A pocket of empty land in Salford is about to be transformed into one the city’s most desirable places to live. Based between Robert Hall Road and West Park Street in Ordsall, the area has planning permission for 274 new homes made from a mix of houses and apartments on “tree lined” streets. This includes “green spaces” around the neighbourhood, and plans to foster a new community on the border of Salford and Manchester. It’s based just around the corner from the iconic Salford Lads Club, and there are plans to link to nearby cycle networks to encourage active forms of travel. More than 100 of the homes will be rented out at “affordable” rates to provide much-needed housing for the growing numbers of people in the city. These will be managed by Dérive, a development company owned by Salford City Council. Councillor John Warmisham said: “This has been a long time coming, that patch of land has been for so many years, I think it’s fantastic that we are building council houses again, it’s so much needed. “If you look at that area it has been gentrified, and I know there are families there who can’t afford to live there, so to see something like this has got to be welcome and I fully support it.” New houses on the site will be terraced to fit in with the character of the area, each with a private garden. These will include two, three, and four-bedroom homes to cater to a range of people and families. Ordsall District Centre and St Clement’s Egerton CofE School were previously located on the land, but their closures left it empty for a number of years. Housing is desperately needed in the city, after Salford Mayor Paul Dennett declared a homelessness “crisis” in January. As the plan for new homes was approved, a Salford council staff member shared how there were more than 5,000 people facing homelessness in 2022/23, with more than 400 households staying in temporary accommodation. To this note, Coun Bob Clarke said it was “disappointing” that more of the homes aren’t affordable. But house building in Salford is about to ramp up, with the council recently adopting the Places for Everyone scheme – a Greater Manchester-wide plan for more homes and jobs. That could see around 28,000 new houses built in Salford – a major boost to the size of the city and its future.
