Long-awaited transformation of Stockport hat factory completes
The new-look Battersby hat works in Offerton will provide 144 homes across both new-build and refurbished elements.
The project is the largest to date for Viaduct Housing, a partnership between Stockport Homes Group and Stockport Council.
Plans for the £33m redevelopment of Hempshaw Mills, the former Battersby hat works site, were approved in 2018 and seven years and a collapsed contractor later, it has now completed.
Lane End Developments went bust in 2023, resulting in the appointment of John Southworth Builders and Three Sixty to complete the scheme.
The new development includes 10 affordable rent homes, 79 shared ownership homes, 54 homes for market sale, and one market rent apartment located within the former water tower.
Tim Pinder, director of property at Stockport Homes Group, said: “This ambitious project blends a much-loved local landmark with high-quality, affordable housing to create a thriving new neighbourhood. It’s a £33m investment that has taken six years to complete and will now provide safe, settled and secure homes for people in Stockport, at a time when around 9,000 households are on the Housing Register.
I’m proud this is the latest in a long line of developments that Stockport Homes Group has delivered and will continue to deliver to improve housing outcomes across the borough.”
Alistair Chapman, chair of Viaduct Housing Partnership, added: “The Battersby Hat Works is a fantastic scheme that preserves a series of buildings that are truly part of Stockport’s culture and heritage.
“As ever with conversions of historic buildings, they have their challenges and the way Stockport Council, Stockport Homes, John Southworth and Three Sixty Construction have come together to complete the scheme is commendable.
“I would like to extend by thanks to all involved. I hope this will be one of many schemes that Viaduct Housing Partnership, John Southworth and Three Sixty Construction can delivery alongside the council.”
PRP Architects designed the scheme, with Urban Green working on landscaping.
The professional team also includes Nexus Planning, Stephen Levrant Heritage Architecture, Croft Transport Solutions and Roger Hannah & Co, which completed the employment land review.
A sad indictment of the decline of the hat as well as British manufacturing.
By Anonymous
We need more social housing for alot of people who can’t afford deposits to buy
By Anonymous
No mention of Homes England but I assume they provide some grant funding to make this happen?
By Anonymous
About time
By Dale hart
What about the new builds on Vine Street, Hazel Grove ready since 2023. Why aren’t Stockport Homes selling them?
By Anonymous
I’ll… Take my hat off to them…
By Darren
Some of the new build houses behind the original hat factory could be a lot better in design. But overall quite a good scheme.
By Jim
It cost me and my Mrs £20,000 awaiting to get into our property.The worst mistake of our lives ,Still nowhere near complete.
By Stuart
Where is all the extra traffic going to go,there will be more gridlocks than ever.
By Anonymous
My great grandparents started the Battersby Hat works , and I think this new development looks wonderful and am so pleased it includes some affordable rented properties. I think all past Battersbys would have been very happy with it. I am pleased you had a Battersby at the opening ceremony.
By Ann Fowle
Why is the entrance to get in still fenced off opposite St Albans church on Marple road if it’s all complete?
By Sharon
The usual line-up of self-congratulatory comments from architects and company directors who are responsible for bringing the scheme to the public. Why do we never hear from the people on the housing waiting list, the people who will have to live there?
By Spartacus
The factory has gone, but the name remains, as does my memory of a tour of the factory, as a teenager in about 1949, to see how hats were made.
By Alan Parkinson