If the first three months of Regen Connect charted an industry testing new funding and delivery models amid a new era for regeneration, the second quarter has been defined by a single, dominant story. It’s a story that has put devolution at the centre of the debate: the rapid ascent of Andy Burnham towards number 10.

Following Keir Starmer’s resignation in the wake of Burnham’s Makerfield by-election win, the former Greater Manchester mayor used a series of set-piece moments — culminating in a state-of-the-nation speech in Manchester in early July — to lay out what he called “Manchesterism”: a plan to rebalance power away from Whitehall, anchored by a new prime ministerial outpost, “Number 10 North,” based in the city.

Burnham’s pledges are sweeping in ambition if light on mechanics: the biggest council housebuilding programme since the post-war period, devolution of housing, employment support and utility oversight to combined authorities, and a promise of “good growth in every postcode.”

For an industry still absorbing the funding and viability pressures flagged in our first report, the prospect of a prime minister drawn directly from the devolution movement — and prepared to use development corporations, good growth funds and regional housing banks as delivery vehicles — is the biggest shift in the policy weather regeneration has seen in years.