Between planning a Manchester underground rail system, bringing trains into the Bee Network, and playing coy against accusations of eyeing Starmer’s office, Andy Burnham is on something of a hot streak. Continuing his run, the Mayor of Greater Manchester found time to lead a new 10-year investment plan (or “integrated pipeline”) aimed at developing houses and office spaces across the region. In November, Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) approved the first step of this plan: the establishment of a £1 billion investment pot, and an immediate allocation of £400 million to planning projects.
The fund, known as the GM Good Growth Fund, aims to supply funding to approved development projects through grants, increased borrowing, recycled funding and committing £300m of the GM Pension Fund to the project. Planners expect that this round of funding will “unlock” £1.3b in private capital, furthering Manchester’s economic development beyond local governance funds.
The first round of funding, set to be delivered in Spring 2026, looks to create 2,945 new housing units and over 2 million square feet of workspace. Manchester and Stockport are the winners of the housing funds, with 986 and 680 planned units respectively, while Bolton and Manchester’s 800,000+ sq ft of new workspace each suggests the regions are predicted economic hot zones going forward.
There’s plenty good about this investment. In times of sluggish national growth, Greater Manchester’s willingness to invest in itself is refreshing, and certainly contributes to the region’s 3.1% annual growth – double the nation’s average. Nearly 3000 new houses is nothing to sniff at, and almost single-handedly meets the ~3600 houses Manchester plans to build per year over the next decade – assuming this number is kept up through further funding iterations.
The £150m expected in borrowing also keeps GMCA well below their £2.6b debt threshold; well-maintained borrowing rules which have kept GMCA’s debt to around £1.4b as of July 2025, giving them the wiggle room needed for a few more rounds of funding.
Workspace development is also targeted towards Manchester’s strengths. Central Manchester developments are building on our strong Higher Education sector, focusing on lab space and offices for green, scientific and digital tech. Meanwhile, Bury and Bolton’s civic societies are getting a boost: Bury is set for a new Market Hall and retail space, while Bolton’s new Mayoral Development Corporation will help to drive growth in the town.
Geographically, though, the plan is a little uneven. The lion’s share of development, both for housing and workspace development, is going to the city of Manchester. The south is seeing absolutely no workspace development, while Oldham’s new units will be the only housing built in the north.
Bev Craig, Manchester City Council leader, may be right that “the rest of Greater Manchester needs Manchester City Centre to do well”, but so far, skyrocketing inner-city development has not been reciprocated with equivalent growth in the outskirts of the region. Wealth is pooling, and to counteract this trend, GMCA could consider spreading its funding a little more evenly across the region in future iterations.
The affordability of these new houses also remains in question. While some planned schemes have set criteria for houses requiring affordable rent (set at £675 a month, or 30% of the average household income), others have no such requirements. This risks prioritising wealthy movers over local Mancunians, continuing the gentrification of much of the region. With market rent already inching towards unaffordability, planners have to do better than keeping 20% of their houses at an “affordable” rent.
Furthermore, social homes make up a paltry 2.5% of the planned builds, just 75 in Oldham. Tenants unions and housing rights campaigners have been warning for years that a return to widespread social housing is the only way out of England’s housing crisis, but the prioritisation of “unlocking” private capital and growing Manchester’s economy risks driving inequality even further.
However, this is still only the first leg of an initial pot of funding. The pipeline has a long way to go from here, and GMCA has the opportunity to consider addressing the inequalities of Manchester alongside this expansive growth-first approach.
Find details of the GM Good Growth Fund’s planning documents here.
