Canadian real estate investment and asset management firm, Starlight Investments, has outlined major investment activity across Manchester’s key regeneration districts, including Salford Quays and major growth areas across the city.
The business, which last week celebrated the topping out of its 60-storey build-to-rent Trinity Heights development in the Castlefield Conservation Area, has committed to supporting local authority ambitions by bringing long term institutional capital and delivery certainty to large scale residential and mixed-use schemes.
Across the region, Starlight now has nearly 3,300 homes committed, one of the largest active international pipelines in the UK housing sector.
The company is also actively assessing additional Manchester sites as it looks to accelerate regeneration and unlock complex brownfield plots requiring well-capitalised delivery partners.
Across the UK, Starlight has established a portfolio with more than £1.1bn in assets under management, with continued expansion under way as the platform builds momentum in key regional markets.
This expansion comes as viability pressures reshape the BTR market. According to the British Property Federation, development viability is ‘significantly constrained’ across most of the country, with new starts falling sharply and many schemes delayed.
With rising construction costs and limited local authority resources, councils are increasingly reliant on well-capitalised partners to keep regeneration moving, Starlight said.
It added that Northern councils have clear regeneration plans but limited capacity to progress complex housing sites at pace.
According to HBF and BPF data, more than 700 consented housing developments have stalled in England due to lack of committed investment, reflecting the scale of the challenge.
CGI of Trinity Heights lounge
Starlight’s institutional capital and development expertise provide delivery certainty, helping unlock strategic brownfield sites in areas such as Liverpool Waters and Salford Quays, it said.
Jonnie Milich, UK head of Starlight Investments, said: “The North has all the ingredients for growth – land, ambition and civic leadership.
“What it needs is confidence and capital. Councils have regeneration plans ready to go, but many schemes require well capitalised delivery partners to unlock them. That’s where we come in.”
Beyond Manchester, Starlight has schemes across Leeds, Liverpool and other Northern cities scheduled between 2026 and 2028, bringing forward much needed rental supply in high growth locations.
The company is also actively seeking additional land and partnership opportunities across the North, particularly in regeneration areas where institutional capital can unlock stalled or complex sites.
Starlight’s strategy aligns with the Government’s 1.5 million homes mission, which prioritises brownfield development and accelerating regeneration in regional cities.
A further 1,150 homes are progressing through planning across the North, signalling confidence in the region’s fundamentals at a time when many international investors have paused UK allocations.
Milich added: “Housing delivery is constrained by viability, planning complexity and cost inflation. Institutional capital has a critical role in unblocking sites and restoring delivery confidence. The North is central to our long term investment strategy.”
Starlight recently joined the British Property Federation (BPF) and is expanding engagement with government, combined authorities and local councils as it scales its UK operations.