Report sheds more light on Abu Dhabi tie-up
MORE detail has emerged about Manchester City Council’s housing tie-up with the owners of Manchester City.
A council document shows how the Manchester Life partnership with the Abu Dhabi United Group will work in tandem with another joint venture called Manchester Place to deliver thousands of homes in east Manchester, and help the council hit its target of 55,000 new homes by 2027.
The second partnership is between the council and the Homes & Communities Agency (HCA) that will identify “investment action areas”, to encourage landowners to bring forward developments, and use compulsory purchase powers “where justified”.
The report said: “It is now possible to bring these two elements together as one integrated strategy the result of which has the potential to transform the city’s housing market, support its growth ambitions and provide the most robust platform for housing investment and delivery which the city has seen for many years.”
Manchester Place would, “generally undertake all the activities to prepare land for development and shape places for long term success. This can include design, remediation, the provision of essential infrastructure, and the procurement of development expertise”.
Under the terms of the JV, receipts from the sale of HCA assets will be reinvested in Manchester housing projects until 2022. The first action area is Ancoats and New Islington where officials say 3,000 homes, mainly apartments, can be delivered over the next five to 10 years.
The report said: “It will be the role of Manchester Place not only to facilitate the successful introduction of new investors in Ancoats and New Islington but to ensure that through a proactive city-wide market facing approach the full benefits of successful investment in this priority area will be captured by the city’s overall housing market.”
One of these investors will be Manchester Life which has identified six sites in Ancoats and New Islington where it will build 830 homes for rent. Most of the cash is understood to be coming from Abu Dhabi but the document also says the venture will apply for Build to Rent loans from the Government.
