# UAE-linked firms own 101 hectares of Greater Manchester land in 2026

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/emirati-linked-firms-ownership-of-manchester-land-up-39-in-ten-years/
- Published: 2026-10-25T06:00:55+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-25T06:17:16+00:00
- Original publisher: The Guardian (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/oct/25/emirati-linked-firms-manchester-land
- Topics: Business

## Key points

- Emirati-linked land ownership in Greater Manchester rose 39% in a decade.
- Sheikh Mansour’s companies own about two-thirds of that land.
- UAE investment is a small share of foreign investment in the UK.

## Summary

Emirati-linked companies owned 101 hectares of land in Greater Manchester in 2026, up from 73 hectares a decade earlier. The findings have brought the city’s reliance on overseas investment under scrutiny amid the Manchester City financial rules scandal and questions about links between local and national leaders and the club’s Abu Dhabi owners.

The number of land titles held by UAE-linked companies rose from 51 in 2016 to 168 in 2026. Sheikh Mansour’s companies owned at least 34 titles, including the Etihad Stadium, and accounted for about two-thirds of Emirati-owned land in the region. Foreign investment in Greater Manchester grew by 25% between 2015 and 2024, while UAE investment made up only 0.3% of the UK’s total foreign investment stock at the end of 2024.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.