Marvin OnumonuMayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has set out a £1bn plan to deliver thousands of homes and jobs across the region.
The £1bn Good Growth Fund will support over 30 projects.
The first £400m investment is set to deliver nearly 3,000 new homes, more than 22,000 jobs, and 2 million square feet of employment space.
This initial funding is expected to unlock a further £1.3bn in private capital.
Burnham said: “Greater Manchester is the UK’s economic success story of the past decade. Powered by devolution, our journey of growth has transformed our city region and is opening up opportunities that people could not have imagined 30 years ago.
“But we know that the real test of good growth is whether every person and every place feels the benefits.
“We’ve never believed in a busted ‘trickle-down’ theory that puts the pursuit of pure economic growth above the basic needs of our communities.”
Burnham added: “And growth in Greater Manchester has never been an end in itself – it’s a means of improving lives by creating new opportunities and broadening access to them.
“We know we will only change the fortunes of our people and places by getting on with fixing the things national politics has neglected.
“That’s why we’ve used our trailblazing devolution deals to put public services back in service of the public, becoming the first region in 40 years to bring buses under local control.”
He said: “And it’s why Greater Manchester is ready to pioneer a new model for economic growth – unlocking investment to build new homes, create good jobs, deliver infrastructure, and providing the everyday support that will enable everyone to live a good life.
“Good growth is the defining challenge of our age – and today we are setting out a serious, practical plan to achieve it.”
Councillor Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council, said: “Our game-changing GM Good Growth Fund will rewire how investment transforms local areas and people’s lives.
“We know that the past decade has been transformational for Greater Manchester.
“We’ve attracted record investment, and creating the right environment for businesses to grow, creating jobs and opportunities for our residents, not only becoming the UK’s fastest growing economy but turning the tide on decades of decline.”
Craig added: “Our track record is something to be proud of, but behind the headlines our mission for growth is clear- it has to be with purpose, inclusive and create real opportunities.
“Too often trickle-down growth isn’t something people can feel in their everyday lives or see in their local communities, and we want to change that.
“Our Good Growth Fund will drive the investment that will deliver thousands of new homes that people can afford, breathe new life into our town centres, create tens of thousands of jobs and ensure our city centre remains one of the most important engines of growth anywhere in the UK.”
She said: “It recognizes that we all benefit when everywhere thrives.
“Most importantly, we’re lining up our plans so that this development is complemented by the expansion of our Bee Network, businesses get the support they need to thrive, and people can access high-quality jobs in growing parts of our economy.
“Good, inclusive growth means spreading the benefits of growth to all our people and all our boroughs.”
The fund brings together money from public and private sources, including an initial £300m from the Greater Manchester Pension Fund.
A new partnership between the Combined Authority and the pension fund will focus on local investment.
Paul Dennett, City Mayor of Salford, said: “From raising standards through the UK’s first Good Landlord Charter, to delivering new genuinely affordable and beautiful net zero homes for our residents, to tackling the urgent and unsustainable temporary accommodation crisis – housing is the cornerstone of a healthy, happy life, and must be at the heart of any serious plan to improve people’s lives and deliver good growth.
“This first £400 million wave from our Good Growth Fund will fuel that effort: delivering transformative regeneration schemes across Greater Manchester, investing to unlock private capital, and helping us build thousands of new homes of the types and tenures we need – including genuinely affordable and social rent homes – so we can turn the tide on the housing crisis and the chaos it has wrought across the country.
“We’ve already shown the power of that joined-up approach, by recycling interest from investment funds that built thousands of homes to train housing enforcement officers driving up standards across the city region.”
Dennett added: “Our Good Growth Fund is about fundamentally rewiring the way that Greater Manchester works together and using our pioneering devolved powers to answer the tough questions that national Government can’t.
“That means making sure everyone in every town and city feels those benefits, whether it’s building good quality homes in well-connected neighbourhoods, giving people the practical support to get back into work, rejuvenating town centres with new high-quality development, or creating good jobs in the growth sectors of the future.”
The fund is expected to create around 12,000 jobs in construction, with another 10,134 jobs at new employment sites.
Funding will also support regeneration schemes like Oldham’s Prince’s Gate and Wigan’s Cotton Works, as well as new homes in Victoria North and Salford’s Adelphi Village.
Councillor David Molyneux, Leader of Wigan Council, said: “We’ve used our devolved powers to pioneer a new way of attracting game-changing investment in our communities.
“By providing just enough public funding to make key projects viable, our GM Good Growth Fund will unlock billions of pounds of other investment and drive good growth right across our city region.
“Our approach builds on decades of successful public private partnership and our strong track record in driving growth, which has seen us bucking national trends and made us a top destination for private investors.”
Molyneux added: “With the right support from central Government and public finance institutions, we can kickstart a new decade of truly inclusive growth for all our people and all our places.
“And because of the way we invest – using social value models to squeeze the maximum benefit out of every public pound – we can deliver massive regeneration in a way that strengthens local supply chains and brings big benefits to communities.”
Councillor Eleanor Wills, Chair of the Greater Manchester Pension Fund, said: “The Greater Manchester Pension Fund is backing the city region’s plans for growth with significant investment.
“A new strategic partnership will see our Local Government Pension Scheme work closely with Greater Manchester Combined Authority to prioritise local investment and local impact.
“Greater Manchester is leading the way once again, becoming the first place in the country to pioneer this approach.”
Wills added: “Projects in our Integrated Pipeline will be able to access the long-term, patient capital that pension funds can offer, while members will see their contributions support the prosperity and growth of their communities, just as they did through their working lives.”
