Manchester mayor bets £1bn on ‘good growth fund’ project drive

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has unveiled a £1bn regeneration push that will see 30 major projects rolled out across all 10 boroughs.

A first £400m wave is due for sign-off next week by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, with three schemes lined up for each district in a decade-long construction drive.

Together the schemes will help trigger nearly 3,000 new homes, 22,000 jobs and 2m sq ft of employment space and unlocking a further £1.3bn in private capital.

The cash sits inside the new GM Good Growth Fund, backed by the Greater Manchester Pension Fund and designed to pump-prime stalled sites before recycling repaid loans back into the pipeline.

Big early plays include the £44m conversion of the old Kendals store into new offices, £41m for Stockport 8’s town-centre neighbourhood, £31m into Oldham’s 331-home Prince’s Gate, £26m for Trafford Wharf’s 382 homes, and £23m for social and affordable homes at Salford’s Adelphi Village.

Wigan’s Cotton Works overhaul, Prestwich’s Longfield Centre revamp, Ashton town-centre regeneration, and Bolton’s 800,000 sq ft Wingates logistics hub are also in the first wave.

Burnham said the region was ready to “pioneer a new model for economic growth” and warned that growth must now be felt “on every street, in every district”, not only in the city centre.

A second funding wave will land in March as Greater Mancjester ramps up plans for town-centre housing, lab space, advanced manufacturing hubs and Bee Network-linked neighbourhoods across the region.

£400m first-wave projects – by borough

Oldham

£31.5m for Prince’s Gate next to Oldham Mumps station, delivering 331 homes including 75 for social rent as part of a wider 2,000-home town-centre plan.
Sports Town MDC concept with Oldham Athletic, including training facilities and a netball stadium (pipeline).
Northern Roots urban farm and eco-park over 160 acres (pipeline).

Trafford

£26m to unlock 382 new homes at Trafford Wharf, the first major investment in the Old Trafford Regeneration area.
Redevelopment of Stretford Mall into 427 homes, 178 affordable (March 2026 tranche).
Old Trafford Regeneration mega-scheme centred on a new 100,000-seat stadium and 15,000 homes (pipeline).

Bury

£6.8m for the Prestwich village centre overhaul, including demolition of redundant Longfield Centre buildings, a new market hall and travel hub.
235 new homes at Prestwich Village (March 2026 tranche).
Bury Interchange rebuild into a carbon-neutral transport hub (pipeline).

Bolton

£17.1m Wingates investment supporting a new MDC, an 800,000 sq ft logistics hub and up to 6,900 jobs.
Crompton Place demolition and replacement with new homes, offices and hotel (pipeline).
Lee Hall development: 450 new homes, including 157 affordable (pipeline).

Manchester

£20m for the Sister innovation hub, converting former University of Manchester buildings into lab and tech space.
£44m to refurbish the old Kendals department store on Deansgate into prime office space.
£34.1m to accelerate Victoria North, delivering up to 15,000 homes between Victoria station and Queen’s Park.

Tameside

£7.6m to kickstart Ashton town-centre regeneration, including affordable homes, employment space and a revamp of Market Square.
Up to 2,150 new homes at Godley Green, including 300 affordable (pipeline).
Vision refresh for Ashton and Stalybridge corridor (pipeline).

Salford

£23.4m into Adelphi Village, delivering 301 social/affordable homes, 42 townhouses and 336 new apartments.
Salford Crescent £2.5bn masterplan: transport links, university expansion and mixed-use growth district (pipeline).
Acoustic Innovation Institute for advanced R&D (pipeline).

Stockport

£41.3m for Stockport 8, funding phase one of 435 homes (82 affordable) within a 1,300-home walkable town-centre neighbourhood.
£15m to deliver 245 age-inclusive homes at Fletcher Street.
Expansion of Stockport MDC to cover entire town centre, bringing forward 4,000 new homes, school, health hub and riverside park (pipeline).

Rochdale

March 2026 funding for 200+ homes next to Rochdale railway station (Station Gardens).
Sustainable Materials and Manufacturing Centre with University of Manchester (pipeline).
Tram-train expansion linking Oldham, Rochdale, Middleton, Heywood and Bury (pipeline).

Wigan

£14m for Cotton Works at Wigan Pier, delivering almost 180 new homes.
£9.9m for 93,500 sq ft of commercial, office, leisure and healthcare space, creating around 670 jobs.
Leigh Mayoral Development Zone, including plans for a new University Campus for Health and Social Care (pipeline).

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