The Communities and Equalities Scrutiny Committee met on Wednesday 22 July 2026 to discuss progress on the Age Friendly Manchester strategy and review the annual monitoring report for the Manchester Housing Strategy. The committee also noted the overview report, which included updates on key decisions and the committee's work programme.

Age Friendly Manchester – Delivery Progress Update

The committee received an update on the progress of Manchester's age-friendly strategy, Manchester: A City for Life 2023-2028. The report detailed progress across four key themes: Being Heard and Age Equality, Age-Friendly Neighbourhoods, Age-Friendly Services, and Age-Friendly Work, Skills and Money.

Marie Greenhalgh, Chair of the Age Friendly Manchester Older People's Board, highlighted the success of the Gather, Eat, Move (GEM) programme, which supported over 500 older residents in improving nutrition, movement, and social connections. The committee acknowledged the national and international recognition of this work.

Key discussion points included:

• Measures to monitor the impact of the strategy on residents facing multiple socioeconomic barriers to inclusion.
• Analysis of disparities and related outcomes for older people across the city.
• How older residents' input was being gathered and responded to regarding neighbourhood and city centre inclusivity.
• The effectiveness of current measures in ensuring older residents' voices were heard, particularly concerning social isolation.
• The detrimental impact of social isolation on health outcomes and efforts to identify and support those affected.
• The inclusion of housing for older people, especially those in the Private Rented Sector (PRS), in future reports.
• The need for statistical analysis to demonstrate conformity with the Equality Act 2010.
• The potential for wider rollout of the pilot Attendance Allowance uptake campaign, noting its success in Stockport.
• The recognition of the role of unpaid carers.
• Initiatives to improve older men's mental health.
• Efforts to address digital exclusion.

Councillor Robinson, Executive Member for Healthy Manchester and Adult Social Care, assured the committee that neighbourhood teams regularly engaged with the Age Friendly Manchester team to coordinate efforts. He also mentioned the upcoming launch of the Manchester Carers Strategy and the city's progress in becoming a menopause-friendly city.

The committee recommended that future reports include specific data on inequalities affecting older people, presented at a ward level where possible, and detailed analysis of the impact of the work described.

Manchester Housing Strategy (2022-2032) – Annual Monitoring Report 2025-26

The committee reviewed the annual monitoring report for the Manchester Housing Strategy, which outlines the progress made towards the city's housing priorities and objectives. The report highlighted the delivery of 4,766 new homes in the 2025-26 financial year, including 901 affordable homes, bringing the total to 13,555 since the strategy's inception.

Key discussion points included:

• The concentration of new home completions (73%) in the city centre and the associated risks for delivering housing in neighbourhoods and district centres.
• A request for ward-level data on the delivery of affordable and social housing, and plans for wards with no current pipeline of work.
• Consideration of increasing the proposed 30% affordable housing target in the Draft Local Plan.
• Analysis of brownfield land contamination and the potential need for a dedicated remediation programme.
• Ensuring existing local residents benefit from regeneration schemes.
• Data on shared homeowners achieving 100% ownership.
• The impact of Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) on traditional student HMOs and the potential effect of proposed additional HMO licensing.
• Measures to increase the proportion of low and zero-carbon homes in future developments.
• The resources required to meet the target of 36,000 new homes by 2032, including 10,000 affordable homes.
• Balancing developers' viability arguments with the need for social and affordable housing.
• The scale of current delivery in relation to the 44 social homes lost through the Right to Buy scheme in 2025/26.
• Assessing the genuine affordability of delivered homes for Manchester residents on average incomes.
• The number and condition of empty homes across Manchester.
• Progress on right-sizing initiatives to free up family housing.
• The commitment to delivering social housing in all wards.
• The potential impact of the Prime Minister's recent announcement on supporting Manchester's housing ambitions.
• The inclusion of ward-level analysis, including demand and delivery across different tenures, in future reports.

Councillor White, Executive Member for Housing and Regeneration, explained that city centre development was driven by density, public transport access, and available land. He confirmed that new homes, including social and affordable options, were being built in every ward, with emerging plans for housing-led regeneration in district centres. He expressed optimism about meeting the strategy's targets, welcoming the Prime Minister's focus on social housing and the proposed 35-year exemption period for newly built social homes from the Right to Buy scheme.

The committee recommended that future reports include ward-level data on affordable housing delivery, information on wards without new affordable housing, and that the Executive Member for Housing and Regeneration consider developing a brownfield land remediation strategy.

Overview Report

The committee received and noted the overview report, which included updates on previous recommendations, key decisions relevant to the committee's remit, and the committee's work programme. The committee agreed to the proposed work programme.