Salford offloads land for homeless facility

Housing association Mosscare St Vincent’s is to create a 42-apartment supported living scheme on land off St Simon Street in Lower Broughton, after the city council approved a land disposal.

Located on the banks of the River Irwell next to the Riverside House student accommodation complex, the site is a former council depot previously used in connection with Blackfriars Housing Office. 

Having been vacant for more than a decade, Mosscare St Vincent’s Housing Group approached Salford City Council with a view to buying the site. 

The developer’s scheme would comprise 40 one-bedroom apartments and two properties with two-bedrooms. 

The one-bedroom apartments would be made available on a temporary basis to homeless people in need of accommodation and access to medium or low-level support.  

Under the terms of the sale, Salford City Council is to “retain the ability to lease the two-bedroom family apartments to accommodate those who require emergency housing”, according to a council report.  

Charity Mustard Tree is to occupy the ground floor commercial space and will provide support to residents through its Freedom Project, a 20-week course aimed at equipping people with the skills required to get a job.  

The land sale is dependent on the approval of a planning application for the construction of the accommodation block, but the proposals have yet to be submitted to Salford City Council.  

The scheme has met with dissent from some local residents who contacted Place North West to express their concerns about the proposals. 

One resident who lives on Senior Lane, around half a mile from the proposed facility, said the project would “put children and properties at risk”, while another expressed concerns about the facility’s impact on house prices in the area. 

However, some commentators were in support of the plan. One claimed this type of accommodation is “desperately needed all around Greater Manchester”. 

A report to Salford City Council’s property and regeneration committee said that ward councillors who responded to the consultation on the proposals were supportive of the scheme. 

In 2014 the council agreed to dispose of the site to the owner of the adjacent student accommodation development. In March 2016, planning consent was granted for a mix of student facilities and apartments for private sale.   

However, the sale did not complete due to viability constraints. 

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Yes we desperateley need projects like this, people are living on the streets in 2021. we should all be ashamed. the questions should be what, why and how did they end up there?and what can we do to help! and not would this reduce the value of my house. If one council starts this and others follow and people get involved there is no limit to what the world could be like.

By Dave

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