UAE investment in Manchester extends across an area the size of 260 football pitches at its peak in 2023, according to an analysis of land and property ownership over the past decade. That growth is now in the spotlight: the report describes it as having helped power Andy Burnham to Downing Street, while a cheating scandal at Manchester City has drawn fresh attention to the city's Emirati ties.

How the ties began

The property relationship traces back to political upheaval. The 2011 fall of Hosni Mubarak during the Arab spring helped trigger Manchester's links with the UAE, whose rulers feared his successor Mohamed Morsi's Islamism. The UAE warned David Cameron's ministers it could pull billion-pound arms deals if Britain acted more strongly against the Muslim Brotherhood. A secret Whitehall unit was hastily established to keep the oil-rich emirates on side, with investment deals offered in private meetings later revealed by the Guardian.

In summer 2013, Cameron's government asked Manchester city council to draw up three investment proposals for the super-rich emirates. One of those proposals grew into the £1bn Manchester Life deal. For £5m, the council handed over city-centre land at the heart of the scheme so that 6,000 homes could be built, and Abu Dhabi also gained first refusal on further projects.

• •Richard Leese, then council leader, described it as a UK government-brokered deal in which the council was seeking very significant investment
• •He noted housing development around the city centre and Ancoats had stopped for years, with no willing developers
• •In a press release he hailed the partnership as a "world-class exemplar of regeneration" and a platform for more than 6,000 new homes

In December 2015 the council signed a 10-year collaboration agreement giving Abu Dhabi first refusal on land near the centre. Under one clause, the council's elected politicians could not announce the deal without written approval from Sheikh Mansour's firm. A property consultant called the arrangement "blatant partiality on a massive scale. It stinks", while a council spokesperson described the clause as a standard agreement between two parties.

What Manchester Life delivered

Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the owner of Manchester City, has built an extensive portfolio outside the club, including the UK's biggest indoor arena, an upper-upscale hotel opened last month, apartment blocks and university research investment through Khaldoon al-Mubarak's firm.

The Manchester Life scheme has fallen well short of its headline promise:

• •Only 2,039 homes have been delivered by Manchester Life - a third of the 6,000 promised
• •A further 2,839 were built by others, making 4,878 in total, nearly 20% short of the target
• •Only 8% of those 4,878 properties were social or affordable housing, below the council's 20% policy - and none were provided by Manchester Life
• •All of the property, now worth an estimated £350m, is ultimately owned by Sheikh Mansour via Jersey-domiciled subsidiaries
• •The council said it received nearly £3m under an undisclosed profit-sharing agreement plus £17.6m in council tax; the precise taxpayer return and deal terms remain unknown

The council strongly denied a "sweetheart deal" after University of Sheffield researchers concluded it had "sold the family silver too cheaply" in giving the land to Abu Dhabi at a cheaper rate.

Contrasts and critics

The walk from the Abu Dhabi-funded apartments to the Etihad Stadium passes some of the poorest areas in the second most deprived local authority in England, with four charity food banks or distribution sites within half a mile. One of them has a plaque marking its opening by Burnham in 2021.

Mark Blake, chief executive of Manchester Central Foodbank, warned of the social consequences of the building boom. "It's bound to cause resentment," said Blake, adding: "When it's in your face and is during a cost of living crisis it potentially could" lead to unrest.

Dr Matthew Stallard, a UCL researcher and foodbank trustee chair, said that within a mile or two of central Manchester's skyscrapers lie some of the country's most deprived neighbourhoods, with a clear money line in Ancoats.

Lib Dem councillor Alan Good said residents feel resentment at the shiny towers, and that Manchester is becoming a "northern version of London" amid an "insane" property crisis affecting 20,000 people on the social housing register.

Burnham under scrutiny

In summer 2016, Burnham told the Salford Star he would stop large property firms benefiting from multimillion-pound taxpayer-funded loans from the mayoral authority, saying the GMCA fund was too focused on city-centre luxury schemes. Barely a year later, he signed off a £55m loan to Jersey-registered property firms owned by Sheikh Mansour, whose family fortune is reported at about £300bn.

Weeks before the loans were approved, Burnham received hospitality from City's owners in a meeting that came to light only last week. The prime minister initially said he had had only one "significant" meeting with the club's bosses - in 2021 - but a further five have emerged.

Burnham said last week he had asked GMCA for a "manual trawl of everything, as I want everything possible to be out there", adding: "There's no question about that – full transparency".

GMCA said the loans fund is open to all developers meeting lending criteria and that the loans had been repaid in full, but the decisions are now being investigated by councillors on GMCA's scrutiny committee.

Leese, 75, who stepped down as council leader after 25 years in December 2021 and became honorary president at Manchester City two years later, denied the deal was shielded from scrutiny and denied getting too close to the club. "That's the way the city works – in partnership," he said, noting there are many players the council is close to.

A senior former council officer described the culture of that period as "Kremlin-like" or akin to "a medieval court", with no dissent towards Labour leadership decisions on a 99% one-party council. In March 2018, senior council property officer Dominic Hayes resigned abruptly over concerns about the deals the council was doing with Mansour's group, listing complaints in an email to chief executive Joanne Roney, who had succeeded Howard Bernstein in 2017 after 29 years in charge.

The loans are repaid and the GMCA fund defended, but its scrutiny councillors are still investigating the decisions, and Burnham has ordered the manual trawl of records with his pledge of full transparency standing.