Affordable housing for over 55s gets ministerial welcome

The first movers into the 42 flats of Brickfields House were welcomed by local Ashton MP and deputy prime minister Angela Rayner.

Rayner cut the ribbon at Henrietta Street and stated she was “pleased to see that [the apartments] are age friendly and suitable for adaptations.”

The 22,700 sq ft site, built by Southway Housing Trust in collaboration with BTP Architects and Watson, provides accessible one-bedroom apartments for Tameside residents.

To help with bills and aging tenants, the flats have been designed with ease of use and energy efficiency in mind.

The three-storey build will have lift access, a communal garden, storage for mobility scooters, and walk-in showers.

Homes England grant of £530,000 from the GMCA’s Brownfield Housing Fund supported the project.

A car park with 14 spaces is also in the plans, as well as nearby transport links into Ashton town centre.

Brickfields House replaced the Emmanuel Court building which was built in the 1970s and deemed no longer fit for purpose.

According to the design and access statement, the “philosophy of the design is to ensure that the need of people with impairments is considered as an integral part of the development process.”

Angela Rayner MP, and John Bowker, Southway Housing Trust Chief Executive, with Brickfields tenants Zafar Iqbal, Lynn Williams and Elaine Deakin. Credit: via Tameside Council

John Bowker, chief executive of Southway Housing Trust, said: “I’m pleased that Brickfields House helps to address local housing need by providing quality homes for older people to live independently.

“This our first development of its kind in Tameside and it was fantastic for Angela to join us in celebrating the completion of these new homes with our residents.”

The planning statement was compiled by Pegasus Group while ACS Consulting provided the arboricultural report.

Also on the project’s team was WML Consulting, LM Ecology, Micro Drainage.

Southway Housing Trust manages around 6,000 homes across South Manchester.

To view the planning documents, use the reference number 20/00323/FUL on Tameside Council’s planning portal.