New Commission launched to address Manchester’s social housing need

A new commission has been established to advocate for the development of more social homes in the City of Manchester.

Supported by members of the ‘Social Homes for Manchester’ (SH4M) coalition, the commission will look at the complexity and challenges of building more social homes in Manchester, and develop ways to address the six asks of the SH4M coalition, including bringing in research capacity to support proposals with a clear evidence base.

Chaired by the Right Reverend Dr David Walker, Bishop of Manchester, the commission brings together community leaders with cross-sector experts to develop local and national proposals for addressing the housing crisis. Commissioners will work closely with SH4M to build up a network of citizen coalitions across the City of Manchester, that understand the planning process and can hold decision-makers and developers to account for the changes that are being implemented.

One key Commissioner is Executive Member for Housing at Manchester City Council, Councillor Gavin White who said:

“We are keen to work with all partners in the city to help deliver more social housing for our residents in Manchester.  It is clear that we face a housing and homelessness emergency, and the council are committed to ensuring we do all we can to see more council housing and social rent housing here in Manchester.  It is good to be involved with the social housing commission to further this aim and objective.”

Critical issues already under discussion include raising house building revenue through land value tax; requiring 30% homes for social rent on all new developments of 10 homes or more in Manchester’s Local Plan; and ending the use of the term “affordable housing” by statutory authorities and housing sector professionals. Commissioners are advocating for the use of clear language stating either ‘social rent’ or other specific forms of tenure such as ‘shared ownership’ or ‘Manchester living rent’.

Sue Anya, Vice-Chair of Miles Platting Community and Age-friendly Network (MPCAN) said:

“We need to know where the section 106 money goes. It doesn’t seem to get invested in the community where construction is happening…We also need to have information much earlier – we never find out what is happening until everything has already been decided.”

Commissioners also discussed the need for a review of the viability assessments that developers use to avoid these obligations on grounds of low profitability. This is a relatively new policy only introduced under the Conservatives since 2010 which has been a significant barrier to ensuring developers make a fair contribution to the City in return for the profits reaped from new developments.

The Commission will be making policy proposals to Manchester City Council and to the new national government administration in the coming weeks and will be developing the detail of their recommendations over the next 12 months. Community representatives on the Commission will be working closely with the Social Homes for Manchester campaign coalition to organise neighbourhood-based briefing sessions across the city, raising awareness about housing and planning policy and ways to work with local councillors to secure better outcomes for their local area.

The launch of the coalition comes at a significant time, with new Government housing considerations, proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework, and a new consultation expected for the ‘Local Plan’ in autumn 2024, which will shape the developments that can be approved through the local planning process for the next ten years.