The £120m development is being delivered by Salboy’s contracting arm Domis on a swoop of land bounded by the River Irwell that was once the site of Manchester Racecourse.

Castle Irwell is a legacy development for Salboy co-founder Fred Done, who worked at the Racecourse in its heyday and who went on to found bookmakers BetFred.

Designed by Calderpeel Architects the housing will be arranged in neighbourly courtyards with a central village green.

The emphasis will be on walking and cycling rather than cars with Manchester city centre a 15-minute bike ride away and easily accessed by public transport.

The first phase of development will bring 157 family homes scheduled to be complete by next spring.

Simon Ismail, who co-founded Salboy with Done, said: “This is a location with huge personal history to us both and we want to create a very special place to live.

“It will be a place for people who work in the city but want a home to own with more space to enjoy and nature on the doorstep.”