Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has announced a £1 billion “GM Good Growth Fund”’ for a pipeline of projects to drive growth and deliver regeneration “at a pace and on a scale not seen before this century.”

It is hoped the first £400 million of investment will deliver nearly 3,000 new homes, more than 22,000 new jobs and 2 million square feet of new employment space.

The city region’s leaders are expected to approve this first wave of funding allocations at next Friday’s meeting of Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA). The second wave of project funding will be announced in March.

The first wave of funding is expected to:

• Revitalise town centres with new neighbourhoods and reinvented community assets, like Oldham’s flagship Prince’s Gate development and Wigan’s Cotton Works.

• Help turn the tide on the housing crisis by building well-connected new homes, investing in schemes like Victoria North, one of the UK Government’s first New Towns, and Salford’s Adelphi Village, to deliver the affordable, sustainable housing required.

• Grow Greater Manchester ‘s central core and innovation district, backing transformative projects like Mayfield, Sister, and the redevelopment of the former Kendals department store, while also investing in new lab space.

• Deliver for communities with the joint development plan Places for Everyone mapping out shovel-ready sites while protecting nature.

“Greater Manchester is the UK’s economic success story of the past decade,” said Burnham

“Powered by devolution, our journey of growth has transformed our city region and is opening up opportunities that people could not have imagined 30 years ago.

“But we know that the real test of good growth is whether every person and every place feels the benefits.

“We’ve never believed in a busted ‘trickle-down’ theory that puts the pursuit of pure economic growth above the basic needs of our communities.

“And growth in Greater Manchester has never been an end in itself – it’s a means of improving lives by creating new opportunities and broadening access to them.

“We know we will only change the fortunes of our people and places by getting on with fixing the things national politics has neglected.

“That’s why we’ve used our trailblazing devolution deals to put public services back in service of the public, becoming the first region in 40 years to bring buses under local control.

“And it’s why Greater Manchester is ready to pioneer a new model for economic growth – unlocking investment to build new homes, create good jobs, deliver infrastructure, and providing the everyday support that will enable everyone to live a good life.

“Good growth is the defining challenge of our age – and today we are setting out a serious, practical plan to achieve it.”