John Southworth to cap off Stockport hat factory resi
The final phase of Viaduct Housing Partnership’s plans for 144 homes on the former Battersby Hat Factory has begun with a new company at the helm, nearly a year after previous contractor Lane End entered administration.
Main contractor John Southworth began work on the £3.7m conversion of the factory’s mills on 29 January. When the scheme completes in December, the mills will host a mixture of apartments, mews, and houses. The homes will have between one and four bedrooms. Of the 45 to be built, 26 will be available under a shared-ownership tenure.
The project is the largest to date for Viaduct Housing, a partnership between Stockport Homes Group and Stockport Council. The work on the mills is the final element of its wider 144-home redevelopment of the Offerton site. Its vision for the site includes 99 new-build houses in addition to the 45 homes in the mills themselves.
In 2019, the partnership was working with Lane End Developments Construction on the neighbourhood. After Lane End went into administration in April 2023, Stockport Homes Group’s contractor Three Sixty stepped in to complete the new-build elements. Now, John Southworth has been brought in for the mill work.
“We’re delighted to be working alongside John Southworth to deliver a range of modern, high-quality homes,” said John Bowker, executive director of operations at Stockport Homes Group. “They bring a wealth of experience and expertise that will carry this project forward and bring the mills back to life for new homeowners to enjoy.”
John Southworth director Steven Brown commented: “We’re proud to be working on a project that has played such a historic part in Stockport’s industrial story. This phase of the build will create new homes that complement the significance of the building, and the local communities that kept the borough’s famous hat-making tradition alive for so many years.”
And exactly how,much with they cost to rent?
They won’t be Stockport residents prices.
Something needs to be done about the greedy housing market.
By Jeeps
A very appropriate reporter for the article!
By Vincent
I may have called dibs on this one!
By Julia Hatmaker
About time
By Dale hart
Jeeps, why are you being so negative? Surely the developer should be commended for restoring an historic building and providing low cost home ownership opportunities, many other developers would have simply demolished the mill and built bog standard three bed semi-detached boxes.
By Anonymous
Any further infrastructure going to be put in place? Traffic on the roads is horrendous already with current population trying to get to work, school etc. Huge traffic jams around the lights at The Finger Post every morning and this development feeds onto that road.
By Anonymous
Im 82 so it was still a hat works when I attended Banks Lane school nearby. The big tower thing was always a landmark
By Alan cheetham
What has happened to the hat museum? Has it been moved somewhere else?
By Anonymous
That hat museum moved to Wellington Mill around 2000, so don’t worry! The Hat Works Museum has also been closed for a few years for refurb, but is reopening on 9 March.
By Julia Hatmaker
Les will not be happy.
By Dave B
Will there be sufficient parking for these properties as its a nightmare at the moment for people living on hempshaw Lane,garth Rd and Whalley Road
By Anonymous
Again more homes,no doctors,dentists etc As these are family homes I imagine there was be children Schools in the area cannot take any more pupils
By Sue Smith