Chancellor announces Chinese property investment for Northern Powerhouse

Chancellor George Osborne has announced a multi-million pound chinese investment into three major northern England property projects, two of which are in Yorkshire.

The projects, which will create 18,000 jobs and 10,000 new homes, are located in Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester, and have a combined gross value of £1.2bn.

Xinjiang-based Hualing Industry and Trade Group have pledged to heavily invest in the three projects led by British firm the Scarborough Group, which will help build towards the Northern Powerhouse.

The three projects are:

• Thorpe Park, a £400m mixed-use project in Leeds
• Sheffield Digital Campus, a £40m commercial and office development that will see 130,000 sq ft of office space built in the city
• Middlewood Locks, a £730m residential project in Salford incorporating a total of 2,000 residential units and about 750,000 sq ft of commercial accommodation

The Chancellor’s announcement came during a visit to Urumqi in the region of Xinjiang, North West China, where he also announced plans to make China the UK’s second largest trading partner by 2025, stating that this would pump billions into Britain’s economy.

Kevin McCabe, chairman of the Scarborough Group, said: “As a family business with its roots in the North of England, we are now very proud to bring our partners in China to the UK to invest in our great Northern Cities and to accelerate the development of our major projects in Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield. Our partnership with the Hualing Group is a new and exciting one for Scarborough and we look forward to working with them over the coming years to bring our Northern projects to fruition.”

The Chancellor added: “China’s emerging regions, like Xinjiang, hold enormous potential in the years ahead.

“That’s why I wanted to come here today to see this place for myself, and highlight Britain’s absolute commitment to support the growth of Urumqi together with the whole of the Xinjiang region.

“We are building an ever closer relationship with China - it’s a partnership that is set to unleash growth and help regions like Xinjiang where we know investment can make a real difference, as well as unleash new growth back home, in places like our own northern powerhouse.”

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