A survey of private renters, social renters and owners undertaken by Greater Manchester High Rise Task Force, led by Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett, underlines the confusion and potential panic felt by those living in high rise properties and living with the risk of fire. Never mind coronavirus and floods, residents are still living in […]
Salford City Council set to approve subsidy for English Cities Fund
Salford City Council is set to approve an outrageous £4.752million subsidy to the English Cities Fund, or ECf, to build a 23 storey block of apartments off Stanley Street that will feature ‘no affordable housing’. The ECf, is a partnership that includes the financially massive Legal and General company and Muse Developments, and the funding […]
Greater Manchester Spatial Framework sees Salford green belt destruction
The Revised Greater Manchester Spatial Framework has been published – and is already meeting huge opposition, particularly in Irlam where 1,600 dwellings are being proposed on Green Belt land north of Irlam Station, with only around 150 designated for social rent. “Utterly shameful…We are going to be surrounded by development – Port Salford one side, […]
The Northern Gateway may be barred to many
Manchester City Council promises that 3,000 of the homes being developed in the enormous Northern Gateway development will be affordable housing. But close to 86,000 households in Greater Manchester are on the social housing waiting list, and homelessness is visibly increasing. Affordable housing is unaffordable to many in Manchester. So who is this development actually […]
No social rent housing built in Salford and just 15 Section 106 houses gained
Guest article from The Salford Star: Latest figures published by the Government for 2016/17 show that no social rent housing was built in Salford, while just 15 houses were gained through Section 106 agreements – all of which were either for the more expensive ‘affordable’ rent or shared ownership. This is just more proof of […]
Salford Council reveals staggering levels of homelessness
Guest article from The Salford Star: As the Homelessness Reduction Act kicks in this month, Salford City Council is about to publish its new 44-page Homeless Strategy which reveals shocking and staggering levels of homelessness in the city. Included in the report is the fact that Salford has a higher level of rough sleeping than […]
Burnham’s battle to end rough sleeping by 2020 – can he do it?
Andy Burnham’s pledge to end rough sleeping by 2020 played a large part in the campaign which saw him become the Mayor of Greater Manchester ten months ago. Burnham inherited a growing homelessness and housing crisis which has seen the level of rough sleeping rise 13-fold in Manchester since 2010, with the problem escalating quicker […]
Andy Burnham to hear of tenants’ struggles at Manchester Renters’ Forum
The ever increasing number of renters fed up with poor housing conditions, rising rents and bad landlords will have a chance to vent their frustrations at a Manchester Renters Forum on the 1 March. Two people with the power to influence the housing situation – Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, and Paul Dennett, City […]
Who is this city for?
Rochdale Councillor John Blundell, who is a member of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority Planning and Housing Commission, last week published a piece in Manchester Confidential entitled ‘Why foreign property investors are not a bad thing for Manchester‘. We welcome his willingness to participate in public debate about the future of our city region, but […]
Christopher Eccleston reads Riot Act at Peterloo Memorial
Guest article from the irrepressible Salford Star: Hundreds of people gathered in Albert Square, Manchester, for the annual commemoration of the Peterloo Massacre. Christopher Eccleston was loudly booed as he read the Riot Act from a window in Manchester Town Hall, while Maxine Peake relayed a message from Salford director Mike Leigh, who is currently […]