Life in Salford 36 • March 2022 8
New homes for Salford
New affordable homes will bring three former school sites back to life.
How new homes in Eccles New Road, Weaste could look
Forty five apartments and 132 homes will be built on the former school site off Longshaw Drive, more than half of which will be available as affordable housing. Three quarters of the homes will be let at affordable or market rent by Dérive, Salford City Council’s housing provider which is planning to deliver 3,000 homes over the next decade. The rest will be available to buy. Another 32 homes and 36 apartments, 75 per cent of which will be affordable, will be built on the former St Luke’s primary school in Eccles New Road, Weaste. Forty four will become part of Dérive’s portfolio while local charity Inspiring Communities Together intends to acquire the rest. In Charlestown, 45 homes for social and affordable rent will be built on the former Cromwell secondary school off Blandford Road. The development will also include Alan Boyson’s Grade II-listed Tree of Knowledge mural and is a partnership between Salford City Council and charity The Broughton Trust, which aims to become a communityled housing association. The schemes are part of the largest council-led housing scheme in Salford for 50 years with 129 homes being constructed and 43 already owned by Dérive.
Four new homes, four new chances A former family centre in Wingate Road, Little Hulton is being converted into new apartments to help Salford residents at risk of homelessness. The four one-bedroom apartments will help people take the next step from emergency accommodation into having their own home and will provide them with intensive, on-site support to help them permanently move away from homelessness. Salford City Council is currently housing over 300 people who have slept rough or are at risk of returning to the streets and the four apartments are the first of 28 which will be provided across the city this year. Deputy City Mayor Councillor Tracy Kelly, Lead Member for Housing, Property and Regeneration, said: “We continue to face a critical shortage of affordable housing in Salford and we have very few move-on options available. These apartments will provide a real lifeline.” The refurbishment of the disused centre, which is due to finish in May, will make sure the homes meet good, green standards and the two ground floor apartments will be wheelchair accessible. The £190,000 project is being funded from a successful bid to the government’s Rough Sleepers Accommodation Programme.
