MANCHESTER could set its own planning standards in an attempt to raise the quality of residential development in the city.
We don’t want to sell on to institutional investors, which would be the traditional model and certainly not sell on before you have built anything
In an interview with Confidential, the leader of Manchester city council, Sir Richard Leese said he would like to see tougher thresholds when it came to quality, space and sustainability.
This is good news. London already has its own planning standards which demand more generous living spaces than the rest of the UK and more thought given to light and how new homes, generally apartments, will be like to live in.
Leese was talking about the latest building boom and the push to build homes for long term rent now that the average 20-something has been priced out of the market.
He said: “We want to raise standards and as part and parcel of that we are looking within the planning requirements at setting tougher thresholds around quality, space and sustainability.
“We are not copying London, whatever it is it will be our own initiative but we will be looking at all aspects of design and planning.
“I’m not sure of the timing, not least because to have any weight these sort of changes have to go through a fairly lengthy consultation process or they are open to legal challenge.
“But I would like Manchester to have its own space and environmental standards.
“The real risk otherwise is that we are going to get lots of stuff built now that is going to be knocked down in 15 years time. We cannot be doing that.”
Planning independence for Manchester
He also wants the City to lead by example.
Manchester Life (ML), its joint venture with Abu Dhabi United Group, has been working since last summer on plans for the first phase of 800 or so homes on sites in Ancoats and New Islington.
The first planning applications should be made soon and more information may, or may not, come out at MIPIM – the annual property convention in Cannes in March.
In the meantime there is apparently, somewhere in Ancoats, a mock-up of the ideal Build-to-Rent apartment which demonstrates not just the fundamentals of space, windows and doors but down to detail of plug sockets and just how many kitchen cupboards two professionals who probably eat out a lot need.
Leese is convinced this first wave of Manchester Life development will raise the residential bar.
He said: “What we want to do through ML is establish a new model of living, much the same as many of the public buildings in the 90s and started setting new benchmarks and others had to get near there if they wanted to get permission.
“Buildings like the Bridgewater Hall, the Art Gallery extension and the Civil Justice Centre. They set new quality thresholds when it came to public buildings and we want ML to do the same for residential.
“They will not be announcing anything soon. The next stage will be planning applications and work is well advanced. It is going well. I have seen the designs but we are not there yet.”
The Civil Justice Centre
After a decade looking at the best and worst of resi schemes can I suggest they raise the ceiling heights, add more glass and decent width balconies, build in storage in the bathroom and fitted wardrobes in the bedrooms and have all the wiring and the TV package in place so you can just move in and log on.
All the fancy Private Rental Sector (PRS) stuff about gyms and cinemas and roof top barbecues and laundries will depend on rent levels. They need to get the basic living spaces and the common parts and the management right before adding in the toys.
PRS seems to all be about the numbers, big numbers - 300 units being the most efficient when it comes to management costs.
But some of the best schemes in Manchester are some of the most unexpected, the quiet unassuming schemes, rather than the big glitzy offerings and often quite small.
So how do you marry the aspirations of the city and developers wanting to be able to build here but still be able to make a profit?
“What we are in the process of trying to do with ML is developing a new model or PRS investment at scale,” says Leese. “But we don’t want to sell on to institutional investors, which would be the traditional model and certainly not sell on before you have built anything, which has again been the traditional model but build, hold and manage for a period of time
“If you are successful at doing that and can operate that on a successful financial model it will lead to better quality, better managed schemes.
“ML has to demonstrate a viable commercial model that allows you do that. It is about building, filling and managing for the long term.”
Proposed new houses for Ancoats
Leese has high hopes too that Manchester Place which brings together the land holdings of the city council and the Homes and Communities Agency will bring more cohesive and higher quality residential development.
He said: “The best way to influence quality is to have a stake in the scheme. Owning the land allows us to do that and underpin high quality residential development.”
Does he wish Manchester had set its own design / planning aspirations 10 years ago?
He said: “Wish we had done it 20 years ago! It is always a difficulty to sustain onerous conditions through the planning process if the conditions will not hold up through the appeals process
“And in truth if you think of Manchester city centre 20 years ago if we would not have had the revival, It would have been too restrictive. It is about getting the right balance.”
Asked for his favourite buildings he points to the older conversions down at Castlefield and “some of the smaller schemes in the North Quarter”.
Quite.
Last week Leese was keynote speaker at the British Property Federation annual conference, which focussed on the private rental sector. All the private rental sector, not just the big city centre blocks with one of the big discussions about the registration of landlords.
Leese said: “I think universal licensing of landlords would be enormously popular in almost every part of Manchester, the question is whether it would work. The impact of rogue and in some case crooked landlords is not just bad news for the tenants and for the city but bad news for the whole industry.
“The bulk of industry had vested interest in helping us sort it out and if universal licensing is not the answer – and I accept it is not unreasonable that good landlords do not want to pay for sorting bad landlords out - then we have to find something that is.”
He is convinced that here too quality will win out. Landlords who invest in their property, who provide decent homes, get a better long term return and we want to encourage that.”
Manchester city centre looking north and east
