500 new homes for Salford as Greater Manchester Leaders approve £42m Investment

Nearly 500 new homes are set to be built in Salford after Greater Manchester leaders gave the go-ahead to a multi-million pound investment from the GM Housing Fund. 

The homes, to be built on the Wilburn Street Basin next to the River Irwell by WB Developments, have received £42.5m from the £300m Greater Manchester Housing Investment Fund. 

Sue Derbyshire, Chair of Greater Manchester Combined Authority's Housing and Planning Commission, said: "Ensuring people in Greater Manchester can find an affordable home where they want to live is a top priority. I’m delighted that we are able to play our part in supporting this project.

“These 500 new homes in Salford will improve people's lives but crucially will also help us to grow the Greater Manchester economy. That is the benefit of being able to make decisions like this locally, here in Greater Manchester.  

The Greater Manchester Housing Fund was established as part of the region’s devolution deal. This latest investment pushes the Housing Fund’s total investment over the £100m mark. The fund was set up to help devlopers get investment to kickstart housing projects that would otherwise be difficult to fund because of the caution in the residential finance market. 

Funding from the Greater Manchester Housing Investment Fund is loaned and fully recoverable. It is estimated that the money could be used 2.5 times over the fund's life, delivering a total residential development value of £1.5bn. 

The fund has already invested more than £67m in housing projects in Trafford, Oldham, Manchester and Salford. Previous projects that have been supported include £9.7m to Belgravia Living for a 91-apartment scheme on Tariff Street in Manchester; £1.4m to Roman Investments (Boundary Park) for a 20 three-bed semi-detached homes scheme in Oldham; £17.3m for FICM's 380-apartment scheme on Trinity Way in Salford; £10.3m for Rowlinson Developments' 164-apartment Pomona Wharf scheme in Salford; and £3.8m for THT Developments' nine-townhouse and 32-apartment scheme on Woodfield Road in Trafford.