Accelerating the Delivery of Homes Bury Needs

Meeting the borough's housing needs requires a step change in both the number and type of homes delivered. Affordable housing need far exceeds supply, particularly for genuinely affordable homes, alongside increasing pressure in the private rented sector and a limited supply of social housing. This is limiting choice for residents, making it harder for people to access the right home, and reducing opportunities for families to find suitable housing within the borough.

At the same time, the borough needs a broader, higher-quality housing offer, one that supports aspiration, retains and attracts residents, and provides a wider range of homes, including family housing and options for older people and those with additional needs.

Delivery of New Homes — Recent Schemes Include

The Homes Bury Needs to Deliver

452 new homes required each year on average

9,486 total homes over the emerging Local Plan period 2022-2043

The Places for Everyone (PfE) Joint Development Plan is a long-term plan of nine Greater Manchester districts for jobs, new homes and sustainable growth up to 2039. It is a key part of Bury’s statutory development plan. It sets out where we will build the new homes we need, where our businesses will locate to sustain and create jobs for our people, what infrastructure is needed to support the development and to protect and enhance our towns, cities and landscapes. It covers the period from 2022 to 2039.

Places for Everyone (PfE) sets the borough’s housing requirement to deliver an average of 452 homes each year through a stepped approach with the annual requirement increasing from 246 per year from 2022-2025, to 452 from 2025-2039, and 520 from 2030-2039. PfE includes key strategic housing sites at Elton Reservoir, Walshaw, and Simister, as well as a transformational opportunity for economic and employment growth at the Northern Gateway.

This is not just a target to plan for, but a commitment to ensure that the right homes are built in the right places, meeting local needs, supporting economic growth, and creating sustainable, inclusive communities. Delivering these homes will require a proactive approach, working with partners, unlocking sites, and ensuring infrastructure and services keep pace with development.

Emerging Local Plan

The Bury Local Plan will sit alongside PfE as a key part of Bury’s statutory development plan and will set out locally specific planning policies for Bury. Bury’s emerging Local Plan will provide the Borough’s planning framework to 2043 and continues the 452 homes per year requirement from 2039 to 2043. The draft Bury Local Plan will be published for representations before it is submitted to the Secretary of State for an independent examination.

What Different Groups do we Need to Consider?

The Council needs to consider the housing needs of different groups in the community, including (but not limited to):

• Households experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
• Low-income households unable to access market housing who need affordable housing.
• Families.
• People with specialist housing and support needs.
• Older people and those planning for later life.
• Care leavers and young people transitioning to independence.
• Service families and former members of the Armed Forces.
• Gypsies, Travellers, and Travelling Show People.
• Key workers and economically active households.

Housing Mix, Size, and Location

The evidence[1] points to a clear and balanced need for additional housing in Bury. Overall, more homes are required to meet the needs of families, with a particularly acute requirement for affordable housing. New supply should be predominantly family houses, especially two and three-bedroom homes, reflecting the strongest general pattern of need. Within this, the shortage of three-bedroom family homes is especially pressing and is most pronounced in the affordable sector.

The evidence also identifies a clear requirement for flats within the affordable rented sector, particularly to meet the needs of younger people, lower-income households, and key workers. Alongside this, there is a significant and growing need for bungalow and level-access accommodation, including accessible flats, driven by Bury’s ageing population and the housing needs of disabled residents and those requiring more accessible homes.

• For Market Housing: demand is predominantly for houses, which should make up 65-70% of market supply, with 20-25% bungalow or level-access homes and only 5-10% flats. The strongest requirement is for three and four (or more) bedroom houses.
• For Social or Affordable Rented: housing needs to prioritise smaller and accessible stock, with 30-35% flats, 30-35% bungalow or level-access homes, and 35-40% houses. One and two-bedroom homes are especially important, though demand for three-bedroom family housing remains significant within this tenure.
• For Affordable Home Ownership: is strongly house-led, with 75-80% of provision expected to be houses - particularly three-bedroom homes - alongside a smaller proportion of level-access and more modestly sized homes.

Strategic Allocations — Places for Everyone

Bury's long-term housing growth will be delivered through three major strategic allocations, together providing over 6,300 homes in new, infrastructure-supported communities.

In addition, the Places for Everyone Plan also includes an allocation of 140 homes at Seedfield (part of which is now under construction at Roedeer Gardens), and around 200 homes at Castle Road as part of the wider Heywood / Pilsworth (Northern Gateway) employment-led allocation.

Affordable Housing

Bury has a substantial and persistent affordable housing challenge. The Housing Needs and Demand Assessment identifies a net annual affordable housing shortfall of 1,017 homes, far above current supply capacity, while the housing register shows over 2,000 households waiting and long average waiting times. Need is strongest for 1 and 2-bedroom affordable homes, but the evidence also identifies an immediate requirement for 3-bedroom family housing and a growing need for accessible and older people’s accommodation.

Demand pressures are being intensified by rising private rents, loss of private rented sector tenancies, homelessness and temporary accommodation pressures, and affordability barriers for lower-income households. At the same time, supply is constrained by viability, infrastructure requirements, reliance on developer contributions and Registered Provider (RP) programmes, limited council direct delivery capacity, and the long lead-in times associated with large strategic and brownfield sites.

 

How Affordable Housing is Delivered

Registered Provider-Led Delivery via Land Disposals

The council disposes of brownfield land to Registered Providers (RPs), who take full responsibility for development. The council retains the permanent right to refer tenants to a social or affordable rent property every time it becomes vacant, ensuring the home continues to serve local housing need. The council uses this model primarily to deliver specialist housing schemes.

Registered Provider-Land led Delivery

A Registered Provider identifies and acquires land directly, leading development independently. The Registered Provider secures planning, procures contractors, and delivers the scheme, retaining full ownership and management. These homes also provide affordable housing. The council refers tenants to social and affordable rent homes via a nomination agreement to help serve local housing need.

Affordable housing delivery through planning policy Section 106 requirements

The council’s local planning policies set a requirement for developers to deliver a proportion of affordable homes alongside market homes as part of mixed tenure developments. The council refers tenants to social and affordable rent homes under a nomination agreement to help serve local housing need.

The council has established a valuable and important Registered Provider Framework, which acts as a key delivery mechanism for accelerating affordable housing across the borough. The council will continue to build on and strengthen this framework, working with selected housing associations to bring forward new homes on council-owned land, including general needs, specialist, and supported housing that responds to local priorities and identified need.

New Affordable Homes in Bury

How we will Accelerate Delivery of New Homes

Delivery Programme

• Prioritise the development of brownfield sites (including on council-owned land) with a dedicated delivery programme in Bury Town Centre.
• Drive forward Places for Everyone strategic allocations.
• Develop clear, site-specific feasibility work to build a stronger, coordinated pipeline, and explore opportunities to accelerate and increase delivery.

Estate Renewal Task Force

• Lead an Estate Renewal Task Force to deliver a dedicated regeneration workstream.
• Drive estate regeneration, redevelopment, and remodelling, including infill on underutilised land such as garage sites.
• Increase homes to diversify typologies and housing mix.
• Appoint a strategic delivery partner across a pipeline of sites for mixed-tenure schemes combining regeneration with new supply.

Building the Partnership Base

• Work with Registered Providers, housing associations, developers, investors, and small and medium sized enterprise builders.
• Build on the Registered Provider Framework to accelerate affordable housing delivery.
• Attract new partners to unlock more complex or marginal sites, using the council's land and pipeline to shape delivery outcomes and secure affordable housing.

Flexible and Cross-subsidised Models

• Registered Provider-led delivery and land-led models.
• Joint ventures, regeneration partnerships, and long-term development partnerships across multiple sites.
• Working in partnership to attract Homes England funding.
• Build-to-Rent and institutional investment to scale delivery at pace.
• Explore deferred land payment and land value participation approaches.
• Consider leasing and income strip models where appropriate.

Key Funding Streams

• Social and Affordable Homes Programme and Homes England partnership, targeting grant funding to close viability gaps.
• Utilise Local Authority Housing Fund to support both temporary and permanent accommodation solutions.
• Retained Right to Buy receipts and Section 106 (S106) commuted sums used strategically to lever additional investment.
• Access Greater Manchester Combined Authority Good Growth Fund and other Greater Manchester funding streams.

Strategic Use of Funding

• Sponsor external Registered Provider and developer-led bids on private land to unlock additional sites.
• Use Capacity and Housing Support Service (CHoSS) and other capacity programmes to access additional resource and expertise.
• Deploy funding to address viability gaps and leverage private investment in priority locations.

Planning and Enabling Role

• Take a more active and interventionist planning and enabling role, using the council's land, planning, and regeneration powers to bring sites forward.
• Coordinate infrastructure and development planning across the borough to reduce delivery risk and unlock complex sites.
• Support land assembly and set clear expectations on tenure, quality, and design standards.
• Access funding to unlock sites in council ownership.

Capacity and Procurement

• Strengthen internal capacity and skills to support programme delivery at scale.
• Explore the use of third-party development managers to oversee multiple schemes simultaneously.
• Improve procurement to accelerate delivery, streamlining planning processes for greater market certainty.
• Lobby for and position Bury's projects for funding at Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Homes England, building a reputation as a delivery-focused authority.

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[1] Bury Housing Needs and Demand Assessment 2024/25