Watson Homes starts on £6m Salford development

Working on behalf of Places for People, contractor Watson Homes and developer Investar Property Group have started construction on a £6m, 58-home project on the site of the former All Souls church in Weaste.

The site on the corner of Weaste Lane and Liverpool Street was formerly home to the church which was demolished in 2011, and Places for People is now bringing forward a mix of apartments and houses, designed by architect TADW.

There will be 17 one bed and 31 two-bed apartments, along with eight three-bedroom houses and one four-bedroom bungalow; all of the nine houses will have private gardens, and there are also 46 car parking spaces.

All the homes will be allocated via the local authority’s choice based lettings system, available to Salford residents who are in housing need.

Watson Homes has now started on the first phase of the development, named Melody Gardens, which will see the houses and the bungalow, while the apartments will follow in the second phase.

Overall, the scheme is expected to take 77 weeks to build with completion pencilled in for late next year or early 2020. Savills is acting as agent for the project.

Michael Dong, chief executive of Investar Property Group, said: “The Salford property market is extremely buoyant, but there remains a large need for social housing in the area.

“It’s great to be able to work collaboratively with Places for People to increase the supply of genuinely affordable homes in Salford. Melody Gardens is being purposefully built with local residents in mind, offering high quality living for those in the community who need it most.”