No affordable housing planned on former Manchester City stadium site

Hundreds of homes are set to be built on the site where Manchester City's stadium once stood – but none of them would be affordable or social housing. The development of 172 houses and 100 apartments is planned for the site which was home to the football club's Hyde Road stadium in West Gorton.

City played at the stadium from 1897 until they moved to Maine Road in 1923. The site in Bennett Street, which is now a freight depot, has been earmarked for housing for decades, with the previous plans proposing up to 340 homes.

However, these plans for the Olympic Freight Terminal site which were put forward by Ascena Developments two years ago were withdrawn last month. Now, Warrington-based developer Kellen Homes has submitted a fresh application to Manchester council, seeking permission to build 272 homes.

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The developer has also committed to building a community hub on the site, which would feature some commercial floorspace, as well as a pocket park. But none of the new homes planned on the land - which is less than two miles away from Manchester city centre - would be affordable or social housing.

The housebuilder says this is because the site is 'heavily contaminated' which means the cost of developing the land for housing would be particularly high. According to a viability report submitted as part of the planning application, the developer would make a loss if 20 pc of the homes were to be affordable.

The document, prepared by consultants Northern Land Agency, concludes that the build-to-rent scheme worth £80m would yield a 9 pc profit margin. A spokesperson for Kellen Homes said: "The site is a heavily contaminated