Wigan Borough is an ambitious place, made up of strong towns, proud people and a wealth of green and blue spaces. At Wigan Council we are dedicated to building and enabling a variety of new homes to meet the needs of our residents, cater for future generations and to support our growing number of older people.
We are committed to ensuring all our towns and neighbourhoods flourish for those who live and work in them. In order to achieve this, we value working collectively with our partners to create a truly world class place to live, work, invest and visit.
Wigan is located at the heart of the North West. Situated strategically between Manchester and Liverpool City Regions - we enjoy the best of both worlds. Wigan already has the rail connectivity to rival many major UK cities. Five railway lines, including the West Coast Mainline, converge in Wigan. Direct services to London are frequent with a travel time of approximately two hours. Direct routes to Manchester and Liverpool can be made in around 30-minutes.
Developer Hub provides a ‘single front door’ approach to all interest from an investment, neighbourhood improvement and development enquiries.
Council Owned Opportunities
The following sites have been declared as surplus and are identified as having potential for neighbourhood improvement and/or development. Whilst the majority of these sites are expected to be residential led, for affordable homes where possible, all uses and improvements to council owned land will be considered. The sites will need to undergo a series of statutory processes and steps such as, if the site is classed as open space, advertising the intent to dispose of a site, for a specific use (residential or community) before a formal decision to dispose of the land can take place.
Further resident engagement will form part of the disposal process alongside the end users/developer of any site.
We believe, however, that bringing a selection of sites forward, to seek interest in, such as the sites identified below, will have the potential to support positive development and improvement to land in the borough for a variety of uses, both development led and community led, to help meet the needs of our residents.
Take a look at the council owned opportunities below. To find out more information and get in touch with us today.
Please contact the Housing Enabling and Development Team.
Garage/Infill Opportunities
The council owns a number of garage/estate infill opportunities with capacity ranging up to approximately 10 units. The sites are mostly situated within established suburban housing estates with direct access to adopted highways.
A range of opportunities and site plans are detailed below, should you be interested in any of below sites contact the Housing Enabling and Development Team to discuss further.
- Platt Bridge, Chapel Street Garage Site - 0.16 Ha
- Devonshire Road Garage Site - 0.14 Ha
- Springfield Culvert Land Holding, Harvey Lane - 0.17 Ha
- Margaret Street Garage Site - 0.12 Ha
- Mayfield Road Garage Site - 0.12 Ha
- North Lane Garage Site, Astley - 0.15 Ha - Expression of Interest Received
- Oak Avenue Garage Site, Golborne - 0.2 Ha
- Prestwich Street, Atherton Garage Site - 0.12 Ha
- Abbey Lane, Leigh Garage Site - 0.21 Ha
- 8 Tarleton Avenue, Atherton - 0.27 Ha
- Thornfield Close Garage Site, Golborne - 0.12 Ha
- Tyrer Ave Garage Site, Worsley Mesnes - 0.1 Ha
- Site near Loveless House, Brooklands Avenue - 0.15 Ha
- Land between 1 & 7 Devon Road - 0.08 Ha
- Leigh Plank Lane Estate Infill, land Adjacent to 10 Mount Street - 0.09 Ha
- Rivington Street, Atherton - 0.03 Ha
- 14/16 Stout Street, Leigh - 0.03 Ha
- Fourteen Meadows Temporary Allotments Site - 0.16 Ha
Buy land from Homes England
The Homes England Land Hub lists the sites available for development or disposal by Homes England. You can view sites currently on the market on an interactive map.
Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA)
The SHLAA identifies land in Wigan borough that might have potential for housing at some stage in the future and assesses when it’s likely to be developed. This helps the council determine whether there is an adequate local housing land supply.
As such, the SHLAA is a great tool for developers to identify potential housing sites.
You can contact the developer hub for help finding landowner contact details and site intelligence.
The SHLAA is updated annually and was last updated in April 2022.
Brownfield Land
As a key part of the Council’s Deal 2030, we want to make the best use of our brownfield land so we can protect the borough's rich environment and greenspaces. In 2021/22, there was an even split of new homes delivered on brownfield land (52%) and greenfield land (48%). We are happy to see this shift in favour of Brownfield land.
The council published its most recent brownfield land register in December 2022. The sites have been identified for potential to accommodate circa 7,700 new homes across the borough. All sites included form part of our Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment.
This shows that more brownfield land is being brought into use and more homes are being delivered on such sites. This increasing use of brownfield land demonstrates our commitment to regenerating the borough and protecting greenspaces.
Develop stalled sites
We have a number of sites currently on hold and need targeted action to bring them forward for development.
The sites have strong potential for residential development and so by working more closely with developers and landowners, we can kickstart stalled sites in the borough.
Join our self-build and custom-build register
We believe that the self-build and custom homes sector have a part to play in delivering new homes in Wigan.
We hold a register of individuals and association of individuals who have expressed an interest in acquiring land for self-build and custom-build projects in the borough, who we share relevant site opportunities with. By joining our register it helps to evidence the need for these types of homes in Wigan.
This will help to support a greater understanding of the demand for self build and custom build housebuilding across the borough which will help inform our local planning policies and assist us in bringing forward the appropriate land opportunities.