Manchester City Centre Homes Plans Face Council Decision 2026

Key Points

• The planning committee of Manchester City Council will deliberate upon three housing developments which can add as many as 3,700 houses and student beds.
• The plans will include a build-to-rent scheme of McGoff Group with 153 homes on Rochdale Road, 1,041 bed student accommodation of RG Real Estate near Charles Street, and IQ Student Accommodation plan to redevelop Western Halls and Pendulum Hotel.
• McGoff’s scheme will involve 17-storey building having 153 homes and it has been already presented to the city councillors earlier.
• In October last year, the councillors had rejected the advice from officers to reject the McGoff scheme due to concerns like impact on the nearby Marble Arch public house.
• There is no policy-based reason for refusing the application of McGoff scheme from the planning department of Manchester as per Place North West.
• There will be a total of 3,500 beds in two Oxford Road Corridor schemes in eight buildings.
• RG Real Estate wishes to demolish Charles Street Car Park and construct three interconnected blocks, one of them being a 38-storey tower.
• IQ Student Accommodation wants to demolish Western Halls and Pendulum Hotel to build a five building cluster having maximum height of 50-storey.
• Both student accommodation schemes have been recommended for approval by the planning officers.
• People living in Granby Village claim that the towers will reduce the daylight in their houses.
• The applications will soon be deliberated upon by the Manchester City Council’s planning committee.

Manchester (Manchester Mirror) November 12, 2026 — Manchester City Council is to consider proposals for three major residential developments that would together deliver about 3,700 new homes and student beds across the city centre.

As reported by TheBusinessDesk.com, the plans will be considered by Manchester City Council’s planning committee. The proposals comprise three separate schemes: a build-to-rent development on Rochdale Road and two dense student-housing schemes in the Oxford Road corridor.

The total figure of around 3,700 combines the 153 homes proposed by McGoff Group with 3,500 student beds across the two Oxford Road schemes. Place North West reported that the three applications involve nine buildings and a combined total of 3,600 homes, reflecting the different way the developments are counted: the student accommodation is measured in beds rather than conventional homes.

The committee is expected to examine the schemes next week. The decisions will determine whether the developments can proceed to the next stage of Manchester’s continuing city-centre residential expansion.

Which Schemes Are Before the Council?

What Is Proposed on Rochdale Road?

The first application is McGoff Group’s proposed build-to-rent scheme on Rochdale Road. According to Place North West journalist Dan Whelan, the development would comprise a 17-storey building containing 153 homes.

The scheme has already been considered by Manchester City Council’s planning committee. In October, members voted against officers’ recommendation to refuse the plans. The reported concerns related largely to the scheme’s potential impact on the Marble Arch pub, which is situated next to the proposed development site.

Despite that earlier decision, Manchester’s planning department has not identified a “policy-based reason to refuse the application”, Place North West reported. As a result, the application is due to return to committee with a recommendation for approval.

The planning reference number for the McGoff application is 145583/FO/2026. Members of the public can search for the application on Manchester City Council’s planning portal.

What Is Planned Near Charles Street?

The second and third applications are located on either side of Charles Street, within Manchester’s Oxford Road corridor. Both were deferred in October pending site visits by councillors.

RG Real Estate has applied to demolish the existing Charles Street Car Park and replace it with a student-housing scheme. The proposal would provide 1,041 student beds across three interlinked buildings, one of which would rise to 38 storeys.

The application has been given the planning reference PLA-2026-000312. It is one of two student-housing proposals that would significantly alter the built form of the area around Charles Street.

What Would IQ Student Accommodation Build?

IQ Student Accommodation has submitted plans to demolish its Western Halls and Pendulum Hotel assets. In their place, the company proposes a five-building cluster, with the tallest building reaching 50 storeys.

The application is listed under planning reference 144791/FO/2025. Together with RG Real Estate’s proposed development, the IQ scheme would form part of a wider concentration of high-density student accommodation close to the Oxford Road corridor.

Both applications have been recommended for approval by planning officers. However, they must still be considered by the planning committee, which will assess the proposals in light of representations from local residents and other interested parties.

Why Are Residents Objecting?

Could the Towers Affect Daylight?

Residents living in Granby Village, near the proposed Oxford Road corridor schemes, have raised concerns about the impact of the towers on daylight. According to Place North West, residents claim the proposed buildings would impinge on light levels within their homes.

The objection is relevant because both student schemes involve tall buildings. RG Real Estate’s proposal includes a 38-storey tower, while IQ Student Accommodation’s plans include a cluster of five buildings with a maximum height of 50 storeys.

The planning committee will need to consider these concerns alongside officers’ recommendations for approval. The outcome will depend on the evidence presented during the committee process and the councillors’ assessment of the planning merits of each application.

What Has Already Happened in Committee?

The McGoff application has already followed an unusual path through the planning process. In October, councillors voted against the recommendation of planning officers to refuse the scheme.

That vote did not result in immediate approval. Instead, the application is returning to committee because planning officers have been unable to identify a policy-based reason to refuse it. The application will therefore be considered again next Thursday, with a recommendation for approval.

The two student schemes were also considered in October but were deferred pending site visits. Those visits are intended to allow committee members to assess the sites and their surroundings before reaching a decision.

How Does This Fit Manchester’s Housing Strategy?

Manchester City Council has set a target to deliver at least 36,000 homes of all tenures by 2032. The council’s housing strategy also includes a commitment to deliver 10,000 social, council and genuinely affordable homes, of which at least 3,000 are intended to be in the city centre.

The council’s Housing Strategy 2022–2032 annual monitoring report records 3,865 market homes and 901 affordable homes in the reporting period covered by the document.

The proposed developments do not, on the information publicly reported, appear to be presented as affordable-housing schemes. The Rochdale Road proposal is described as build-to-rent, while the Charles Street proposals are student-housing developments.

Nevertheless, the schemes would add substantially to the number of residential places in the city centre if approved. The council’s wider housing strategy identifies city-centre delivery as part of its broader target for new homes across Manchester.

What Happens Next?

The three applications are due to be considered by Manchester City Council’s planning committee next week. The McGoff scheme is expected to return with a recommendation for approval, while both student-housing applications are already recommended for approval by officers.

Councillors may approve, refuse or defer the applications. Any approval would be subject to the conditions and legal agreements normally attached to planning permissions, although the publicly reported coverage does not detail those conditions.

The decisions will be closely watched by developers, student-housing providers, residents and wider stakeholders in Manchester’s property market. They will also provide an indication of how the council balances the demand for high-density city-centre development against concerns about local amenity, daylight and the effect on existing buildings.

Background of the Development

Manchester has been pursuing a long-term programme of residential growth. Its Housing Strategy 2022–2032 commits the city to delivering at least 36,000 homes by 2032, including at least 10,000 social, council or genuinely affordable homes.

The strategy specifically identifies a target of at least 3,000 affordable homes in the city centre. The council has also reported that Manchester remains on track to meet its wider housing-delivery target.

The current applications reflect two different parts of the city-centre housing market. The McGoff proposal is intended for build-to-rent homes, while the Charles Street schemes are designed to meet demand for purpose-built student accommodation.

The Oxford Road corridor is already a major location for student housing because of its proximity to the city’s universities and educational institutions. The proposed schemes would replace existing car-parking and hotel assets with high-density residential accommodation.

The Rochdale Road application, meanwhile, follows a previous committee consideration. The fact that it is returning with an officer recommendation for approval indicates that the planning department has not identified a policy basis for refusal, despite earlier member concerns.

Prediction: How Could This Affect Residents and Students?

If approved, the schemes could increase the supply of city-centre accommodation for both private renters and students. For students, the Charles Street proposals would add 3,500 beds, potentially increasing choice in a part of Manchester close to major education facilities.

For residents of Granby Village, the most immediate concern is the potential effect of tall buildings on daylight. If the committee approves the schemes, residents may continue to raise concerns during later stages of the planning and construction process, particularly if they believe approved conditions are not being met.

For renters, the McGoff scheme would add 153 build-to-rent homes to Rochdale Road. The effect on rents would depend on wider market conditions, the eventual pricing of the new homes and the broader supply of rental accommodation across Manchester. The publicly available reporting does not state the proposed rents or affordability arrangements.

For the wider city, approval of all three schemes would add a substantial number of residential places in the city centre. That could support Manchester’s housing-delivery targets, although the student-bed total is counted separately from conventional homes in the council’s housing-strategy reporting.

The committee’s decisions next week will therefore be important not only for the three developers involved, but also for residents, students and policymakers assessing how Manchester manages continued high-density growth in its city centre.