Greater Manchester mayor plans 10,000 new council homes by 2028 and Right to Buy ‘suspension’

Housing First is an approach to ending homelessness through housing and support provision. The approach prioritises access to permanent housing with tailored, open-ended, wraparound support for the resident.

The initial pilot for GM Housing First, which ran from April 2019 to March 2022, reached the target set of 330 rehoused in the three years across all 10 Greater Manchester boroughs.

Mr Burnham’s housing plan also includes a formal request to government for powers to suspend the Right to Buy on new council homes and to allow wider suspension at the request of councils in areas where “pressure on social housing is greatest”.

The city region has lost almost 24,000 homes to the Right to Buy in the past 20 years, including 571 sold in 2022-23.  

The mayor also announced a new enforcement capability that will work with councils to make greater use of compulsory purchase order powers over non-decent and empty properties to expand the city region’s social rented stock. 

Mr Burnham announced at the Housing 2023 conference in Manchester that he would look to make it easier for homes that do not comply with decency standards to be brought into public ownership.

He has now also announced that a pilot scheme offering residents in the private rented sector (PRS) the right to request a property check will be rolled out across Greater Manchester by the end of 2024.

According to the announcements, the mayor will also open the new GM Good Landlord Charter to applications by the summer. The charter sets out standards for rental properties in the PRS.

Plans for the Good Landlord Charter and a scheme offering residents the chance to request a property check were announced by Mr Burnham at Housing 2023. The launch of the Good Landlord Charter follows a consultation on the proposals that opened in January.

Mr Burnham’s housing plan also includes expanding the ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme to at least 600 places every night. 

The scheme aims to provide a bed and personal support for anyone who is sleeping rough or at imminent risk of sleeping rough in Greater Manchester. It has supported more than 3,000 people.

The GMCA said it will expand the scheme to least 600 places every night to “provide crucial support to rough sleepers as the national cost of living crisis continues”. Mr Burnham will continue to donate 15 per cent of his salary each month to support the scheme.

He said: “Greater Manchester can’t achieve its full potential as long as it remains in the grip of a housing crisis. That is why I am setting a new ambition for the city region to end it within a decade.

“10,000 new council homes will help to do that as long as stock can be retained. That’s why we’re calling for the suspension of Right to Buy.

“Everyone deserves to live in a good, safe home and by building new council homes, and suspending the Right to Buy on them, we can give our councils the breathing space they desperately need to replenish their stock, so that all of those waiting in temporary accommodation or on the housing registers have the chance to access good homes.”

The GMCA said that the new Housing First approach aims to address the main challenges for housing in Greater Manchester, including poor living standards, especially in the PRS, and “low availability of truly affordable housing”.

This is by implementing a “collaborative, multi-agency approach that can address issues by developing tailored, whole-system solutions”, the GMCA said.