Oldham Regeneration & Investment Briefing

Funding, places and delivery. A briefing for the organisations bringing forward homes and regeneration across Oldham, Chadderton, Failsworth, Royton, Shaw and Saddleworth.

Dates and decisions to watch

Figures in this briefing cover different programmes, geographies and periods. They should not be added into a single borough investment total.

The funding landscape

Up to £46 billion over ten years

Homes England and its subsidiary, the National Housing Bank, have up to £46 billion to deploy across England to 2036. [1]

*Programme envelopes, not a ring-fenced allocation to Oldham.

Programme milestones

Grant, land and finance (products and routes)

Two grant routes in Greater Manchester. Housing and infrastructure grant normally comes first through GMCA's integrated settlement. SAHP grant remains administered by Homes England.

Greater Manchester: how the regional routes fit together

First-wave SAHP estimate for Greater Manchester

• £529m estimated strategic-partnership spend to support c.4,400 homes across Greater Manchester, from MHCLG's regional funding breakdown of 24 August 2026; a regional estimate, not a borough award. [47]
• The 25 August 2026 GOV.UK release names 33 strategic partners outside London and gives no grant or homes total; the published partner table sums to £9,584.1m and 73,617 homes, and no Oldham allocation is published. [2]
• The primary published regional figure is the government's indicative SAHP spend for Greater Manchester across the ten-year programme: £1.8bn, from the 6 November 2025 MHCLG release on mayoral influence over the programme. [43]

Atom Valley. Oldham is one of the three Atom Valley Mayoral Development Zone authorities with Bury and Rochdale. The zone-wide target is c.20,000 jobs and 7,000 homes, but the Northern Gateway allocation sits in Bury and Rochdale; Oldham's share, around Stakehill and Broadway Green, is not separately quantified. [17]

Regional ambitions to design for

GM's priorities include 10,000 energy-efficient Social Rent homes by 2030. Places for Everyone seeks 50,000 affordable homes by 2039, including 30,000 for social or affordable rent. [21]

Who decides what (decisions and public contacts)

1. Homes England / National Housing Bank — Final SAHP funding and finance decisions. [1,18]
2. Greater Manchester Combined Authority — Regional priorities, Good Growth Fund, Atom Valley, Brownfield Housing Fund. [3]
3. Oldham Council — Local Plan, housing need, council land; development partner Muse for the town centre; accountable body for Pride in Place and the Impact Fund. Leader and Cabinet Member for Growth: Cllr Arooj Shah. [7]
4. Oldham Town Centre Board — Formerly the Town Deal Board; oversees Towns Fund projects; meets about four times a year. [13]
5. Neighbourhood boards — Chadderton (Chair Laura Windsor-Welsh, Action Together) and Alt and Holts. [9,11]
6. Oldham Mayoral Development Corporation (proposed) — Under development to cover new homes, town-centre transformation, Northern Roots and SportsTown. Not yet designated as far as verified. [7]

Public routes for the next conversation

A named regeneration inbox was not found; route via the switchboard or the committee pages.

Accessing programme grant: a route for smaller providers

• Continuous Market Engagement — Open for individual schemes and portfolios while funding remains available. [19]
• Strategic partnerships — Initial round closed 15 April 2026; future rounds to be announced. [18]

Before a grant application

Investment Partner qualification is required. Greater Manchester seeks at least 60% Social Rent through SAHP. [19,21] In Oldham the consented pipeline is already weighted to social rent: 207 of 297 homes approved at Southlink and South Chadderton are affordable, and the pending wholly-affordable applications at Southlink and Broadbent Moss would add 239 social rent homes out of 395. [7]

Places and programmes (borough programmes)

Oldham town centre — c.2,000 homes over 15 years

Council and Muse masterplan across five character areas, with a minewater district heat network. Delivered so far: the J.R. Clynes Building, the new Market Hall and The Loom event space, Town Centre Park phase two under way. Yorkshire Street and Lord Street public realm targeted for late 2026. The council cites a £450m town-centre regeneration headline. [7,14,15]

Prince's Gate, Mumps — 331 homes, phase one on site

75 social rent and 256 build-to-rent homes on the former car park by Mumps Metrolink. Planning approved July 2025; £31.5m GM Good Growth Fund secured December 2025 / January 2026; on site March 2026 with Willmott Dixon for Muse and the council. [7,16]

Spindles — council-owned centre

Tommyfield Market relocated into Spindles under the Towns Fund, with around 75,000 sq ft of office space including The Hive. The old Tommyfield site is to be released for Tommyfield Park. [13,15]

Broadway Green, Chadderton — 500+ homes

Joint venture between the council and Grasscroft / Seddon; 500+ homes and up to 600,000 sq ft of employment space. Includes Aurora Park (£39m, Chancerygate, 18 units, completing summer 2026). The delivered-versus-target split is not verified. [15,16]

Other live schemes

• King Street (former Riley's site): 120 apartments, demolition complete, construction imminent. [16]
• Hollinwood Junction (Langtree): 192,000 sq ft, completion July 2026. [16]
• SportsTown, Boundary Park: £70m phased stadium, academy and arena; includes a £5m Skills Pathway. [7,16]
• Northern Roots, Snipe Clough: urban farm and eco-park; Towns Fund plus £12.9m Levelling Up Fund; visitor centre opening 2026. [13,15]
• Royton: public realm scheme progressing; Town Hall and Library restored. No separate Shaw or Failsworth masterplan found. [15]

Pride in Place: two boards, two local plans

Chadderton and Alt and Holts each have up to £20m over ten years, but they are in different cohorts of the programme and must be listed separately rather than added. Chadderton is one of the 75 phase 1 places (boundaries final, in delivery, no Pride in Place Plan deadline). Alt and Holts is Oldham's single phase 2 place — named "Alt" in the GOV.UK phase 2 methodology note — with a Pride in Place Plan due by 30 November 2026. No Oldham place appears in the phase 2 expansion of 20 March 2026, so 26 February 2027 does not apply here. [9,11,29,41]

Bring a project that can be delivered

• Need, ownership and consent — Who benefits, land control, delivery lead, consents and dependencies.
• Capital and continuing costs — Works, contingency, asset owner, operating budget and maintenance.

National guidance: boards must have at least eight members; at least 51% should live or work locally; the local MP sits on the board. [29,30]

Local investment and project calls: different pots, different decisions

The Leader's report records around £70m of external grant secured in 2025/26. That is the council's own aggregation across several different programmes and periods, and at least one line in it (the £20m Alt Community Regeneration Partnership) appears to duplicate the Alt and Holts Pride in Place allocation shown above; do not treat it as an investable total. Most capital strategy figures date from 2023/24 and should be refreshed before publication. [7,23]

Pride in Place Impact Fund — £750,000 in each of two years

• Annex A of the MHCLG grant determinations lists Oldham Council at £750,000 for 2025/26 and £750,000 for 2026/27; 94 authorities are named in each. The grant is capital only, for community spaces, public spaces and high-street revitalisation. Cabinet accepted it on 20 October 2025. The determinations set no target wards. [12,42]
• Target wards not named in the Cabinet report. Rechecked 19 September 2026: no open Oldham project call was found on the council pages or in the Action Together funding directory, which at that date listed only the neighbouring Tameside call. Target areas remain not verified. [12,40]

Homes, partners and local need

Oldham's strategic housing requirement is set by Places for Everyone, adopted 21 March 2024 for 2022–2039. Policy JP-H1 sets a stepped minimum requirement for Oldham of 404 homes a year for 2022–2025, 680 a year for 2025–2030 and 772 a year for 2030–2039, an annual average of 680. The requirement applying from 2025/26 is 680. In 2024/25, 578 homes were completed against the 404 requirement then in force. [35] Separately, the council's Neighbourhoods portfolio report of 25 March 2026 states a five-year target to deliver 500 new social rent homes in the borough from 2024 to 2029, which it expects to exceed. [39]

The council's housing strategy page, checked 19 September 2026, still lists the Housing Strategy 2019 as the current strategy, alongside the Local Housing Needs Assessment 2024, which covers need from 2022 to 2041. No successor strategy or target set has been published. [24,36]

| Jigsaw Homes Group | The Foundry, 15 one-bedroom supported apartments for young people aged 18–25 leaving care, on a vacant brownfield site near the town centre. Delivered with Oldham Council and Tyson Construction, funded through the government's Single Homelessness Accommodation Programme; opened August 2026. [37] |

Guinness, Places for People, Onward, ForHousing, Housing 21, Riverside, Anchor Hanover and Great Places are lettings partners in Oldham, but no current named development scheme was verified for any of them. Regenda Homes has a long-running Limehurst Village regeneration partnership with the council, but the last scheme detail found on its own site is the 2015 approval of 135 homes built by Keepmoat; nothing more recent was verified. [29,38]

Delivery and the supply chain

Finding the actual route to work

Oldham Council advertises all opportunities on The Chest and spends around £230m a year on supplies and services under the Procurement Act 2023. A contracts register is published and awards appear on Find a Tender. The council operates No Purchase Order No Pay with 30-day terms. A published forward pipeline was not located. Oldham has used UK1 pipeline notices on Find a Tender, for example IT Hardware and Associated Services published 23 May 2025, but a current construction or regeneration pipeline notice was not verified: Find a Tender's keyword search could not be driven reliably in this pass. The Leader's growth reports and Cabinet pages remain the practical proxy. [22]

Social value. The council has a Social Value Policy supported by the Oldham Social Value Hub, with district-level contacts across its five districts. The evaluation weighting is not verified; confirm from a live invitation to tender. [22]

Skills and delivery capacity

Oldham College opened a £9m Construction Centre in March 2021, built by Willmott Dixon, adding around 200 apprenticeship places a year and a T Level in Design, Surveying and Planning. Construction Management is offered to degree level through University Campus Oldham. [30,31]

Willmott Dixon is also the Prince's Gate contractor, which gives a ready-made local labour and social value link. Related investment: the £5m Skills Pathway at SportsTown and a Forestry Skills Centre at Northern Roots. [7]

Sources

Research checked on 19 September 2026. Committee PDFs on committees.oldham.gov.uk did not render through web fetch and were read locally.

1. Homes England / National Housing Bank, Investment Prospectus 2026, 31 March 2026. URL added 19 September 2026. source
2. Homes England / MHCLG, "Homes England and government confirm strategic partners set to help deliver once-in-a-generation increase in social and affordable homes across England", 25 August 2026. URL added 19 September 2026; the release names 33 partners outside London and gives no grant or homes total. source
3. GMCA, Greater Manchester Good Growth Fund: current funding opportunities and application routes. URL added 19 September 2026. source
4. Oldham Council, Places for Everyone adoption · source
5. Oldham Council, Local Plan Publication Plan Cabinet report, 19 January 2026 · source
6. Oldham Council, submission of Local Plan report · source
7. Leader's Growth Portfolio Report to Council, 25 March 2026 · source
8. MHCLG, Pride in Place Programme prospectus. URL added 19 September 2026. source
9. Oldham Council, Chadderton plan approved · source
10. Oldham Council, Chadderton Pride in Place · source
11. Oldham Council, Alt and Holts Pride in Place · source
12. Oldham Council Cabinet, Pride in Place Impact Fund, 20 October 2025 · source
13. Oldham Council, Towns Fund · source
14. SimpsonHaugh, Oldham town centre · source
15. Place North West, Oldham momentum · source
16. Oldham Times, major developments 2026 · source
17. Oldham Times, Atom Valley · source
18. Homes England, SAHP 2026–2036: eligibility, routes and funding decisions. URL added 19 September 2026. source
19. Homes England, Continuous Market Engagement guidance, 24 February 2026. URL added 19 September 2026. source
20. Homes England, Strategic Partnership guidance: delivery partners and requirements. URL added 19 September 2026. source
21. Homes England, Greater Manchester strategic priorities for SAHP. URL added 19 September 2026. source
22. Oldham Council, procurement · source
23. Oldham Council, Capital Strategy 2023/24–2027/28 · source
24. Oldham Council, Housing Strategy delivery plan 2019 · source
25. Oldham Times, Fitton Hill 101 homes · source
26. Not Really Here Media, Fitton Hill 147 homes · source
27. Housing Digital, FCHO £4.5m scheme · source
28. FCHO, 38 eco homes complete · source
29. FCHO, how to apply (lettings partners) · source and MHCLG, Pride in Place programme delivery guidance (boards, accountability and key dates; URL added 19 September 2026) · source
30. Oldham College, Construction Centre handover · source
31. Willmott Dixon, Oldham College Construction Centre · source
32. Oldham Council, Submission of Oldham Local Plan: Publication Plan, report to Council 25 March 2026 · source
33. Oldham Council Cabinet, Proposal to Undertake Statutory Consultation on the Establishment of an Oldham Mayoral Development Corporation, 23 March 2026 · source
34. GMCA, Mayoral Development Corporation for Oldham consultation, GM Consult, feedback updated 3 September 2026 · source
35. Oldham Council, Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment 2025, Cabinet report · source
36. Oldham Council, Housing strategies and research · source
37. Jigsaw Homes Group, residents welcomed to The Foundry, 20 August 2026 · source
38. Regenda Homes, Limehurst village 135 homes approved, 11 December 2015 · source
39. Oldham Council, Neighbourhoods Portfolio Report to Council, 25 March 2026 · source
40. Action Together, funding directory, Pride in Place Impact Fund listing · source
41. MHCLG, Pride in Place Programme place lists: phase 1 methodology note (Chadderton among the 75 phase 1 places), phase 2 methodology note (Oldham, 1 place, listed as "Alt") and phase 2 expansion methodology note of 20 March 2026 (no Oldham place) · source and source and source
42. MHCLG, Pride in Place Impact Fund grant determinations, Annex A (Oldham Council £750,000 in 2025 to 2026 and £750,000 in 2026 to 2027; 94 authorities listed in each) · source and source
43. MHCLG, "Mayors to lead the charge for thousands of new social homes", 6 November 2025 (indicative SAHP spend for Greater Manchester of £1.8 billion) · source
44. MHCLG, Pride in Place Programme: monitoring guidance (October 2026 portal opens 1 October and closes 29 October 2026) · source
45. MHCLG, UK Shared Prosperity Fund prospectus: UKSPF allocations 2022–2025, "Memo: how MCA totals are arrived at" (Oldham £7,578,496 within the Greater Manchester total) · source
46. MHCLG, "Historic council housebuilding comeback to help families into secure homes", 24 August 2026 (regional funding breakdown: Greater Manchester £529m estimated spend to support c. 4,400 homes) · source

Research update 19 September 2026

• Local Plan: the Regulation 19 Publication Plan consultation ran 4 February to 27 March 2026 after an extension, and Council approved submission on 25 March 2026 with submission expected May or June 2026. Confirmed from the Council report [32]. Whether submission has formally taken place is still not verified.
• Oldham Mayoral Development Corporation: statutory consultation ran 20 May to 1 July 2026 on GM Consult, with feedback published 3 September 2026 (362 online responses, 83.4% supportive). The boundary covers SportsTown, the town centre core, the Cultural Quarter, Eastern Edge / Mumps and Northern Roots. Designation has not been made; a further Cabinet report is due. [33,34]
• Housing: PfE Policy JP-H1 sets a stepped minimum of 404 (2022–25), 680 (2025–30) and 772 (2030–39) homes a year for Oldham, averaging 680, confirmed from the council's SHLAA 2025 Cabinet report [35]. The council also states a five-year target of 500 social rent homes 2024–2029 [39].
• Housing Strategy: the council's own page still lists the 2019 strategy as current, alongside the Local Housing Needs Assessment 2024. No successor strategy exists to find. [36]
• Registered providers: Jigsaw Homes Group's The Foundry (15 supported apartments, SHAP-funded, opened August 2026) verified from Jigsaw's own site [37]. Regenda's Limehurst partnership is confirmed but the last scheme detail on its site dates from 2015 [38]. No named Great Places or Guinness scheme found.
• Alt and Holts: the council page still shows the board gathering evidence with no published plan; the chair is not named there. A contact email is now included. [11]
• Still open: Impact Fund target areas and any Oldham call; the Southlink and Broadbent Moss phase 1 application outcomes; a current procurement pipeline notice and social value weighting.

Verification 19 Sep 2026

Independent verification pass. Changes made:

• Alt and Holts cohort and deadline. Checked against all three GOV.UK place lists. Alt and Holts is Oldham's single phase 2 place — GOV.UK names it simply "Alt", the council brands it Alt and Holts — and its Pride in Place Plan is therefore due to MHCLG by 30 November 2026. The brief carried no deadline at all for it, which understated the urgency of the current evidence-gathering window. Chadderton is confirmed among the 75 phase 1 places, which have no Pride in Place Plan deadline. No Oldham place is in the phase 2 expansion of 20 March 2026, so 26 February 2027 does not apply. [41]
• "£20m Alt Community Regeneration Partnership" unsummed. The Leader's Growth report of 25 March 2026 was re-read. It lists "£20m for Alt Community Regeneration Partnership" among 2025/26 external grants and, on the same page, states that Chadderton and Alt/Holts each get £20m in Pride in Place funding. The fund table now flags the £20m as very probably the same award under another name, marks its separate-programme status not verified, and warns against adding the two. The report's "c£70m of external grant" is likewise flagged as the council's own cross-programme aggregation. [7]
• Impact Fund. Annex A of both determinations was read. Oldham Council appears at £750,000 for 2025/26 and £750,000 for 2026/27 (94 authorities in each), and the determinations set no target wards nationally. Previously cited only to the Cabinet report. [42]
• Pride in Place monitoring. Added: the MHCLG portal opens 1 October and closes 29 October 2026 — the second return for Chadderton, the first for Alt and Holts. [45]
• Correction later the same day: the £529m / c.4,400 homes estimate is in MHCLG's 24 August 2026 release (regional funding breakdown) and is restored as a verified figure.
• UKSPF. The 2023-vintage £3.8m has been replaced as the headline by the primary GOV.UK allocations table figure: Oldham's constituent-authority core allocation for 2022–2025 of £7,578,496 within the Greater Manchester total. Successor allocations remain not verified. [46]
• Source URLs. Entries [1], [2], [3], [8], [18], [19], [20] and [21] carried no URL, so those citations did not resolve; all now carry the GOV.UK / GMCA addresses from the link register, each checked as returning HTTP 200. Entry [29] bundled two unrelated sources with only one URL; the Pride in Place delivery guidance URL has been added to it.
• Chadderton approval date — checked, no change. The council's news release approving the plan and the Leader's report saying the plan had "now been formally submitted, and we are awaiting feedback" are both dated 25 March 2026. The published approval date stands. [7,9]
• Alt and Holts chair — still open. The council's Alt and Holts page was fetched again on 19 September 2026 and still names no chair; no chair appointment appears in council news or committee papers.
• Local Plan submission — still open. Searched oldham.gov.uk/localplan, the council's committee system and the Planning Inspectorate for a submission confirmation or an appointed programme officer; nothing published. Whether Regulation 22 submission has taken place remains not verified.
• Southlink and Broadbent Moss outcomes — still open. The council's planning portal (planningpa.oldham.gov.uk) simple search is POST-only and cannot be driven through the proxy, and no later committee report or council release gives the decisions.

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