First new council housing development in Ancoats gets green light

The first new council housing development of its kind to be built in Manchester has been given the green light despite local opposition.

Plans for 118 apartments and 10 townhouses in Ancoats have been approved by the council's planning committee after concerns were raised about parking. The site off Rodney Street will be home to the first project by This City, Manchester council's new development arm launched earlier this year.

The council-owned company plans to build 500 homes a year with at least 20 pc available for Manchester Living Rent, capped at local housing benefit levels. The first scheme to be built by This City, which is planned for a plot of 'scrub land' next to Ancoats Green, promises to be 'high quality, low carbon housing'.

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All ten three and four-bedroom townhouses planned in this new development would be affordable alongside a further 28 one and two-bedroom apartments. The rest of the properties will all be sold, subsidising the affordable housing.

Council leader Bev Craig said: "It's great to see the first This City site out of the blocks and delivering the homes that we know Manchester people need. This is a really exciting time for Ancoats and the beginning of the completion of a regeneration journey spanning two decades."

Councillors on the planning committee welcomed the new affordable housing at a meeting on Thursday (September), but highlighted the lack of parking.

Only 17 parking spaces would be available on the site itself – one for each house and seven reserved for disabled people at the two apartment blocks. Around 30 parking spaces would be 'provided' at the new mobility hub set to be built nearby,