Greater Manchester housing loans face scrutiny inquiry
Loans to property companies approved while Andy Burnham was mayor of Greater Manchester are being investigated by councillors, including about £55m lent to three firms controlled by the owner of Manchester City. BBC
More than £1bn has been lent to about 50 developers since 2015 from a fund managed by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, the body of council leaders that oversees devolved services across the city region. The money came from the Greater Manchester Housing Investment Loan Fund. It was set up in 2015 with an initial £300m of government investment to help developers build new homes across Greater Manchester. BBC
Three property companies ultimately controlled by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan received loans worth about £55m in total from the fund. The decisions to approve those loans were taken in 2017 at two meetings chaired by Mr Burnham as mayor. Decisions to grant loans from the fund were taken in public by all members of the combined authority, not by the mayor alone.
The inquiry is being led by the authority's Overview and Scrutiny Committee, which reviews the work of the mayor and the combined authority. Its chairman, John Leech, said concerns had been raised about the transparency of the process for approving loans. He said the process had been criticised as very opaque, and not clearly understood as to why one applicant succeeded and another did not. The committee agreed earlier this year to launch an inquiry into the loans.
The fund has also faced questions over its wider lending. Property developer Renaker has received the majority of the £1bn lent. Renaker was involved in a legal battle over £140m of loans made through the fund, with rival developer Aubrey Weis claiming the loans were unfair subsidies. In June, the Court of Appeal found there had been no error of law in the combined authority's decision to provide the loans to Renaker. Mr Weis is appealing against that decision.
Mr Burnham said he will publish all details of his dealings with Manchester City from his time as Greater Manchester mayor. The Guardian
