Long-awaited Eccles care scheme gets another rework

ForHousing has been trying to redevelop a gap site next to the College Court tower block for a decade. The latest iteration of the project is taller and has more homes than earlier proposals.

The housing association has lodged a third application to redevelop the Fox Street site in Eccles, seeking permission from Salford City Council for a nine-storey block featuring 46 apartments.

The development, in the pipeline since 2016, would meet a growing need for specialist accommodation in the area, according to ForHousing.

The site of the proposed nine-storey development used to be occupied by a set of garages. These were demolished in 2018 and the site has sat vacant since, making it a target for anti-social behaviour.

In 2016, ForHousing – then known as City West Housing Trust – secured permission for 24 extra care flats on the same site.

However, funding issues prevented a start on site and the development was shelved.

In 2023, the housing association returned with revised plans for a seven-storey complex comprising 36 apartments.

That development was also approved by Salford City Council at the back end of last year.

The latest designs by Halsall Lloyd Partnership indicate a building that is two storeys taller with 10 more flats. The majority of the homes will have one bedroom.

The scheme is described as an extra care ‘lite’ development, which means homes will be available to people who require less assistance day-to-day than when compared to those residing in an extra care home.

There is a shortage of this type of accommodation in Salford, according to ForHousing, which claims in planning documents accompanying the submission that there is a “shortfall of 187 units of extra care in Salford”.

To learn more about the project, search for reference number PA/2025/0545 on Salford City Council’s planning portal.