Has there been a property event attended by Andy Burnham where he hasn’t been asked about his ‘radical rewrite’ of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF)?

From the off it has been clear that Andy Burnham wants Greater Manchester to find its own unique solutions to fix its broken housing market. The Mayor, who is now over a year into his three year term, has started to crystallise what these solutions might entail.

In short, Mr Burnham is setting out an interventionist vision that, if successful, will bring about a major shift in how development takes place in the city region.

At an Estates Gazette Question Time event held in Manchester in September, Andy Burnham suggested that the developer-led approach was not delivering the right type of sites and offering the mix of housing that young people can afford to occupy, whether that is to rent or to buy.

Andy Burnham is not the first politician to set out an argument for greater market intervention, and indeed politicians of all colours are clamouring to find ‘innovative’ solutions to the nation’s housing crisis. Many of these indicate a radical step-change in the role of the state.

Turning back to Manchester, if the aim is to deliver regeneration, affordable housing, new jobs and ‘transformational development’ across the whole of the city region - including in areas that have historically not attracted a high level of developer interest and investment - is asserting control over the developer-led approach the way to deliver on these ambitions?

Perhaps the ability to be bold on the GMSF and for Andy Burnham to talk tough is because he can put his money where his mouth is, either working in partnership or building out his own sites.  Greater Manchester Pension Fund with its £21 billion of assets, is already acquiring, funding and directly building out sites. It is proof there is an alternative if required.

Ultimately, will the development sector like the answer to the questions it has been asking for a while come the publication of the new GMSF? Will the development sector accept the challenge or leave the mayor to it? Or could this new approach and the ambitions of the GMSF spawn a new cadre of developers?

We will get our answers when the revised document is published in June 2018 for further consultation.