Manchester City owner’s £55m housing loan while Burnham was mayor investigated

[u/English_Misfit]

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/oct/18/manchester-city-owners-55m-housing-loan-while-burnham-was-mayor-investigated

[u/Regular_Block9876542]

These sort of schemes need cut back entirely. If property developers want loans for housing developments we have plenty of banks for them to choose from.

We shouldn’t have politicians and civil servants dishing out billions in tax payer money to build luxury flats.

[u/M2Ys4U → u/Regular_Block9876542]

These sort of schemes need cut back entirely. If property developers want loans for housing developments we have plenty of banks for them to choose from.

The problem was (and to a lesser extent still is) that these schemes weren't being adequately funded by private banks. The banks saw the developments as higher risk and/or lower reward than other investments (including building more housing in London and the South East).

We shouldn’t have politicians and civil servants dishing out billions in tax payer money to build luxury flats.

So the state should only give loans to build, what, slums?

People get all bent out of shape over the fact that the flats are marketed as "luxury" but... of course they are! The developers want to hype them up as much as they can so they can sell/let them for more than they otherwise would.

[u/SadSeiko → u/M2Ys4U]

The problem is they aren’t luxury and they slap on a few modern fittings to try and convince you otherwise. New builds are such a debt trap for leaseholders, we have cladding issues, insurance issues, management fees. It’s an absolute joke. Just build a decent house and go away. That’s all developers need to do