300 apartments in latest plan for Salford’s rebirth
PLANS for almost 300 new flats have been submitted as part of a massive regeneration project in Salford.
Housebuilder Countryside has already overseen years of construction for the long-running scheme to transform Lower Broughton.
Now the developer is looking for planning permission from Salford City Council for a final phase, north of Clarence Street, and on either side of the Church of the Ascension.
If the proposal is approved, it would see 100 one-bed flats and 189 two-bed apartments built. The remaining 10 properties would have three bedrooms.
The scheme also includes a car park.
Countryside previously won permission to construct more than 400 properties on the site but halted its plans due to ‘economic conditions’ and a ‘perceived lack of market demand for such a significant apartment development.’
In its latest submission earlier this month, the company scaled down its initial proposal, asking to build six blocks of up to five storeys in height.
Originally it planned buildings of up to ten storeys.
The company’s planning statement, prepared by consultancy firm Lichfields, says that each of the properties will be available on a private rented basis and it does not propose any affordable housing.
The document says that a ‘key aspiration’ of the development agreement was to significantly reduce the proportion of affordable housing.
But it said that Countryside has already provided a substantial amount of cheaper properties in the area as part of the regeneration.
Figures in the proposal document show that affordable housing makes up just over a third of the total development. Providing private rented accommodation would add ‘greater diversity’ to the area, the submission argues. The council hasn’t yet set a date for the plans to be discussed.