Taxpayer Loan Could Fund Development

The Manx Development Corporation will be able to borrow funds from the taxpayer to develop brownfield sites.

Owned by the taxpayer, the MDC was the unveiled by Alf Cannan, designed to bring vacant sites into use.

While the move to bring life to brownfield sites owned by the gov has been welcomed, questions around how it will be funded have always remained.

For its part, the MDC has said it has been ‘negotiating non-government funding for Westmoreland Village and the Former Nurses’ Home’.

Despite this, in this year’s Budget, the Treasury has pointed to move taxpayer cash being poured into the MDC.

The Budget says: ‘The MDC board have identified several potential sites for which they would like to conduct feasibility studies in order to bring full business cases forward for consideration. It is anticipated that the feasibility studies will be funded through the injection of further equity capital by Treasury into the MDC.

‘Where projects are taken into development, the MDC will be expected to seek loan funding on commercial terms, either from Treasury or from external sources, to finance construction costs. Any further equity or loan funding to the MDC will be considered as and when specific projects are identified and this has not been included within the 2023-24 Budget.

‘This funding will be made directly from general reserves.’

*This artcile has been updated to alter ‘brainchild of’ to ‘unveiled by’ Mr Cannan relating to the MDC’s creation.