Greater Manchester mayor faces court challenge over £140m public loans to luxury developer
Andy Burnham (pictured top), the Greater Manchester mayor considered one of the frontrunners to succeed Keir Starmer as Labour leader, is contending with renewed allegations that his administration bypassed proper financial checks when approving £140 million in public loans to property developer Renaker.
The controversy resurfaces at a critical moment: a Court of Appeal hearing on the matter is scheduled for 9 June, nine days before the Makerfield by-election in which Burnham is standing as the Labour candidate.
The Competition Appeal Tribunal previously determined that the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) failed to obtain a statement of assets and liabilities from Renaker's backer, Daren Whitaker, before the loans were approved — an omission the tribunal said left taxpayers open to the risk of funds being "wiped out."
The public money was channelled into luxury high-rise apartments in Manchester, a use that sits uncomfortably alongside Burnham's pre-election pledge to redirect the housing investment fund away from "city centre and luxury schemes" and towards affordable housing.
In March 2024, a GMCA meeting chaired by Burnham approved £120 million in loans to two Renaker special-purpose vehicles — Trinity Developments and New Jackson (Contour) Investments. The decision was reached in under a minute.
Across the broader £1.2 billion fund, 11,000 homes have been built, yet only 503 — under 5% — meet the threshold for affordable housing. Renaker's current flagship project is a 51-storey tower where one-bedroom flats start at £275,000.
Whitaker founded Renaker in 2006 following nearly two decades at construction firm Laing O'Rourke. His estimated personal fortune stands at £698 million. Last November, he filed Monaco as his primary residence at Companies House before subsequently reverting to the UK.
Tribunal chairman Hodge Malek KC wrote in his ruling: "Mr Whitaker evidently had access to very substantial amounts of funds as a result of the liquidation of XL Developments [another property company], that said it would have been better had the GMCA obtained a statement of his assets and liabilities prior to entering into the 2024 Renaker Loans.
"There was a residual, although most probably unlikely, risk that he had large liabilities which could have wiped out these funds, but as the equity had to be in place at the time of drawdown, the GMCA had substantial protection against the consequences of such an eventuality."
The legal challenge was brought by Aubrey Weis, a rival developer who contended that funnelling more than half the fund to Whitaker's businesses distorted competition in the Manchester housing market. Weis lost at tribunal but is pressing ahead with his appeal, with the Court of Appeal date now looming over Burnham's by-election campaign.
During the tribunal hearing, counsel Joseph Barrett, acting for Weis, said: "It is obviously fundamentally important that one would do the due diligence on Mr. Whitaker because it may be that he was in a robust position. One cannot assume that. One does not have the first idea absent due diligence…due diligence never occurs."
A GMCA spokesman disputed the characterisation of events, saying: "The suggestion that proper due diligence was not carried out on these loans is false. We carried out necessary financial due diligence and this formed part of the documents seen by the Competition Appeal Tribunal, which praised our approach and found we had 'substantial protection' against any risk.
"Our Housing Investment Loans Fund helped build 11,000 new homes and directly supported 503 affordable homes, operating alongside our Brownfield Housing Fund, which is bringing forward another 11,000 affordable homes across Greater Manchester."
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