Planning applications for a £2.3 million social housing scheme on the former site of Manchester Zionist HQ Mamlock House have been delayed by 18 months while “delicate discussions” continue between Manchester Jewish Housing Association and Manchester City Council.

The council rejected a plan for 15 family rental houses, which would help families on housing benefit. Instead regeneration officers want more houses offered on a shared-ownership basis, which requires tenants to have significant sums in capital. The association argues that the most needy families do not have the money.

MJHA executive director John Gryckiewicz said: “Our empirical knowledge of the Jewish community in Salford is that people lean towards rental because they are strapped for cash and have large families.”

But Councillor Nigel Murphy countered: “A housing requirement study for Jewish homes in the Cheetham Hill area found a lack of affordable owner-occupier homes, set against a backdrop of a high proportion of social rent properties. In response, the Manchester Jewish Housing Association has submitted a development proposal offering mixed tenure, which will help to rebalance the housing offered in the area.”

New research indicates that 14 per cent of Jewish families in Salford are living in overcrowded housing, with 27 per cent of children having no garden to play in.