Guinness plots Stockport town centre apartments
Housing provider The Guinness Partnership is planning to build 135 affordable homes on a plot behind Stockport Town Hall, across buildings of six, eight, and 11 storeys.
The company is planning to demolish the existing buildings on the site on Edward Street, including the Crucible Snooker Club, and replace them with three apartment blocks. Part of the plot is also occupied by a surface car park.
Designed by architect Bowker Sadler, the proposals feature a mix of apartment types, with 105 two-bedroom apartments, 14 two-bed duplexes, and 16 one-bedroom apartments.
All of these are designated as affordable and will be available for shared ownership; some of the homes will also have an active frontage to Edward Street.
The three brick-clad blocks, to sit opposite Stockport Council’s offices, will also provide a ground level car park with space for 75 vehicles along with 136 cycle parking spaces. A new pedestrian route linking Bamford Street to the rear and Edward Street will also be created.
According to planning documents, the land is currently owned by Quorum Estates.
In its submission to Stockport Council, the architect said the project would offer “increased footfall to existing businesses nearby including the town centre” and would create “active street frontages to Edward Street and Bamford Street which will contribute significantly to the sense of place in a key town centre location”.
The Guinness Partnership owns and manages around 65,000 homes across England; by 2023, the housing provider is aiming to build 7,500 homes across the country.
The professional team on the project also includes planner NJL Consulting and transport planner Crofts.
Affordable housing eh! Affordable homes for those that are able to part buy. When will soneone see sense and start to understand that we have an aging population due to the baby boom of the 60’s. We’re not all made of money, we can’t all afford to buy. So why not start to listen to those of us who are not in the position to buy and build some decent homes in the social housing sector, not sky scrapers, where no one sees another soul for days, nor when the lifts don’t work you have to risk life and limb to scale stairs. Disabled people deserve to have a decent place to live too, so consider bungalow builds in an area that isn’t miles from the shopping centre.
By Lorraine Jordan
I’m interested in social housing rent
By Patricia Brookes