This City housing company moves ahead with latest development sites

Manchester City Council has approved a further £5.1m funding to progress the next four This City development sites to the planning submission stage.

The aim is to bring forward around 600 new sustainable homes, including at least 20% affordable homes.

The new projects include sites in north and east Manchester, alongside a city centre development, that will each use brownfield land to increase new home building, including affordable housing, in the city.

The new funding will support initial design work and surveying costs that are necessary to deliver a planning application next year – and engagement on two new sites began this week for:

• Hyde Road, east Manchester – around 150 homes. The sites include land off Hyde Rd and Kirkmenshulme Lane, adjacent to the Co-op Academy Belle Vue. Longsight and District Sports and Social Club, 140 Kirkmanshulme Ln, Manchester M12 4WB.
• Monsall, north Manchester – around 175 homes in the first phase (multiple phases in the future). The sites include land adjacent to Monsall Road and Upper Monsall Street, north of the Monsall Metrolink Stop. Dance Hall, Manchester Communication Academy Secondary School, 2 Silchester Dr, Manchester M40 8NT.

Following this initial public engagement, design work will be progressed ahead of further formal public consultation early 2025. Planning application for these two sites are expected later in 2025 with the aspiration to start on site before the end of the 2025 financial year.

The next two This City developments include: 

• Postal Street, Northern Quarter – an estimated 130 homes. The demolition of the former single-story commercial building has already been completed, allowing design to progress. This funding will support the project through to the planning stage, and This City is aiming for a public engagement event in early 2025 with a target start on site before the end of the 2025 financial year.
• Grey Mare Lane, east Manchester – an estimated 150 homes. Masterplanning for the Grey Mare Lane estate has already been completed as part of a partnership between Manchester City Council, Great Place Housing Group, One Manchester and This City to deliver a whole estate regeneration package in east Manchester. Early design work is now under way ahead of further targeted engagement from This City which will begin in the first half of 2025. 

The first This City development started on site in 2023 and celebrated hitting its topping out point in June this year.

No1 Ancoats Green – formerly Rodney Street development – will deliver 129 new homes, including 119 apartments and 10 town houses – 30% of these homes will be made available at the Manchester Living Rent. Completion of this scheme is expected in the summer of 2025.

No 1 Ancoats Green will overlook a transformed Ancoats Green, with the development site moving seamlessly into the improved city centre park.

Hyde Road plans

This investment will include new walking and cycling routes through the neighbourhood, along with significant new planting – wildflower and wetland planting, and a range of new trees, alongside new accessible play equipment and open grassed areas.

This City is an innovative home building company wholly owned by Manchester City Council intending to increase the number of quality homes built on council-owned brownfield land.

At least 20% of the homes built will be 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 ambitious 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 Gavin White, Manchester City Council’s executive member for housing and development, said: “This City is an innovative approach to increasing the number of homes being built in our city. This company allows us to build directly on council-owned brownfield land on our own terms.

“Building the homes that our residents need, particularly sustainable and genuinely affordable homes, is challenging, but This City is giving us the opportunity to take control of our own home development and deliver the type of housing we know our city needs on our own terms.”

He added: “It’s fantastic to see the next tranche of sites come forward quickly with the potential to deliver around 1,500 homes through future phases, and we could see development begin as soon as next year.”

Adam White, Chair of This City, said: “We’re entering a very exciting era for This City.

“Great progress is being made at No1 Ancoats Green and the first tenants will be welcomed to those homes next year, while at the same time we are beginning the crucial engagement work to understand the community context of the new sites, meet local people and get a feel for what those communities need from their housing.”

He added: “Importantly for us we have the key aims of This City at the heart of everything that we do – this means creating quality homes, including affordable housing, while bringing brownfield land back into use.

“The coming year will be a landmark 12 months for the company, bringing forward around 600 more homes, while setting the template for hundreds more in the coming years.”