The fifth of our Summer Series blog posts comes from David Lynch, the Director of Development and Strategic Housing at Manchester City Council.

David boasts over 18 years of experience in the property sector, mainly in the development sector across both commercial and residential. From Development Manager at Urban Splash and Head of Regeneration and Land at PlaceFirst, David has a good seat at the table when it comes to seeing projects through to fruition.

With Manchester now being a global force of a city, David is to play an instrumental role in the changing landscape of the city over future years and helping to transform areas to create new neighbourhoods and communities for generations to thrive.

I have known David since we both worked together at Gerald Eve, and have since been good friends and cycling buddies.

So, here we go with the fifth of the series…

1. How long have you been working at Manchester City Council and in the development sector?

3 years in January I think but I’ve always worked in development, starting at Urban Splash when I was at University.

2. How has the market changed over the past 12 months for new developments reaching practical completion in the City region, and are the numbers up or down to last year?

Quality new offices reaching completion in the city centre are reaping the benefits of high demand, seen recently with new headline rents of £44 per sq ft at St Michael’s. Our work at Mayfield is well placed in the future.

Residential across the city continues at pace in terms of delivery and pipeline. Viability is being impacted by inflation and access to capital but I’m pleased to say that this year, the team (and our partners) delivered the highest number of affordable houses for a decade this year.

3. How important are regeneration schemes such as Collyhurst and Wythenshawe town centre, to Manchester?

Collyhurst is important as it’s a symbolic project, part of the wider Victoria North programme, to transform the landscape of North Manchester, providing new housing at density and the infrastructure to drive further growth.

Wythenshawe is one of our District Centre projects, making sure that our city wide growth is inclusive and that communities and citizens across the whole city feel the benefit of that growth.

Both projects aspire to break down barriers to new housing options, work and skills opportunities and drive better life outcomes.

4. What is the next big regeneration scheme planned and what will this include?

ID Manchester is about to really start being a catalyst for productivity in the regional centre, picking up on the award winning research on the Oxford Road Corridor and facilitating that industrialisation journey that has the ability to generate thousands of new jobs. On the residential front, we have just commenced public consultation for Holt Town in East Manchester, with a masterplan for 4500 new homes on the canal.

5. Manchester City Centre is performing well across most sectors. How important is it that the other Greater Manchester towns such as Wigan, Bolton, Bury and Stockport, grow and become synergistic clusters for the City centre?

We are all part of the GM ecosystem, best exemplified by the joint plan working through Places for Everyone. Fundamentally we all complement each other, what’s good for Bury is good for Manchester etc.

6. How important is it to see older living and also education services in and around the City centre, to then promote inclusive City centre living? Are existing services below standard, at the required standard or above?

With the rises in Adult Social Services costs and an ageing population, older living is increasingly important. We have a strong pipeline of adapted new developments, including Chorlton Baths, Russell Road and Jurby Avenue which are all designed to match specific needs across the city. There definitely is a gap in the market in the city centre, which are working on in the background but would very much welcome new entrants.

Our new primary school at Great Jackson Street in the city centre opened this September which is great, along with new GP surgeries this is about provision of infrastructure to enable the economic growth. We are also futureproofing our plans in Strangeways, the Village, Victoria North, Wythenshawe, Gorton and Holt Town.

7. What is the one main challenge to new development, right now in Greater Manchester?

Like all of the UK, rising construction costs and access to development capital is impacting viability.

The stats on how investable Manchester is are great but there is a real challenge when it comes to balance the needs of growth and the deliverability of things like affordable housing. We have several approaches and tools to address this including our land ownership, access to gap funding, collaboration with GMCA and central government.

Light stuff:

1. Where have you holidayed this year?

Back in my native North East…. castles, sandy beaches and kippers. My eldest less keen on the last bit.

2. What one thing (only) would you take with you to a desert island?

A yacht. Slightly hyperactive and definitely impatient, I can’t stand sitting on a beach and would want to escape within 2 hours.

3. Desert island discs – which one album would you take?

The National – Boxer

4. Are you a book reader, podcaster or both?

Podcasts nowadays due to childcare… football, film reviews, comedy and philosophy

5. Where is your favourite location that you have visited for holiday, and why?

Kyoto. Old meets (weird) new Japan.

Hopefully you enjoyed the fifth in the series of the blog series and if you want to get involved just drop us a line.