Greater Manchester is set to receive a cut of a £20 million fund to buy and refurbish properties for families and individuals at risk of homelessness in the region.
The £20m National Homelessness Property Fund 2 (NHPF2) – which was announced by social investment firm Resonance – aims to tackle the “alarming” numbers of people living in temporary or inappropriate accommodation in the North West, and will see houses, flats and apartments purchased through the the fund and leased to housing associations and homelessness charities.
Greater Manchester will get £5m to buy and renovate 50 one and two-bedroom houses, with additional scope to secure another 100 properties in the city-region and surrounding areas.
It’s believed that more than 80,000 people are currently on social housing waiting lists across Greater Manchester.
The initial investment will aim to provide housing for more than 250 people currently living in temporary accommodation, B&Bs or sleeping rough, but the fund will eventually aim to raise up to £100m to support hundreds more in need.
Housing providers will also work with charities to help individuals and families find employment or education, and save for a deposit to move into the private rented sector with a track record of maintaining a tenancy.
This is the second iteration of the National Homelessness Property Fund (NHPF).
The NHPF is the brainchild Resonance and ethical lettings agency Let Us – which is formed of five housing providers including Bolton At Home, ForHousing, Salix Homes, Stockport Homes Group and Wigan Council – and is funded by each of the Greater Manchester councils through the combined authority, along with the regional pension fund and social impact investors Big Society Capital.
Wikimedia Commons / Gary Knight
The first iteration of the fund – which ran from 2015 to 2018 – raised £30m to buy 229 properties for 587 people.
Speaking on the fund, Simon Chisholm – Chief Investment Officer at Resonance – said: “With homelessness on the rise, the need for safe, decent and affordable housing is significant. Building on the success of our previous property funds, we are proud to launch the NHPF2, which will initially focus on purchasing affordable homes across the North West.
“This will enable the fund to make a real difference to hundreds of people’s lives across the region.”
Paul Dennett – Mayor of Salford and the city-region’s lead on homelessness – has welcomed the fund as a “timely initiative”.
He added: “The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated an already alarming crisis of housing and homelessness in this country, and its impact will be felt for many months to come. We face a dangerous winter that threatens to push many more people into hardship, and we should be doing all that we can to prevent further housing insecurity.
“We want high quality, truly affordable homes to be available to everyone across Greater Manchester,
“And the follow-on fund announced today by Resonance is a positive contribution to that goal and towards tackling the housing and homelessness crisis within Greater Manchester.”
You can find more information on the National Homelessness Property Fund 2 (NHPF2)here.
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What we know about Oasis’ Heaton Park reunion shows based on their first comeback gig in Cardiff
Danny Jones
Ok, so there’s no more need to pinch ourselves or double-take every time we check our phone: Oasis aren’t just back together, they’ve now kicked off the reunion and following those incredible Cardiff scenes, we’re already thinking about what this means for their Heaton Park homecoming.
There simply isn’t a brick-and-mortar Manchester venue big enough to hold as many Manc fans as want, need and deserve to see them back on stage after waiting all this time, so it’s only fitting that barely a month on from Parklife, the massive outdoor space will welcome us all back to witness history.
Quite literally millions of people tuned into various livestreams on Friday evening to see Oasis return at the Principality Stadium, so lots of you will have already seen plenty from the colossal concert – including that bald bloke balancing a pint on his head – but there was, understandably, a lot to take in.
So, with that being said, here’s what we hope, we think, we know about Oasis’ highly anticipated Heaton Park shows based solely on the details we gleaned from Cardiff night one.
The timings (roughly)
For starters, one of the most important things fans will be hoping to know is when Oasis got back on stage, as well as the set times of the other ‘Live ’25‘ support acts.
Liam, as per usual, was the mouthier of the two Gallagher brothers and let the cat out of the bag early on X (Twitter), before being clearly told off by management and deleting the details shortly after; still, it was confirmed that the main event for Friday and Saturday night gets underway at 8:15pm.
However, these things are always subject to change, as both Richard Aschroft and Cast were slightly premature on night one in Cardiff, and who knows what other arenas will be like for the rest of the reunion tour?
Another big debate online that has raged ever since the Oasis reunion was confirmed is the subject of what they’re going to play from their extensive catalogue.
Obviously, most people could rattle off most of the all-time favourites and cobbble together a pretty decent ‘greatest hits’ of Oasis setlist, but people have been more concerned with what the opener, closing track, and encore will be.
Having watched all of these moments back multiple times already, we can confirm the first track was the classic intro ‘F***in’ in the Bushes’, as many fans suspected, followed by ‘Hello’ as the first full song, rather fittingly.
As for the last track in the main running order, the crowd got to bounce up and down to ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’ before the legendary ‘Champagne Supernova’ beckoned the very end of the first night in Cardiff.
— The Rock Revival (@TheRockRevival_) July 4, 2025
They’ll still be reactive
That being said, this inaugural comeback show was somewhat of a pilot for the rest of the ‘Live ’25 world tour, which now totals more than 40 dates, and any good artist knows that tweaking the setlist from show to show can be key to not only to success, but keeping things fresh for you and the audience.
As a result, we wouldn’t be surprised if you see Oasis mix things up as the nights roll on, especially when playing multiple gigs in the same city as they’re doing pretty much everywhere for this reunion.
That flexibility isn’t just limited to song choice either: Liam did his famous twist on the ‘Wonderwall’ lyrics and told the crowd, “There are many things that I would like to say to you, but I don’t speak Welsh”, and in case you haven’t seen it already, they also took a moment to honour a late Liverpool star.
There were lots of little details on night one in Cardiff, but this was a very nice touch from Oasis.
A bigger focus on production than ever
The glimpse at the AV presentation seen above is just a small taster too. From the various clips we’ve seen on social media over the last 24 hours or so, Oasis aren’t just back playing music together, but they’ve levelled significantly in terms of production and stage design.
Now, if you’ve ever been to see either of the brothers’ solo shows, you’ll know that football and, more specifically, references to Man City, often feature at some point.
Noel, in particular, has maintained a strong City presence in his set, be it the blue colour palette, the MCFC badge, or even a tall cut-out of manager Pep Guardiola half during most High Flying Birds gigs.
Cardiff night one was no different as his LG instructed the crowd to turn around and do the familiar ‘Poznan’ celebration regularly seen up in the stands of the Etihad Stadium.
Gallagher brothers kick off Oasis world tour with Cardiff show, as Liam tells fans 'do the poznan'.
It was bits of comedy like this that’s been one of the biggest part we’ve missed about Oasis; both Liam and Noel have always been very humorous in their own ways over the years, but they were never funnier than in those old clips you see of them cracking each other up in their younger days.
Despite being estranged for more than a decade and a half and who knows how many years of bad blood overall, they look to have at least put it to one side and what was once a combative back and forth from a distance has circled back around to brotherly banter – or at least we hope it has.
We’re not going to pretend they absolutely adore all of a sudden, but they’re at least trying and recognising each other’s roles.
As you can see, those snaps of them smiling during the first reunion photo shoot back together don’t appear to be just for show.
Seeing the two of them walk out holding hands sent the internet into an absolute frenzy of emotion and had people joking that they were finally going to message their own troublesome relative and at least try to mend fences.
But that was just one small moment.
The duo have always admired and respected their respective talents, but for the first time in even longer than the 16-year hiatus itself, it seems like there’s some genuine love there again. See for yourself:
They’re still as massive as they ever were – if not more so
All this is to say that, in short, Oasis’ first comeback show in Cardiff isn’t just the start of the ‘Live ’25 reunion tour that will span the globe, it’s also confirmation of something people began to question in their lengthy absence…
They really are the biggest and, in so many people’s opinions (including our own), the greatest rock band of all time.
From what we can tell, it feels like one of those watershed music moments where you have be there in person to truly see and believe it – not to be part of some exclusive ‘I was there’ comeback, but because we can’t thing of any other reunion that has had this kind of impact.
Roll on the five nights at Heaton Park and strap in, folks, because you will never forget it.
I've never felt so excited about a gig I didn't even have a ticket for! I'm so glad you had a great time, the clips I've seen looked INCREDIBLE.
Featured Images — Oasis (via X)/Finnlay K (via Instagram)
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Gallagher brothers pay touching tribute to Diogo Jota on first night of Oasis reunion tour
Danny Jones
It’s official, Oasis are actually back, and during the first date on their reunion tour in Cardiff, the Gallagher brothers paid a touching tribute to Liverpool FC player Diogo Jota.
News of Jota’s passing broke on Thursday morning, after it was confirmed that the Liverpool forward was involved in a car crash along with his brother, Andre Felipe Silva.
Using the iconic track ‘Live Forever’ as the perfect opportunity to pay their respects, the screen behind them flashed up with his shirt.
Here’s the moment it happened:
At Oasis' first concert for 16 years, Live Forever is dedicated to Diogo Jota ❤️pic.twitter.com/tZriAhqVpm
A lovely touch from the Burnage boys and die-hard Blues, not to mention done rather cleverly given the song choice.
Taken from their legendary debut album, Definitely Maybe, the 1994 track is regularly voted ‘the best British song of all time’ – and moments like these only reaffirm why it connects with people so strongly.
What’s even more moving is the slight swell of noise you hear from the crowd; even on a night where quite literally all eyes were on them and the inaugural night of the ‘Live ’25’ tour, they made sure to shed some light on the bigger picture.
You could even see some fans in the crowd holding up Portugal flags in honour of the late LFC star.
Manchester City themselves – who boast a number of Portuguese players like Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias and Matheus Nune – were among countless clubs who shared their condolences with Liverpool in the aftermath of the 28-year-old’s tragic death.
Scouse support band Cast also dedicated one of their songs to Jota earlier in the evening.
Cast frontman John Power just dedicated Walkaway to Diogo Jota. Power: “This is Walkaway. This one’s for Diogo Jota. Take it easy brother.” #Oasis25#DiogoJotapic.twitter.com/BEGuLaOTaR
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) July 4, 2025
Put simply, Friday, 4 July 2025, at the Principality Stadium was always going to be one that went down as one of the biggest concerts in decades, but this small gesture from a pair of footy fans no doubt made it even more special for any supporters who happened to be in the crowd.
And, indeed, the thousands watching at home, as even before the tidal wave clips began to appear online, there were multiple livestreams of the show on YouTube and various other platforms.
While most of these were ultimately taken down (not before we saw that legend balancing a pint of blue WKD on his head), there was no chance of keeping this one in the building.
We saw the setlist, we heard the noise; we saw them holding hands, and we even saw them hugging as they walked off. On a night were they chose to spotlight family in more ways than one, Oasis and those who are sadly no longer around to see them ‘Live Forever’ in the memory of millions.
The Manc -
7th December 2020 
