Football clubs have a great opportunity to help address the housing crisis when developing their stadiums, Development Finance Today has been told.

A whole host of football clubs – including Arsenal and Manchester City - have included housing as part of stadium construction plans in recent years and a number of clubs are currently in the process of doing so.

Martin Gilsenan, Sales Director at Omni Capital, told DFT that football clubs have a duty to support their community.

Martin said: "The stadium redevelopments at Tottenham, Liverpool, Reading and Wimbledon, which all include plans for residential housing, are good examples of clubs accepting that they need to retain their roots in their local communities.  

"Historically, football stadiums have tended to be located in traditional working-class areas, and these new schemes will, quite rightly, include a strong element of affordable housing.”

Examples of football clubs incorporating housing into stadium projects can be seen across the country.

Gary Lederberg, Director at Affirmative Finance, highlighted the work of former Premier League champions Manchester City as the benchmark for other football clubs to aspire to.

The Abu Dhabi United Group, Manchester City’s owner, partnered with Manchester City Council in June 2014 to invest £1bn and build tens of thousands of homes in Manchester by 2027.

Gary told DFT: “It seems to me that some of the clubs that are more recently looking to develop in and around the grounds are potentially looking to follow the sterling work that has occurred at Manchester City.

“That is not because I am a Manchester City fan - to the contrary I am a red Manchester United fan through and through.

“It follows suit with Manchester as a whole and the infrastructure being put in place.”<span style="font-family:" calibri",sans-serif;="" mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"times="" mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"="">

When Arsenal relocated to the Emirates Stadium, Highbury was redeveloped into 700 flats and over 1,000 new homes were built around the new ground, with over 40% being shared ownership and affordable housing.

James Bloom, Chief Executive at Regentsmead, said that local councils have enough leverage to insist that football clubs incorporate an element of housing when developing their stadiums.

James said: “Obviously, the councils are in a strong position at the point of granting permission for a new stadium, with the huge financial implications and benefits for the clubs, to insist on major housing redevelopments taking place around the new stadium as they did with Arsenal.

“There is no doubt that this needs to be an integral part of the planning process and if it is not commercially viable, clubs will fight these proposals.

“It is a great opportunity for the larger clubs to help regenerate an area when developing new stadiums and this certainly happened around the Emirates Stadium where modern housing replaced antiquated and often redundant industrial units.”

Across London, property developer Willmott Dixon is working with Brentford FC on a new 20,000-seater stadium.

The project will see around 900 homes built on an under-utilised brownfield site and once the club has moved, the old site will be transformed into a series of family homes - unlocking new homes on both sites.

Andrew Geldard, Head of Communications at Wilmott Dixon, said: “I think Brentford is an excellent template for how it is possible to cross-fund substantial sporting facilities through the creation of new homes; these are facilities that will be used by the local community for many generations to come and won’t have any need for grant from the tax payer to provide.

“If you have like-minded land owners who see the potential for what can be achieved on their land, it has real potential to unlock land opportunities across London and other major cities.

“It needs land owners with a vision of what is possible, like the owner of Brentford FC who brought us on board as development partner to make the best use of land he owned at Lionel Road to create an exciting future for the club amidst a wider regeneration that will lift the whole area.”