What would planning policy look like with Andy Burnham as Prime Minister?

Andy Burnham’s campaign to win the Makerfield by-election leaves a sizeable hole in some of the certainties that have helped deliver a property boom in parts of Manchester and Salford over the last decade. 

As a result, there was a tangible sense of tension among some delegates representing Greater Manchester at the UKREiiF property and infrastructure conference in Leeds last week. 

GM has a great story to tell and one which began well before Andy Burnham was first elected mayor in 2017. The city’s steady regeneration even predates the IRA bomb that wrecked the city centre 30 years ago next month. 

But with apologies for the hypotheticals, many local people are now wondering what will happen next if Mr Burnham was to win in Makerfield and go on to become Labour leader. 

Who would be the next mayor of Greater Manchester? What would it mean for local economic growth? More broadly, what would be the likely impact of Andy Burnham gaining responsibility for steering national planning policy? 

Andy Burnham’s record in Greater Manchester suggests a planning and housing approach built around devolution, local control and a stronger social-housing offer. 

Rather than signalling a wholesale break with the current direction of national planning reform, the clearer indication is that he would favour a more interventionist model in which mayors, city-regions and other statutory authorities have greater power over funding, land use, transport control and integration and housing delivery. Power to the people, if you will. 

That is consistent with the 2023 Greater Manchester Trailblazer devolution deal, which gave the city-region a single flexible funding settlement alongside additional powers over housing, regeneration and transport, including £150 million of brownfield funding. 

In practice, Burnham has emphasised brownfield-first development, better use of public land, closer alignment between transport and land-use planning, and a larger role for public institutions in shaping outcomes while still working with private sector partners. 

His recent housing agenda also points to support for more council and social-rent homes, action on rental standards, and calls to protect new social housing from Right to Buy losses. 

The Social and Affordable Homes Programme is currently being deployed to support social housing delivery, with a pledge for the delivery of 10,000 energy efficient homes for social rent in Greater Manchester by 2030. 

At the same time, the long and often contentious journey from the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework to the adopted Places for Everyone plan underlines his sensitivity to the politics of planning: the preference is for growth led by town-centre renewal, regeneration and brownfield sites, while trying to limit the public backlash that can accompany green-belt release or poorly explained environmental measures.  

The Places for Everyone Joint Development Plan for nine of the ten GM local authorities set an ambition to deliver 50,000 affordable homes by 2039, including 30,000 social or affordable rented homes. 

Other key policies would likely build on the Good Growth funding which already serves as a catalyst to kickstart development outside of the regional centre, and moves to revitalise town centres through investment in new homes alongside upgraded public transport infrastructure. 

Moves are already under way to stimulate development outside of the Greater Manchester hot spots. It now remains to be seen whether Andy Burnham will have an opportunity to pursue similar policies across the country, and whether he will be bold enough to do so if he gets the opportunity. 

One thing we can be certain of is that Andy Burham likes to be liked and that is not always possible when it comes to matters related to planning and development, which invariably prove unpopular with one group or another.