Greater Manchester is set to build 50,000 new affordable homes by 2039 to spark a ‘golden era’ of housing – with the first 10,000 in the pipeline by May 2028

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Emmeline Banks

 –  Staff Writer

 ·  August 12, 2026

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Mayor of Greater Manchester Bev Craig has set out her plan to tackle the housing crisis and deliver a new generation of council, social and genuinely affordable homes with 50,000 new affordable homes across the city region by 2039, removing blockers to development and transforming disused public land into new housing schemes.

By May 2028 10,000 of these homes will be built, on site, or in the pipeline with planning permission ready to go. Today (Wednesday 12 August) the mayor visited a development in Ashton-under-Lyne where 35 new social rent homes have been delivered on brownfield land.

Greater Manchester backed the development with £2.7 million from the Affordable Homes Programme and £700,000 from the Brownfield Housing Fund, which was designed to decontaminate land and make it ready for construction, removing blockers to development.

To meet the scale of Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s (GMCA) ambition and deliver the homes needed, Greater Manchester will need to remediate brownfield land and bring forward dormant sites in public ownership.

The Mayor will be asking public bodies in Greater Manchester to carry out a public land review and identify sites that could be brought forward to deliver homes.

The Brownfield Housing Fund has already been used to support dozens of schemes that are delivering thousands of affordable homes – including social rent homes on council land in Manchester, Salford, and Stockport.

It now forms part of GMCA’s £2 billion Good Growth Fund, which is investing in a pipeline of projects to deliver new homes, regenerate town centres, create jobs, and build infrastructure to connect people and places.

Mayor of Greater Manchester Bev Craig said: “Everyone in Greater Manchester should have the security of a good home that they can afford and no one should feel priced out of their community. I benefited from the security of a good council house growing up, and I want everyone to have that opportunity. As Mayor, I am determined to deliver a golden era of more council and social homes, using all means at our disposal in Greater Manchester.

“Nationally we face a housing crisis, with too many people trapped on housing waiting lists or living in poor sub-standard rented accommodation. In Greater Manchester I’m determined to change that by building a new generation of council and social homes across Greater Manchester and making it a GM-wide mission, with a new board to oversee our delivery.

“We’ve already started ramping up delivery. When I was Manchester Council Leader I built more council and social homes than Manchester had built in 25 years, but we need to go further and faster in every bit of Greater Manchester.

“Too many brownfield sites sit empty across Greater Manchester – so I will target them and set up a new Public Sector Land Bank that can be used for council, social and genuinely affordable homes. We will be leading by example when it comes to freeing up disused and dormant public land for development and I’m calling on other Government bodies to join us.

“I know first-hand the security that a council house brings. That’s why I am absolutely committed to delivering the council and social homes that people here in Greater Manchester need, so everyone can have the foundation of a good life in our city region.”

The joint development plan of nine council areas, Places for Everyone, has removed planning obstacles and mapped out shovel-ready sites to deliver new homes, maximising the use of brownfield land while protecting the Green Belt from unplanned development. Through this work, GMCA has identified land supply for 78,585 new homes of all tenures up to 2030.

Of 10 council areas, Salford and Stockport are now building more homes for social rent than they are losing through Right to Buy, and by 2027, the whole of Greater Manchester is expected to be building more socially rented homes than losing to Right to Buy.

What’s more, Greater Manchester is in line to receive an initial £1.8 billion from the Government’s Social and Affordable Homes Programme.