Housing growth points: AGMA and Salford
What were growth points?
On 16 July 2008, the government selected Greater Manchester as a ‘Housing Growth Point', the largest of the twenty designated growth point areas in England.
Growth point was one of a range of measures outlined by the then newly established Homes and Communities Agency to help deliver increased levels of housing provision and tackle rising problems of affordability. It represented a commitment to fund proposals within authority areas to deliver new housing, by identifying interventions by councils, where resources in the council can be used to tackle site constraints and help prepare them for development; this would provide support for private developers at this difficult time, and prepare the platform for accelerated housing delivery as market confidence returns.
In December 2008, Greater Manchester was allocated £12,259,749 from the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) through its growth point status. The allocation is taken from a national pot of £97 million for the period 2009 to 2011.
The Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) has used growth point funding, in addition to other public/private resources, to support the delivery of an appropriate mix of housing across Greater Manchester - this was initially within the authorities of Salford, Manchester, Trafford and Bolton.
Following the Comprehensive Spend Review, DCLG confirmed on 21 October 2010 that there will be no further allocations of growth point funding beyond this financial year.
How has growth point funding been used in Salford?
The purpose of growth point funding was to understand and or mitigate constraints that are barriers to the development of key strategic sites for new housing.
Officers within the city council liaised closely with key stakeholders to identify and develop a programme focused on interventions on sites in Salford that met the key objectives of Growth Point and contribute to the development and delivery of new housing.
The programme in Salford falls under the broad areas of:
- Brownfield land re-use - including land acquisition, clearance, investigation and remediation.
- Specific interventions include the demolition of All Souls Primary School in Weaste, and acquisition of two sites in Lower Broughton to support ongoing strategic site assembly and facilitate future comprehensive redevelopment in the Lower Broughton regeneration area.
- Masterplanning and site appraisal - to robustly consider and plan any new housing developments and supported investment.
Specific interventions include the funding of a development framework focused around an area in Cadishead.
For more information on Salford's growth point programme, please contact:
Dave Evans - Head of Physical Regeneration
Physical Regeneration
Economic Futures
Salford Civic Centre
Chorley Road
Swinton
Salford
M27 5BY
Telephone: 0161 793 3641
Email: GrowthPoints@salford.gov.uk
This page was last updated on 16 March 2012
