Emirati-Linked Firms Now Hold 40% More Manchester Land

Emirati-linked companies own almost 40% more land in Greater Manchester than they did a decade ago, according to a Guardian analysis that combines Land Registry and Companies House data. The number of land titles owned by UAE-linked firms rose from 51 in 2016 to 168 in 2026, with the total area climbing from 73 to 101 hectares — roughly 180 to 250 acres, about 140 football pitches.

The findings land weeks after Manchester City were found guilty of an "unprecedented" nine-year breach of financial rules under their current ownership. They also raise questions about how deeply Abu Dhabi money is woven into the city's economy.

Who owns what?

Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Manchester City's owner, holds at least 34 land titles through his companies. The portfolio includes the Etihad Stadium and properties in Ancoats and New Islington. Two-thirds of all Emirati-owned land in Greater Manchester as of 2026 traces back to one of Mansour's companies.

The rest of the growth came mainly from UAE-based companies outside Mansour's empire. The Abu Dhabi government holds 15 titles, most acquired through its purchase of Circle Health Group — including Alexandra hospital in Cheadle, Highfield hospital in Rochdale and Beaumont hospital in Bolton.

Other investors include:

• Dr Ali Saeed Al Ameri, a Gulf oil executive, who owns £1.3m worth of apartments through a British Virgin Islands-registered company, a jurisdiction famed for corporate secrecy.
• Mohammed Ahmad Aldallal, a Dubai luxury-home developer holding at least £10m of far less glamorous buildings in Bolton, Oldham and Manchester — among them Oldham's historic Grand Theatre, where the Beatles are said to have performed. He demolished it last year for an 11-storey apartment block.

Aldallal, who spent seven years at college in Oldham and "almost every day" at Riley's snooker club inside the now-demolished theatre, called it a "great honour" to invest in the town.

How big is UAE money really?

The headline growth rate deserves context. Total foreign investment stock in Greater Manchester grew 25% between 2015 and 2024. The latest ONS data shows the north-west received the highest net foreign investment of any region outside London in 2024; Greater Manchester pulled in almost £2bn net from overseas entities that year — behind only London, Edinburgh and the south-east of Scotland, and Cardiff.

ONS figures do not break out UAE investment for the city region. Other data suggests it is a small slice: Asian countries outside Japan accounted for under 5% of foreign investment stock at the end of 2024, with another 10% flowing through UK offshore islands, a channel some Emirati money may have used. Across the UK, UAE direct investment represented just 0.3% of all foreign investment at the end of 2024.

It is growing, though. Property experts say UK demand from UAE, wider Middle East and European buyers is among the fastest-rising in the international market.

What are politicians being asked to explain?

Andy Burnham has faced weeks of scrutiny after initially sympathising with City's owners, whom he called a "huge partner in the building of modern Manchester", adding he would be "really concerned" if they sold the club. The prime minister, meanwhile, has been urged to disclose all his meetings with Manchester City's owners after saying he had one "significant" meeting with Abu Dhabi executives — only for five further meetings to come to light.

Prof Jonathan Silver, a University of Sheffield researcher who has analysed Manchester's deals with Abu Dhabi, said the land buy-up raised "major concerns about the fragility of the 'Manchester model' and its reliance on attracting flows of international finance, whatever the cost". He added: "This is not 'just a football story' but rather a story of a city-region in northern England aligning its economy into the orbit of an authoritarian state in the Gulf."

Where does the public money go?

Separate Guardian analysis of public contracts from Greater Manchester bodies, including NHS trusts, using data from the market intelligence firm Tussell, found £84.4m was spent on UAE-owned firms between 2016 and 2026. The NHS accounted for 85% of that, spent on Circle Health Group, which the UAE government took over in 2024. Manchester city council spent £6.3m on UAE-backed companies — more than half of it going to Manchester City FC.

Council leader Garry Bridges defended the record: "I came to Manchester in 2005 and it is inarguable that the city is in better shape now than it was then, and unrecognisable from the city of the 80s and 90s." He called any suggestion the Ancoats regeneration story had been negative "ludicrous".

The analysis has limits worth noting: beneficial-ownership records before April 2016 do not exist, and land owned directly by individuals is not publicly recorded. Even so, the concentration of one family's holdings — two-thirds of all Emirati-owned land — means Manchester's economic model now carries exposure that extends well beyond the football pitch.