The plan for new homes, jobs and sustainable growth in Greater Manchester has reached its final stage, following a report by planning inspectors. In their report, published last Thursday, the inspectors have concluded that the Places for Everyone plan, with the modifications recommended as part of their rigorous, extensive and robust independent examination process, is sound and legally compliant. The publication of the report marks the end of the examination process, which included public hearings and consultations between November 2022 and December 2023. Places for Everyone will now be presented to each of the nine councils to consider the recommendations and whether to adopt the plan in line with Government’s expectations for a plan-led approach to development, which is in line with theNational Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Full details of the council meetings will be published in due course. Places for Everyone is a long-term plan of nine districts in the city-region: Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Tameside, Trafford, and Wigan. It is a comprehensive joint development plan of the districts that will determine the kind of development that takes place in their boroughs, maximising the use of brownfield land and urban spaces while protecting Green Belt land from the risk of unplanned development. It will also ensure all new developments are sustainably integrated into Greater Manchester’s transport network or supported by new infrastructure. For further information please contact the Communications and Engagement team on: news@greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk. Find us on social media @greatermcr. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals

Southwark Council, Ledbury Estate residents and the council’s development partner Higgins Partnerships celebrated the start of the first phase of building works at Ledbury Estate at a ground breaking ceremony on Monday 5 February 2024. The first phase of construction works is taking place on the site of the former Bromyard House and will provide 80 new homes across two blocks, made up of 45 council homes, 15 shared ownership homes and 20 homes for private sale. The new council homes will be prioritised for former residents who had to vacate their previous homes due to safety issues, and the shared ownership homes will be designated for leaseholders of the Ledbury towers. The start of these building works marks a key milestone in the redevelopment of the whole of Ledbury Estate, which the council has been working closely with local residents on for many years. The redevelopment was proposed after four towers on the estate, built in the 1960s, were identified as having serious structural and fire safety issues. Following extensive consultation Ledbury Estate residents voted in favour of demolishing the four blocks and providing modern high-quality new homes and a range of other improvements to the estate. Cllr Helen Dennis, Cabinet Member for New Homes and Sustainable Development, said, “I’m so thrilled to see works get underway on this estate – it’s a really exciting marker in the long journey we have been on with residents to replace the previous homes in the towers with the fire safe, high-quality new homes our residents deserve. “Today we can celebrate being one step closer to Ledbury residents moving back onto the estate they know and love and bringing this wonderfully tight-knit community back together. “Thank you to all the residents who have worked so closely with us on this and helped to co-design a wonderful redevelopment which will transform the lives of everyone on this estate”. Dominic Higgins, Chief Operating Officer for Higgins Group comments, “We are delighted to be marking this important milestone on site with residents and Southwark Council. “As well as delivering these high quality new homes for local residents, we are committed to delivering community engagement and social value and ensuring we leave a lasting legacy for generations to come. “As work progresses, we will be working with the local community to provide training and employment opportunities as well supporting social value opportunities and providing volunteering hours to community projects.”  In total, the Ledbury Estate redevelopment will provide 340 new homes, 224 of which will be council homes to replace those from the old towers. The council will also build an additional 36 new council homes, taking the total to 260 council homes, as well as 15 shared ownership homes and 75 homes for private sale. The wider neighbourhood will also benefit from landscaping and new outdoor communal areas with a large, multi-purpose garden courtyard with space for community growing, a play area and tree-lined paths creating new pedestrian and cycle friendly connections between the Old Kent Road, Pencraig Way and Bird in Bush Park to the south-west. The first phase of building works is expected to complete in spring 2026 and the entire Ledbury Estate redevelopment is expected to be finished by 2030. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals

Oldham Council has pledged to get 500 new social homes built in the borough over the next five years.   The announcement was made at the council’s inaugural Housing Roundtable, which took place at Oldham Civic Centre on Thursday 1 February and was led by Leader of the Council, Cllr Arooj Shah.  Senior representatives from all of of Oldham’s major social housing providers were at the event, along with private landlords, letting agents, developers and housebuilders, charities and more. Together with the Council, they discussed Oldham’s housing crisis and how partners can work together to tackle it.  Cllr Shah, who is also Cabinet Member for Reform and Regeneration, said: “Nationally, there’s been a growing issue with housing for years and now places like Oldham are bearing the brunt of it. “Thousands of social homes have been sold under right to buy with no government policies in place to replace them. Wages haven’t kept up with house prices or private rents and the cost of living crisis has piled even more pressure on. “I hear from local people every day whose lives are being ruined by this broken housing system. “For me, a home is a place where memories are created, where children and parents are safe and where there is love. “But for far too many families in Oldham, this is not the reality. And we know from our own work in communities that the dire situation is getting worse. “There are more than 7,500 families on the council housing register and thousands of applications waiting to be processed. There are over 500 families in temporary accommodation – and among them are 500 children. That’s 500 kids without their own bed, a place to do their homework, living in places like hotels and B&Bs. It’s tragic. “This is why we have to do everything in our power to respond locally to this national crisis. “With the support of our housing providers, we’ll be building 500 new social homes over the next five years. We have to act now, and we are.” Issues under discussion included the national problems with housing supply, driven by factors such as the high costs of renting and home ownership, the lack of Government funding to invest in social homes, differences in the definition of truly “affordable” homes, and a reduction in the supply of social and affordable housing. Nationally, Government has stopped incentivising developers to build truly affordable homes, with funding provided through the Government’s Affordable Homes Programme (AHP) being slashed. Figures from charity Shelter show that around 39,500 new social houses were delivered nationally in 2010, compared to 6,600 a decade later. At the same time, demand for those homes is increasing, as people are affected by the cost of living crisis and are struggling with rising mortgage interest rates – meaning they may not be able to afford to pay, or get on the housing ladder at all. Among those discussing the reality of the crisis were three members of Oldham Poverty Truth Commission, who shared their own experience of navigating the social housing system.  They included Simon Carrigan who said: “I owned my own home but I was cockooed and forced to sell my house and declare myself bankrupt to pay off the debts they said I owed them. I got a social home but they found me and the cuckooing started again. “I asked for help and the housing association tried – but they put bars on the windows and that just trapped me. I had to walk away again. “I’m 41 now and I’m still in poverty because of this. A good life starts with a good home. It’s so important.” Nadia Masood talked about her battles with mould and the lack of action from her landlord to keep up repairs saying: “I have a lot of health conditions and I’m living in a house covered in mould. “I’ve had to rip up the carpets and I’m now living with concrete floors. The buzzer doesn’t work so I never know if there’s someone at the door, the bath leaks and living on my own, I’m trying my best to deal with it, but it’s really hard. It gave me a really serious asthma attack. “I’ve been asking for help since last summer, I’ve done so much myself to try and sort it, but nothing ever happens.” Yaasmin Mughees told the roundtable about facing homelessness with three young children immediately after being granted right to stay in the UK. She said: “I was new to the system and I was scared, I experienced things I wouldn’t expect any human to experience. “I did get temporary accomodation for six months and it was good – but I know the quality of it was far better than where many other people are living. It really hurts to know so many people are living in these situations.” The roundtable discussed housing standards, demand and supply in Oldham and called on partners from across the room to make a commitment to building a local solution to a national crisis. This included: social and private landlords pledging to improve the quality of the homes we already have; letting and estate agents signing up to charters aimed at raising housing standards and developers working with the Council to get spades in the ground. Cllr Elaine Taylor, Cabinet Member for Housing and Licensing, said: “We promised the housing roundtable would put firm plans in place to tackle the housing crisis.   “Social housing changes lives, giving people a stable, affordable home – but there’s not enough social homes to go round.   “That’s why we’re building more – with the support of our partners – I’m proud to say Oldham will have an additional 500 new social homes for local residents with the highest need. “It’s a huge step in the right direction and we’ll keep bringing people together to make sure Oldham fights its way out of this horrendous housing crisis as soon as possible.” For more information and support with