Greater Manchester has been handed a pot of more than £97 million to fund the construction of thousands of new homes right across the region.
The money has been supplied via the Brownfield Housing Fund (BHF) – a scheme designed to support building on brownfield sites – and will go towards creating 2,700 Greater Manchester properties.
Manchester borough will receive £7.82m as part of the second tranche of funding – which will be used to deliver 500 homes.
BHF money will also go towards 69 low carbon homes in the Silk Street Development in Newton Heath – built with solar panels, Ground Source Heat Pumps, electric vehicle charging points, and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery to reduce utility costs.
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275 homes in the Back of Ancoats area and 39 homes in Ancoats Dispensary will also benefit from the fund.
A further five schemes are on the reserve list – representing a further pipeline of 1,336 new homes.
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Manchester City Council had pledged to deliver at least 6,400 affordable homes between 2015 and 2025 – with a total of 32,000 homes expected to be built during this period overall.
Cllr Suzanne Richards, Manchester City Council’s executive member for housing and regeneration, said the BHF funding was “very welcome”.
“The challenges in urban areas of remediating brownfield land can impact on the financial viability of affordable housing,” the Councillor stated.
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“This funding will allow us to support the delivery of much-needed council, social and affordable housing to meet growing demand in the city.
“Everyone in this city deserves a safe, secure and affordable home and it is for this reason we have set an ambitious affordable home building target of at least 6,400 homes between 2015 and 2025.
“Despite the challenges of the last year we are on track to exceed that target. This is testament to the strength of the partnerships that Manchester has built with our social landlords in the city and our commitment to back affordable house building with Council land and resources.”
The full list of proposed sites under Tranche 2 of Greater Manchester’s Brownfield Housing Fund allocation can be found here.
Feature image: Collyhurst Village development illustration.
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Oldham man given life sentence after attacking nurse with scissors at hospital
Emily Sergeant
A man from Oldham has been sentenced to life in prison after attacking a nurse with scissors when he was in hospital.
Romon Haque, of Yasmin Gardens in Oldham, previously pleaded guilty to possession of a bladed article, before being additionally later found guilty of attempted murder, and he appeared at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court yesterday (11 February 2026) to receive his sentence.
The court heard how the attack took place at Royal Oldham Hospital on Saturday 12 January 2025, where at around 11:30pm, Haque asked a nurse for medication, who advised that she would come and see him shortly.
Haque then got out of his bed, walked over to where the nurse was stood, and pulled out a pair of scissors from his pocket. He subsequently stabbed her three times, resulting in serious injuries to her face, neck, and hands.
He was pulled away from his victim by staff members who intervened.
The victim was immediately given urgent medical treatment, and subsequently taken to intensive care following the attack.
Following his initial court appearance, Haque was deemed fit to stand trial, appearing at court in June and July last year, before his official sentencing took place this week.
In total, Haque was sentenced to 28 years – 22 of those being in prison, with an extra six years following on licence.
Speaking following Haque’s sentencing, Detective Sergeant Jennifer O’Brien, from the Greater Manchester Police (GMP) Oldham district, said: “This was a horrific, unprovoked attack on a woman who was simply doing her job for those in need in a hospital. I want to commend the bravery of those who intervened, and who prevented the situation from potentially being much more serious.
“Emergency workers should never face violence from the very people they are trying to help, and I am glad Haque is now behind bars following this vile incident.”
Featured Image – GMP
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Spike in antisemitic incidents reported after Manchester synagogue terror attack
Emily Sergeant
A new report has revealed that there was a rise in antisemitic incidents reported following the Manchester synagogue terror attack.
In case you need a reminder, the shocking knife and car attack took place on 2 October 2025 on Yom Kippur – the holiest day in the Jewish calendar – at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue, and during the incident, two men sadly lost their lives during the attack – Adrian Daulby, 53, who was shot dead by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) while trying to stop the attacker from entering the synagogue, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, a worshipper who also helped stop the attacker.
The attacker was named as 35-year-old Jihad al Shamie – a 35-year-old British citizen of Syrian descent who lived in Prestwich – who at the time was on bail for an alleged rape, before being shot dead by police.
In the wake of the attack, the Community Security Trust (CST), which monitors antisemitism in the UK, said 40 antisemitic incidents were reported on 2 October last year, and a further 40 were reported the day after – more than half of which involved direct reactions to the deadly attack.
These were the highest daily totals in 2025.
A spike in antisemitic incidents were reported after the Manchester synagogue terror attack / Credit: Google Maps | GMP
Three of the reported incidents on 2 and 3 October involved ‘face-to-face taunting and celebration of the attack to Jewish people’, according to the CST.
39 of the reported incidents were antisemitic social media posts referencing the attack, abusive responses to public condemnations of the attack from Jewish organisations and individuals, or antagonistic emails sent to Jewish people and institutions.
The Manchester synagogue attack was the first fatal antisemitic terror attack in the UK since the CST started recording incidents in 1984.
Overall, 3,700 anti-Jewish hate incidents were recorded in 2025 – which is said to be up 4% on the incidents recorded in the year before – and the CST revealed that this the second-highest annual total ever recorded.
There was also a spike in reported anti-Jewish hate incidents following the Bondi Beach killings in Sydney in December of last year too, the CST said.
Dave Rich, who is the director of police at CST, told Sky News in a statement: “We need a more robust approach to the kind of extremism that drives antisemitism.
“Jewish people in Britain used to be able to go about their lives without ever thinking about antisemitism, and now it’s the topic of conversation around every dinner table. That’s new.
“It feels for a lot of Jewish people like we’re in a different world now, the atmosphere is different, the climate has changed for Jewish people and the amount of antisemitism is part of that.”
The Manc -
26th March 2021 
