THE Greater Manchester Pension Fund has apparently agreed a deal to finance the building of housing for rent on a site next to Gorton Monastery.
We want to create greater links between Ancoats and New Islington and the new bridge that has just gone in will do that.
There should perhaps be a little fanfare after this because it’s quite a significant moment and if it can be shown to work could lead to more institutional investment in private housing.
The precise detail of the deal, which has yet to be signed, has not yet been outlined but Deborah McLaughlin, head of the North West Homes and Communities Agency was very pleased indeed when she mentioned it during an interview with Confidential.
“It is really, really exciting. Pension funds are very keen to invest in commercial property but up until now not into residential and we want to prove that it can stack up,” she said.
“We are seeing a model for the private rented sector that will offer a longer term solution to our housing needs and show that it can work.
“It will be a long term investment 25-30 years.”
The Gorton site is one of five across Manchester identified earlier this year (click here) that could provide 244 new homes, the majority to rent.
Back in August 2007 national house-builder Gleeson had hoped to build 69 family homes on the site for sale but work never started and the site was acquired by the HCA.
A section will be used as a much needed car park for the adjacent Gorton Monastery the rest for housing. Exactly what type is apparently up to the developer although they could always dust down the Gleeson plans, designed by architects Taylor Young using the principles of sacred geometry for the layout of the estate.
Here’s the original council press release.
And while the residential rental sector may be new ground, property investment per se is nothing new for the Greater Manchester Pension Fund. Through its Property Venture Fund it has about £500m to invest in local developments that will boost the city region economy. The Fund has a big stake in One St Peter Square and a myriad other commercial sites - here are this year’s accounts.
But with banks refusing to pass on the millions of pounds being printed by the Government to developers, the Fund is keen to use reserves to boost house building and it would seem they have found a way to do it.
No wonder Ms McLaughlin was happy. And she knows the site well. She was Director of Housing in Manchester when the original Gorton scheme was approved, only taking up her post at the HCA in 2008.
Deborah McLaughlin
Which means she is also well aware of the other problem blighting Greater Manchester, namely 47,000 empty properties.
There are 9,000 in Manchester but clusters of similar scale in Rochdale, Oldham and Salford, mainly the areas where the Pathfinder initiative cut out great swathes of terraces but often left only abandoned sites and boarded up properties in their wake.
I hate to think how much each of these two up two downs have cost when you add up all the money spent on compulsory purchase, security, demolition, the wider neighbourhood impact of demolition and now renovation. It would have been cheaper to knock on doors and hand over cash.
But the region has been successful in getting Government money, about £48m of it, to start bringing these empty houses back into use.
The inventive work at Bowes Street in Moss Side is held up as an exemplar and shows what can be done with existing buildings.
Manchester has its own dedicated Empty Properties team, tracking down property owners and looking at various ways to bring the houses back into the market.
As executive director of the region’s HCA it is Mc Laughlin’s job to work with the local authorities to make sure this money is well spent and she said: “It is one of our top priorities. These empty properties, whether they are owned by private landlords, housing associations or local authorities have to be brought back up to standard and made available to either rent or sell on the open market or through shared equity.
“We are trying to bring owner occupiers into some of the areas where rental has been the norm. It helps give stability.
“The North West has received £37.5m to tackle clusters of properties which has been hugely welcomed by the local authorities. Working on a group of houses, rather than individual properties, gives better results, especially in the more challenging areas.”
The HCA, based in offices at One Piccadilly, is also a huge land owner having inherited sites bought by the Regional Development Agency over the years. Many of the buildings in Ancoats are owned by the HCA with 23 of the original 45 sites earmarked for development still available.
But an announcement of funding for one of these sites, one of the historic biggies, is apparently imminent and could re-invigorate confidence and investment in the area.
The success of the Ice Plant, the arrival of the Halle and news of the New Islington Free School are all positive steps. And they want to encourage more people into this part of town planning all manner of events for the rest of the year from a fishing event at the end of the month to a pop up restaurant, charity fashion show and carol singing for the residents at Christmas.
The plan is also to forge closer links with the neighbouring area of New Islington.
Ah..New Islington.
McLaughlin maintains that despite the collapse of the housing market they have tried to keep the momentum going in the Millennium Community and they have been “working on getting the public realm sorted out.”
I take it she means the new canals which are great and the park, which is also fine. But how come the park is still not open to the public and how come The Dispensary, surely the most potent symbol of the original area, has been allowed to deteriorate to the point of ruin. And metal barriers do not make good public realm.
She admits that the original Will Alsop masterplan is being reviewed:“We are talking to Urban Splash about the sort of housing we need here and looking at a new masterplan. We are having a re-think.
“Our commitment is there. It is not something we have put on the back burner, we have to keep pushing forward. What New Islington is about is that each piece has a different and unique characteristic. So we have The Guts, and the Dutch houses at the back and Chips with the canal and park at the front next to the school site.
“We want to create greater links between Ancoats and New Islington and the new bridge that has just gone in will do that.
“It has been challenging but ultimately we will get there.”
Click here for the Homes and Communities website.
