Council resolves to grant permission for 2,000 Salford homes

At a meeting last week, Salford City Council's planning and transportation regulatory panel resolved to grant full planning permission for developer X1 Media City Limited's (XMC) plans for four high-rise apartment blocks on Michigan Avenue in Salford Quays. The Council had previously granted permission in 2007 for a 1,036-apartment scheme at the site, but delivery stalled following the global recession and the previous developer went into administration.

The site's administrators extended applied successfully to extend the permission in 2010 and new owners XMC subsequently applied to amend it, increasing the number of apartments at the site to 1,100 and reducing the amount of commercial space on the lower floors of the towers by two thirds.

A planning officer's report to the panel noted that the amended plans reduced the number of three-bedroom apartments whilst increasing the proportion of studio and one-bedroom apartments. The officer was satisfied, however, that since studio and one-bedroom apartments would not predominate, representing exactly 50% of the homes, the proposed mix was acceptable. The report also noted that local policy did not require affordable housing to be provided in high density apartment schemes in high value areas.

The panel resolved to approve outline plans for two blocks of student accommodation at the site of an existing car park in Salford Quays, to serve four existing and proposed MediaCityUK further education establishments. The Council was satisfied that developer Tokenhouse Developments had demonstrated a need for additional student accommodation at Salford Quays, which has no existing student accommodation, and that the proposal, for up to 300 student bedrooms in a mix of studio to four-bedroom units, would be appropriate.

Councillors resolved to grant outline permission for the demolition of industrial buildings on Seaford Road in Salford and their replacement with up to 80 two- to four-bedroom homes. Whilst the whole site was considered an employment site, it had been identified in the Council's employment land review as being potentially being appropriate for a change of use. Planning officers considered that the redevelopment of the site could be supported, considering "the benefits ... of bringing a large, vacant, and degraded site back into use and in doing so providing a significant number of new residential properties".

The panel also resolved to grant reserved matters approval for 179 two- to four-bedroom homes, including 36 affordable homes, on farmland to the north-west of the town of Worsley; full planning permission for 103 affordable homes at the site of the former Willows Rugby Club in Salford; and allowed developer homes to vary conditions attached to an existing outline permission for 140 homes at a former industrial site in Eccles.

Planning expert Ben Mansell of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com said: "This is another boost for the Salford Quays area, which is gaining more and more momentum as a hub for young professionals and students. It is also great news on the housing front. Housing is a real issue in Greater Manchester, with one report recently suggesting that the region could ‘run out’ of housing within the next decade. The report suggests that by 2025 there will be more families than homes. Approximately 4,000 homes are constructed each year, compared to a requirement of around 11,000. The grant of housing planning permissions in Salford, Worsley and Eccles will go some way to resolve this issue".