New report calls for community-led housing to help tackle Manchester’s social housing crisis

The fourth and final policy brief from the Manchester Social Housing Commission explores alternative models for social rent.

A new report from the Manchester Social Housing Commission is calling for a major expansion of community-led housing and regeneration to bring Manchester up to speed with other major cities.

The Commission’s latest policy brief, “Alternative Models for Social Rent,” argues that giving residents a stronger role in designing, developing and managing homes could increase the supply of genuinely affordable housing, while strengthening communities across the city.

The report highlights how community-led models – including housing cooperatives, cohousing, and community land trusts can rebalance power relations between landlords and tenants, enabling communities to have a more meaningful voice in local decisions and improving health and social cohesion. It urges policymakers to make these approaches a central part of Manchester’s housing strategy. Despite Manchester’s history as a pioneer of cooperative housing, the report finds that Manchester has fallen behind other major cities like Leeds, Liverpool, Bristol and London with community-led housing currently representing a tiny share of the city’s homes.

David Rudlin, Commissioner and one of the founders of Homes for Change housing coop in Hulme said: “Manchester has a long tradition of residents coming together to provide homes for each other,” the report states. “But these approaches play almost no role in our current housing strategies, despite strong evidence that they have delivered both affordability and wider community benefits in Manchester and across the country.”

Healthy lives – not just bricks and mortar

The report argues that the current housing system treats residents primarily as ‘customers rather than citizens’ with no meaningful voice in decisions about their neighbourhoods.

Community-led housing models change that balance of power by giving residents direct roles in ownership, governance, or management of housing developments. Evidence cited in the report suggests these models can deliver:

• High-quality and responsive housing management

• Lower rent burdens relative to household income

• Improved public health and reduced loneliness

• Greater social cohesion and local participation

• Protection against displacement and gentrification

Community-led developments also protect land and assets for community benefit in perpetuity, reinvesting profits locally and maintain long-term affordability, helping safeguard homes for future generations.

Four opportunities for Manchester

The Commission identifies four key ways community-led housing could grow at scale in Manchester:

1. Community homes within large developments

Major regeneration schemes could allocate a proportion of homes to community-led organisations, allowing residents to co-design or manage housing within large projects.

2. Communities as partners in regeneration

Neighbourhood organisations such as community land trusts could play a formal role in regeneration schemes, helping ensure development benefits existing residents and protects communities from displacement.

3. Development on small public sites

Small parcels of publicly owned land could be made available to community-led groups, following models already used by other UK cities.

4. “Socialising” existing homes

Community organisations could acquire and refurbish empty or poorly maintained properties, bringing them back into use as social housing.

The report also highlights the role that regional bodies such as the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and local authorities including Manchester City Council could play in enabling these approaches through policy, funding and land disposal.

Building on Manchester’s cooperative legacy

The Commission notes that Greater Manchester was the birthplace of the cooperative movement and once played a leading role in community-led housing innovation. Today, however, community-led homes account for a very small proportion of housing in the city.

With housing need continuing to grow, the report concludes that empowering communities to play a larger role in housing delivery could help Manchester build not just more homes, but stronger and healthier neighbourhoods.

Andrea Lowman, Commissioner, and Executive Director of Development at Wythenshawe Community Housing Group said: “At WCHG, we are keen to explore how community-led housing can enable residents, councils and housing providers to work together on regeneration that addresses the housing crisis while also creating healthier, more connected communities. As this report states, “If Manchester truly wants to be a city built on collaboration, these models provide a practical way to make that vision a reality.”

Notes to editors:

·       For interviews or media inquiries, please contact Sophie King (Director, CLASS) who convenes the Manchester Social Housing Commission on 07816 752525 / sophie.king@class-uk.com

·       The launch of the report is taking place at a GM Live Well Festival event 3-6pm, Tues 17^th March, at St Andrews Methodist Church, Brownley Road, M22 0DW