Salford set for housing boom

Salford City Council has approved the development of almost 2,000 homes and more than 150,000 sq ft of offices at its planning committee meeting yesterday.

Projects that have been given the go-ahead include the construction of 1,100 apartments across four 26-storey blocks by X1 Developments and Knight Knox International.

The £200m X1 Media City scheme will be completed over four phases and is located on Michigan Avenue, Salford Quays.

Building work is being carried out by Liverpool-based Vermont Construction. Phase one will be made up of 275 flats which are due for completion in 2017. The development was designed by AHR.

The scheme also includes 22,700 sq ft of commercial space.

The council also approved Peel Land’s proposals for a 145,000 sq ft six-storey office on the Regent site next to Dock Nine and the Erie Basin, which has been pre-let to Bupa.

Construction of the property, known as The Regent, will start in 2016. When completed, around 2,000 Bupa staff will relocate from the company’s current offices in the Anchorage and Victoria buildings.

On the site of the Bupa car park in King William Enterprise Park, Peel-subsidiary Tokenhouse Developments was granted consent for a 300-apartment student accommodation scheme, across two blocks of eight- and 12-storeys.

In Seaford Road, Rock Asset Management will deliver a £7.5m development of 80 homes on the former Vita site, while Watson Homes and City West Housing Trust will bring forward 21 apartments and 80 homes as part of an £11m scheme at the former Salford Red Rugby Club.

At the former Mitchell Shackleton Vulcan engineering works, Bellway Homes’ plans for the construction of 140 homes was approved, alongside the development of 179 two- to four-bedroom houses at Burgess Farm in Worsley.