Burnham plans power shift and council housebuilding drive

Andy Burnham used his first major speech since returning to Westminster to promise a 10-year programme to “rewire Britain” and set up a “No 10 North” operation in Manchester. He cast the plan as a “circuit-breaker” and a break from trickle-down economics, with proposals reaching into housing, transport, utilities, infrastructure and technical education.

The practical question is whether Westminster is prepared to give away the authority and money needed to make devolution real. He did not fully explain how the economy would be funded or run, and Treasury resistance is a major obstacle if he pushes fiscal devolution or stronger local tax powers.

Housing sat at the centre of the pitch. Burnham has already backed a £40 billion borrowing programme to fund council housing, the biggest state housing intervention since the 1970s. He also wants powers to suspend Right to Buy on newly built council homes and in the areas facing the greatest housing pressure, a move that would test how far central government is willing to let local leaders protect their stock.

Greater Manchester has already started building around that ambition. The Greater Manchester Combined Authority has pledged 10,000 new council homes by 2028, with at least 1,000 in each borough, through a new GM Housing First Unit. Manchester City Council’s housing strategy sets a separate target of at least 10,000 social, council and genuinely affordable homes by 2032, including 3,000 in the city centre.

Manchester City Council’s 2024-25 monitoring report said 3,864 homes were built in the city that year, up 28% on the year before, but Right to Buy still produced a net loss of 137 council-owned affordable homes.