/p>\n\u201cWe should not be seeing fancy yoga rooms. We should be seeing affordable housing\u201d<\/p>\n
18:16, 15 Jan 2026Updated 18:41, 15 Jan 2026<\/p>\n
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The new skyscraper was going to tower above neighbour Oxygen – but it’s in tatters now(Image: SimpsonHaugh for LFB via planning documents)<\/p>\n
Councillors have rejected plans for a Manchester city centre skyscraper for the first time in years, slamming designs that included \u2018fancy yoga studios\u2019 but no affordable flats.<\/p>\n
Developers Liquid Funding Business (LFB) wanted to build 50 and 25-storey towers where Stockton\u2019s furniture shop, on Great Ancoats Street, has stood for generations. The 750-flat proposal was first debated in November, when councillors deferred making a final decision to investigate its potential impacts on light on the neighbouring Oxygen tower.<\/p>\n
Residents argued their expected light loss \u2018is so substantial they will rely on artificial light for much of the day\u2019, telling councillors on Thursday (January 15) \u2018it\u2019s not unreasonable for new schemes to respond and overwhelm\u2019.<\/p>\n
LFB representatives hit back in the town hall meeting: \u201cThe critical point is the resultant natural light on the affected windows will be broadly [in line] with city centre locations as benchmarked.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, light was not LFB\u2019s only issue. Coun Sam Wheeler revealed the scheme is set to make a \u00a313m loss, so there was little chance affordable flats would be built.<\/p>\n
He also consistently pointed out LFB\u2019s plans failed to meet Manchester council\u2019s \u2018strategic regeneration framework\u2019 (SRF), a blueprint for the area. He said: \u201cThis development breaks the SRF in three key ways.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirstly, it states the upper limit will not exceed 45 storeys\u2026 with the majority being lower. Two buildings of 25 and 50 storeys is over-development.<\/p>\n
\u201cSecondly, the SRF calls for integration. The development defies the laws of economics but it cannot defy the laws of physics.<\/p>\n
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The planned 50 storey tower, where Stockton’s furniture store is, was going to make a \u00a313m loss(Image: SimpsonHaugh for LFB via planning portal)<\/p>\n
\u201cGreat Ancoats Street has illegal levels of pollution. The evidence is if you build a canyon, pollution will stay at street level.<\/p>\n
\u201cThirdly, the SRF calls for a socially diverse neighbourhood. The minimum rent level does not permit this, and a lack of affordable housing breaks Manchester\u2019s housing policy aims and this SRF specifically.\u201d<\/p>\n
These problems could have been resolved earlier, fellow Piccadilly politician Jon-Connor Lyons said, but developers failed to meet with him before they requested planning permission.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my eight years as a councillor, that has never happened before,\u201d he remarked.<\/p>\n
LFB\u2019s absence of affordable housing drew ire from councillors on the planning committee, with Richard Kilpatrick noting there was still room for \u2018podcast studios, a spa, and a games room\u2019<\/p>\n
Angela Gartside told developers: \u201cWe should not be seeing fancy yoga rooms. We should be seeing affordable housing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although the bid was rejected unanimously by the committee, for breaching the SRF and causing light loss, LFB can still amend the proposal and try again on the same spot.<\/p>\n
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Floor 33 of the larger tower, where amenity space for ‘podcast studios’ and ‘yoga rooms’ may have been housed(Image: SimpsonHaugh for LFB via planning documents)<\/p>\n
Earlier in the planning meeting, another long-running-row was resolved, as a plan was drawn up to allow a mosque to retain a marquee.<\/p>\n