A BURY-BORN banker has returned to his hometown with a dream of building 1,000 affordable homes over the next five years. Local Democracy Reporter JOSEPH TIMAN speaks to the new property developer about his ambitions.

AN international investment banker turned property developer, who was born in Bury, has said he wants to build 1,000 affordable homes over the next five years.

Luke Averill, aged 33, has left the big banks to try his hand at housebuilding – but he promises his new company will not be greedily driven by making money.

Setting out grand ambitions to build hundreds of affordable homes, Mr Averill believes he has found a gap in the market.

He said: “No one’s really focusing on it at the moment. You see Manchester at the moment. It’s absolutely booming. There’s just a massive need for affordable housing. But not just affordable, quality affordable.

“Councils aren’t fulfilling the need. There’s a massive shortage. I think traditionally private development yields more – there’s a bigger return for developers. But we’re not a profit-led business. We want to do a good job, whereas some business are all about the bottom line.”

The former Barclays banker, who was born in Fairfield Hospital, worked in London and Australia during his previous career.

He raised £20m for UK property projects over the last five years before setting up his new company, The Averill Group.

Now he’s moved back to Greater Manchester, living with his wife in Denton, to be closer to his family.

He said: “I love Manchester. It’s great being back. I think when you work for the big banks you’re a small cog in a big machine. It’s scary going on your own. I’ve got bills, I’ve got my life and I’ve got my dog.

“I have to tread with caution. You have to choose the right piece of land. Good access to public transport. You could go out in the sticks and sell a lot of land but you’ve got to think, would you live there?”

The Averill Group’s first project is in Radcliffe where the company wants to build 37 new houses in Morris Street at affordable prices.

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Since submitting plans to Bury Council for the new development, he has made an offer on another piece of land in the borough.

But he will look all over Greater Manchester and beyond to find the right pieces of land to develop into affordable housing.

He said: “When we set up the company we did actively look at Bury. Just areas I felt comfortable in. I was just driving around and after speaking to the right people, the opportunity arose. A perfect piece of land that can accommodate 37 affordable homes.

“It’s where I’m from which is great but we are looking all over Greater Manchester. Greater Manchester has had massive shortages as a whole. It’s just hard to find the right piece of land. I’ve got to find the right piece of land at the right price.

“I just think there’s a massive opportunity and if I can get two or three hundred affordable houses away this year, that would be a great start.

“You’ve got to be on it, networking all the time, looking on line, land registering.

“At the moment I like Bury because I know it. I talked with the council and I was very impressed. They do want to work with you. They know they’ve got the need to deliver.

“I want to work with councils and build these houses.”

Mr Averill also indicated that he would not want to build in protected countryside spots.

He added: “I don’t think we want to start attacking the green belt. If you really look at what’s available and you’re really clever with it, there’s enough brownfield sites.”