‘Collaboration is key to solving housing crisis’

Tom Bloxham

Greater collaboration between the public and private sectors will be paramount to address the chronic shortage of affordable and sustainable housing in Greater Manchester.

The call for constructive and trusting partnerships between local authorities, developers, funders and communities was made by leading figures from the region’s public and private sectors at LUC’s Manchester conference – ‘Right Homes in the Right Places’.

The event brought together developers, public sector bodies, architects, local authorities, charities and academics to look at how the region can develop new models of housing development to ensure Greater Manchester is a great place to live for all.

City Mayor of Salford, Paul Dennett, told delegates there is a huge housing crisis in the region with over-crowding reaching levels not seen since the 1920s, soaring rents and homelessness.

He said: “There are currently 84,000 people on housing waiting lists in the region, 400 people habitually sleeping rough and there has been a colossal 236% rise in temporary accommodation since 2010. This is the product of decades of failed national policy on housing, development and planning.”

He said the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF), a joint plan for Greater Manchester that will provide the land for jobs and new homes across the city region, offers a real opportunity to meaningfully engage with the notion of ‘spatial planning’.

Whilst critical of some sectors of the development industry, he added: “The route to adequate and affordable housing supply is through government partnerships with developers and housing associations to create a social model that benefits us all and sees developers as strategic partners, co-creating the Greater Manchester of the future.”

His view was echoed by Urban Splash founder Tom Bloxham, the company behind Manchester’s New Islington – a development of 1,700  affordable and well-designed homes threaded with a network of waterway complete with school, bars, restaurants, shops, office space and a health clinic. It has been hailed as a ‘millennium community’.

Bloxham said: “Collaborations and partnership are vital to get projects like New Islington off the ground. To succeed, you’ve got to get everybody around the table including developers, funders and local communities. People can be apprehensive about sharing their views or asking the opinion of others but it works.

“Also, it is important to take a long-term view. We are passionate about quality, design and place-making, it is not just about building houses but creating communities where people want to and can afford to live.”

LUC director of landscape and urban design Tom Jonson, said “Manchester is a complex fragmented conurbation with a rich and varied character. By appreciating and understanding this character we can enhance local identity and sense of place and bring some coherence and meaning to the intermediate zone between town and country.”

Also speaking at the event were: Richard Crisp from Sheffield Hallam University, Geoff Denton from Swedish architects White Arkitekter, Kate Henderson of the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) and Jon Sandford from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).

Environmental consultancy LUC carried out an assessment of the Manchester Green Belt for the first iteration of the GMSF and has recently been commissioned to carry out further landscape character and sensitivity studies to support the rewrite of the GMSF.

LUC director of planning Sarah Young said: “The release of Green Belt is a highly controversial issue.

“If required however it has to be considered in the context of proper planning for sustainable development. All efforts must also be made to maximise positive use and enhancement of the Green Belt – to make a positive contribution to people’s wellbeing and the character of our cities and countryside.”

LUC director of strategic development Jon Abbatt, who chaired the conference, said: “It is clear that partnerships can be achieved between the public and private sectors to create well-designed, good quality housing.

“And it’s really crucial to involve local communities – our pre-event questionnaire showed that attendees feel local opposition to be one of the biggest barriers to housing development.

“We need to look at how we can make this happen through collaboration and innovation to create sustainable communities for the future.”

Click here to sign up to receive our new South West business news...
Close