City West Housing Trust has started work on the £5.1m development of 54 much needed new-build homes for affordable rent in Little Hulton and Walkden, in Salford. The social landlord, which is part of the ForViva Group, owns and manages 14,800 homes.
In Little Hulton, an apartment block of 36 one- and two-bedroom homes will be built at Rowan House, while eight one- and two-bedroom bungalows will be developed at Russell Court offering additional support to allow people to live independently. The Whittlebrook scheme in Walkden will provide 10 two- and three-bedroom family homes. The sites will replace outdated bedsit housing schemes that were demolished last year.
The news comes as statistics show that around 6,000 households are stuck on the council’s housing waiting list and demand for affordable housing is so high in Salford that 28 people bid for every property that becomes available.
Nigel Sedman, Director of Investment and Regeneration at ForViva, said: “Building new, high-quality affordable homes is one of our top priorities at ForViva. Schemes like this are key to tackling the housing crisis and giving communities a new lease of life, which is why we are planning to build hundreds more homes over the next two years.
“This new development will also create jobs for recently qualified local apprentices who are set to work on the scheme.”
Two of the sites, Russell Court and Whittlebrook, will be developed by ForWorks while the third site, Rowan House (pictured above) will be developed by STG (Strategic Team Group).
The scheme, which is due for completion in early 2019, will be designed by John McCall Architects. City West secured just over £1m grant funding from Homes England (formerly the Homes and Communities Agency) towards the development of the new properties.
City West plans to build a further 785 homes by 2020 on sites across Salford as part of parent group ForViva’s wider plans to build 1,200 properties across the North-west.
The landlord has recently completed The Willows, an £11m development of 103 new affordable homes on the site of the former Salford Reds Rugby ground in Weaste.
City West has also started work on several new developments in recent months, including building 39 affordable homes at Radclyffe Park in Ordsall, and a £3m block of 33 apartments on Corporation Road in the centre of Eccles.
