Manchester City owner's £55m housing loan under investigation from Burnham mayoral era

Committee to review loan to Sheikh Mansour-linked firms as prime minister faces renewed questions over Manchester ties

By LineZotpaper

Published19 October 2026

Updated19 October 2026

Read Time3 min

Sources2 outlets

A £55m loan to property companies controlled by Manchester City's Abu Dhabi owner, made while Andy Burnham was mayor of Greater Manchester, is to be investigated by councillors. The review adds to weeks of scrutiny of the prime minister's links to the club's owners after City was found guilty of a £900m breach of financial rules.

Councillors in Greater Manchester said they would investigate loans made to companies linked to Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan as part of a fund operated by the combined authority when Mr Burnham led it.

In 2017, three companies ultimately controlled by Sheikh Mansour, the UAE's vice-president and deputy prime minister, were loaned £55m to help finance Manchester Life, a housing development that promised 6,000 homes. The Greater Manchester Combined Authority said the loans had been repaid in full, but has not disclosed the interest rate or why Sheikh Mansour's companies were eligible for public money.

John Leech, the Liberal Democrat councillor who chairs the GMCA's overview and scrutiny committee, told the BBC the approval process had been criticised as "very opaque in the past". He said it was "not unreasonable" to ask why successful businesses needed to borrow public money. "In the case of Abu Dhabi, you would imagine that they wouldn't have any problem accessing funds from elsewhere as well," he said.

The fund has handed out £1bn to 50 developers since 2015. Mr Leech said the process "does seem to be out of kilter with what the original stated aims were back in 2015".

The investigation follows the emergence last week of a meeting between Mr Burnham and City's owners at the Etihad Stadium, weeks before the loans were approved. The meeting had disappeared from public records, prompting Mr Burnham to ask the GMCA to carry out a "manual trawl" of his meetings to ensure "full transparency".

Mr Burnham, who earlier said the owners had been "such a huge partner in the building of modern Manchester" and that he would be "really concerned" to lose them from the sport, faced accusations he sided with the club after its financial breach.

A GMCA spokesperson said the authority was supporting the committee's inquiries. The fund had built 11,000 new homes and contributed "billions of pounds worth of development at no cost to the taxpayer", they said, adding that decisions on loans were taken publicly and lending criteria reflected "due diligence standards in the private sector". Downing Street declined to comment.

Analysis

Why This Matters

The review puts the prime minister's conduct in a previous public office under formal scrutiny, expanding the political fallout from Manchester City's financial breach.
Public loan funds are at stake: the committee will test whether the process for lending £1bn to developers was transparent and fair.
The outcome could shape how regional combined authorities run investment funds and disclose dealings with wealthy investors.

Background

Manchester Life was a flagship housing scheme promised by the GMCA and City's owners during Mr Burnham's mayoralty. The loan was part of a wider £1bn fund open to developers, which the GMCA says built 11,000 homes. Mr Burnham's relationship with City's owners became politically sensitive after the club was found guilty of inflating income by £900m over nine years. Last week it emerged that a meeting between Mr Burnham and the owners at the Etihad Stadium, held weeks before the loan was approved, had disappeared from public records. Mr Burnham asked for a manual trawl of his meetings to ensure full transparency.

Key Perspectives

Andy Burnham: He has described the owners as a "huge partner" in modern Manchester and said he would be "really concerned" to lose them from the sport. He asked GMCA to carry out a manual trawl of his meetings to ensure full transparency. Downing Street declined to comment. Greater Manchester Combined Authority: It says decisions on loans were taken publicly, not a single viable scheme was turned down, and the fund has delivered 11,000 homes at no cost to the taxpayer. It is supporting the committee's inquiries. John Leech and the scrutiny committee: Leech argues the approval process has been opaque and that well-financed firms, such as those backed by Abu Dhabi, should not need public loans. He wants a transparent rather than opaque process.

What to Watch

The scope and findings of the overview and scrutiny committee's investigation into the 2017 loans.
Whether GMCA discloses the interest rate and eligibility criteria for the Sheikh Mansour-linked companies.
Further revelations from the "manual trawl" of Mr Burnham's meetings while mayor.

Sources

Manchester City owner’s £55m housing loan while Burnham was mayor investigated · World news | The Guardian
Manchester City owner’s £55m housing loan while Burnham was mayor investigated · UK news | The Guardian

Checked

12 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 12 supported.

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SupportedManchester City owner's £55m housing loan under investigation from Burnham mayoral eraWorld news | The Guardian: “A £55m loan to Manchester City’s Abu Dhabi owner will be investigated as part of a review into a fund for housing projects while Andy Burnham was mayor.”
SupportedCommittee to review loan to Sheikh Mansour-linked firms as prime minister faces renewed questions over Manchester tiesWorld news | The Guardian: “councillors in Greater Manchester said they planned to investigate loans made to property companies while he was mayor. … The prime minister has faced weeks of scrutiny over his links to Manchester City’s super-rich owners”
SupportedA £55m loan to property companies controlled by Manchester City's Abu Dhabi owner, made while Andy Burnham was mayor of Greater Manchester, is to be investigated by councillors.World news | The Guardian: “A £55m loan to Manchester City’s Abu Dhabi owner will be investigated as part of a review into a fund for housing projects while Andy Burnham was mayor. … councillors in Greater Manchester said they planned to investigate loans made to property companies”
SupportedCity was found guilty of a £900m breach of financial rulesWorld news | The Guardian: “the club was found guilty of boosting its income by £900m in a nine-year breach of financial rules”
SupportedIn 2017, three companies ultimately controlled by Sheikh Mansour, the UAE's vice-president and deputy prime minister, were loaned £55m to help finance Manchester Life, a housing development that promised 6,000 homes.World news | The Guardian: “In 2017, three companies ultimately controlled by the Manchester City owner, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the vice-president and deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, were loaned £55m as part of a fund operated by Burnham’s Greater Manchester combined authority (GMCA). … to help finance a major housing development called Manchester Life, which promised to create 6,000 homes”
SupportedThe Greater Manchester Combined Authority said the loans had been repaid in full, but has not disclosed the interest rate or why Sheikh Mansour's companies were eligible for public money.World news | The Guardian: “GMCA said the loans had been repaid in full but has not disclosed the interest rate or why Sheikh Mansour, as a scion of one of the world’s wealthiest families, would have been eligible”
SupportedJohn Leech told the BBC the approval process had been criticised as 'very opaque in the past'.World news | The Guardian: “Leech told the BBC the approval process for loans had been criticised as “very opaque in the past and that it’s not necessarily been clearly understood why X was successful and Y wasn’t”.”
SupportedThe fund has handed out £1bn to 50 developers since 2015.World news | The Guardian: “the fund – which has handed out £1bn to 50 separate developers since 2015”
SupportedThe meeting had disappeared from public records, prompting Mr Burnham to ask the GMCA to carry out a 'manual trawl' of his meetings to ensure 'full transparency'.World news | The Guardian: “That meeting later disappeared from public records before it came to light last week, prompting the prime minister to ask GMCA to carry out a “manual trawl” of his meetings to ensure “full transparency”.”
SupportedMr Burnham, who earlier said the owners had been 'such a huge partner in the building of modern Manchester' and that he would be 'really concerned' to lose them from the sport, faced accusations he sided with the club after its financial breach.World news | The Guardian: “Burnham, the former Greater Manchester mayor, was accused of siding with the Abu Dhabi owners after the “unprecedented” rule breach, when he said they had been “such a huge partner in the building of modern Manchester” and that he would be “really concerned” to lose them from the sport.”
SupportedA GMCA spokesperson said the authority was supporting the committee's inquiries.World news | The Guardian: “A GMCA spokesperson said it was supporting Leech’s overview and scrutiny committee with its inquiries.”
SupportedDowning Street declined to comment.World news | The Guardian: “Downing Street declined to comment.”