Water Mill Gardens in Prestwich, is a prestigious mixed tenure development of 109 new homes and apartments built on land steeped in local industrial history as the site of the first Cussons soap factory established in 1905. Of the overall 109 homes, 26 homes have been designed and marketed specifically for shared ownership which sit alongside 65 homes for market sale (via Cube), and 18 for affordable rent.

Following demolition of the Cussons factory in 2010, the brownfield site had been left vacant and derelict for a decade with a reputation as a ‘difficult’ site to develop. After unlocking the significant technical and viability challenges on the site, the site was purchased unconditionally by Great Places and a full planning application made. Planning approval was granted in August 2019 without objection. Casey Construction commenced construction works in January 2020 with completion and sale of the final shared ownership home achieved in March 2022.

Each of the homes have been cleverly designed to maximise woodland, river and city views and combine contemporary design to achieve what is a fully integrated new community. Shared ownership is at the heart of the scheme’s success with high demand and customer satisfaction contributing to an exceptional development, which has proved incredibly popular with customers.

The homes for affordable rent will be completed in August 2022, with Market Sales completing in September.

The former Mayor of Stockport, Councillor Adrian Nottingham, paid a return visit to view progress on our £24 million flagship housing development at the former Cranford Golf Centre in Heaton Mersey, Stockport, after attending the official start of the project last year. The Mayor also visited the sales suite and had the opportunity a look around one of the soon to be completed homes.

The Poplars, delivered in partnership with Breck Homes, will provide 106 new homes, a mixture of two, three, and four-bed affordable houses and apartments for social rent, shared ownership (available through Plumlife Homes) and a further five homes for market sale (through Cube Homes).

Following our merger with Equity Housing Group in 2020, The Poplars is our inaugural development in Stockport, meeting our commitment to build much-needed affordable new homes across the borough.

The development provides a range of affordable homes and options to buy and let for the local community in what is a highly sought after area.

More than 1,500 people registered for shared ownership and first-phase let on launch weekend, and market-sale properties were all reserved on launch, too, proving that demand for these properties is very high.

August 2021 saw work commence on the Radclyffe Green development in Chadderton, Oldham, being delivered with Countryside Properties as part of our ongoing partnership. This is the second phase, but one of many sites being delivered as part of this influential partnership.

This second mixed-tenure development at Broadway Green, a collection of two, three and four bedroom homes just two miles from Oldham town centre, follows the successful Radclyffe Gardens, situated nearby on Lydia Becker Way.

Radclyffe Green will comprise detached, semi-detached and mews house types with 31 available for shared ownership and 20 for affordable rent.

As part of its Section 106 agreement with Oldham Council, Countryside has also pledged to invest £540k towards education provision in the town. Delivery of the Radclyffe Green scheme is also unlocking phase one of the new Linear Park, with £150k of works set to take place.

The 19-acre Linear Park stretches across the Broadway Green development and will create open space for residents to explore and enjoy. When complete it will boast footpaths, picnic areas and two natural soft play areas incorporating balancing bridges, tree trunks and stepping logs.

Great Places has a long history of managing homes within the Mill Hill area of Blackburn. We have established a collaborative partnership with Blackburn and Darwen Council through which we have been able to work together, forward plan and deliver a range of interventions to regenerate the neighbourhood.

By capturing a view of the neighbourhood as it was and assessing the benefits of the locality – including connectivity, proximity to the town centre and the potential offered by vacant sites – we were able to plan interventions to maximise the impact.

Dereliction, limited range of housing typologies and unaffordability of private rent were identified as key challenges. By thinking laterally to maximise impact, the four sites (Shakespeare Way, Shorrock Lane, Bowen Street and New Wellington Street) were designed to address these priorities, providing a mix of house types (cottage flats, bungalows, family homes with a range of bedrooms) and affordable tenures to address the needs of the local community.

Through extensive work at the pre-planning stage, we were able to ensure that all developments met the design aspirations of the community and reflected the area’s history. All four developments are sustainably located, close to existing facilities, services and transport links.

Since completion, private investments have been made into the retail/leisure sector with several small independent shops and restaurants opening. The local high street is busier, and the level of empty shops is significantly reduced.

Demand data for the new homes evidences the changing local profile. Previously a hard-to-let neighbourhood, there were more than 1,300 expressions of interest for the affordable rent homes.

Great Places has been involved in the regeneration of the Ancoats and New Islington neighbourhoods close to Manchester city centre for around 20 years. Our plans for our Ancoats Dispensary and Downley Drive developments are progressing, to complement our existing homes and ongoing commitment to the development of this growing and vibrant neighbourhood, as well as providing 107 much needed high-quality affordable homes.

At the start of this year, councillor Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council, joined us to mark the official start of work on the £10 million redevelopment of the iconic former Ancoats Dispensary into 39 one and two-bed apartments available for affordable rent.

The plans, delivered in partnership with Manchester City Council, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), Homes England, and Contractors Eric Wright, will look to preserve as much of the original Grade-2-listed facade as possible.

Great Places has worked on the proposals with a variety of stakeholders, including Manchester Life, who have been instrumental in restarting the neighbourhood’s regeneration since 2014, as well as the Ancoats Dispensary Trust. The Dispensary, built in 1874, provided healthcare for the city’s growing population alongside the Royal Infirmary. The local landmark remained in use until 1989 but has been vacant until now.

The development is the first project in a new, coordinated phase by Great Places, Manchester City Council and Manchester Life to deliver over 400 new homes for a broad range of housing needs, with our second development at Downley Drive, a mixture one and two-bed apartments and 23 three and two-bedroom affordable homes, set to start on site later this year.