Town to get ‘never-before-seen’ level of investment in housing sector

Oldham is to get a ‘never-before-seen’ level of investment in its housing sector, leaders say, as they unveiled the council’s long-term development partner.

Last month the authority agreed to appoint a preferred bidder to become its private sector partner for an initial period of 15 years, with an option to extend for a further decade.

On Friday, the partner was formally revealed as Muse – a ‘placemaker’ company which has worked with numerous councils, including Salford, to deliver long-term regeneration projects.

Muse will progress development of ‘strategic’ residential sites along with the council, to establish 2,000 new homes in the centre of Oldham, as well as community and green infrastructure, and a new public park.

The homes would be a mix of tenures, including social housing, apartments and built using using green technology and ‘passive house’ principles.

Speaking on the former Oldham Community Leisure site on Rock Street, one of several sites in the town centre to be redeveloped, Muse north west’s managing director Phil Mayall said in the projects around Chapel Street in Salford they had delivered the ‘best part of a billion pounds worth of regeneration’.

“You will see a scale of intervention that Oldham hasn’t seen in its housing market, maybe ever,” he said.

“In terms of activity we’ll hit the ground (running) straight away, it will take us a couple of years to get on site and then it’s usually about an 18 month build period.”

Mr Mayall is himself from Oldham, and attended Breeze Hill School.

He added that this the partnership ‘really important to me personally’.

“We’ve got an incredibly talented team and a council that we’ve seen through the process is actually very responsive and as identified what it needs and what it wants,” he said.

“It’s really important to me because I’m from here and this is my town and I’m proud of it.

“I was always keen to be involved in a project in my own town.

"What I do know from being from the town is, and I’ve got it, that natural Oldham cynicism of ‘will this ever happen’ and we need to show people that we’re committed and will be here for the long term.”

Council leader Arooj Shah said the process to appoint a partner began when she was first heading up the town hall in early 2022.

She said: “It’s been a rigorous, really robust process and I’m glad we’ve come to the end of it and the work can start.

“It’s not just about building 2,000 homes for me, it’s about creating a whole community, there’s going to be other facilities that complement it.

"Because what you don’t want to do is focus on building the homes and then the infrastructure isn’t around it.

“Muse have got a track record of delivery across the country.

"They’re the kind of people we need to be working with.

“There has to be a mix [of homes] because any community that’s mixed is always vibrant.

"They’ll be houses, they’ll be apartments, they’ll be social housing, a blend of it all to make sure everybody in Oldham feels like there’s something there for them.”

The authority says the new partnership with Muse is the ‘largest and most significant piece in the jigsaw’ of the ongoing transformation of Oldham town centre, with projects underway or in the pipeline including a new home for Tommyfield market in Spindles, a new theatre, new space for businesses, and and a restored Old Library with cultural, civic and community spaces.

Houses are also envisioned on brownfield sites, including the land which currently hosts the council headquarters, the Civic Centre and the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

Council chief executive Harry Catherall added: “Everything that’s already underway in the town centre, that isn’t accidental.

"That was planned during the last two years.

"This partnership is going to wrap around it and make it all clear and relevant.

“The one thing we’re absolutely clear about is delivery for Oldham residents.

"The offer that came through from Phil and his team was so powerful, his commitment to local people, local jobs and businesses benefiting.

“Their creativity, their own vision for Oldham is so exciting and people will connect with it.

"And they’re not going to wait 25 years to see it.

"The money and land is there.”

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