Salford ready to accept co-living with first ever scheme
After years of nervousness about the emerging sector, the city council looks set to approve Progressive Living’s 568-unit development off Gorton Street next week.
Salford City Council’s planning panel is due to meet next Thursday and Progressive’s scheme has been recommended for approval by officers.
Designed by BDP and located within the Greengate regeneration area, the co-living complex would rise to 41 storeys and provide units ranging from 226 sq ft to 376 sq ft.
The development would offer a total of 26,500 sq ft of amenity space – 46 sq ft per unit.
The iteration of the scheme up for determination next week is five storeys taller than the project Progressive consulted on in 2021.
In the works since before the pandemic, the Gorton Street proposals were originally for a 36-storey tower with a 50/50 co-living and hotel split.
However, the scheme is now 100% co-living and five storeys taller.
Salford has previously not had much truck with co-living as a concept. The authority refused permission for Beech Holdings’ 238-unit development in Langworthy last year and has dragged its feet on making a decision on CERT’s Salford Quays co-living tower.
The sticking point for Salford and many other local authorities across the country when it comes to co-living is the size of the proposed units.
The co-living concept, by its very nature, calls for smaller unit sizes than a typical apartment scheme, offset by an increase in amenity space.
While units in co-living developments are smaller than apartments in build-to-rent projects, the trade-off is lower rents and a focus on creating a sense of community, encouraging residents to mingle in the communal spaces, developers say.
As most councils do not have a specific planning policy to assess co-living, the projects often end up being refused as they are judged on the same basis as regular apartment schemes – namely by nationally described space standards.
In Salford’s report on Progressive’s project, it appears progress has been made in terms of a mindset shift around co-living. It states: “[Salford’s] policy H2 specifies that the nationally described space standards will not be applied to co-living developments”.
Progressive has also demonstrated the building could be adapted to comprise mainstream apartments if required in the future, the report states.
A positive decision for Progressive next week will likely buoy other developers eyeing Salford for co-living schemes, such as CERT and new entrant Re:shape, which recently unveiled plans for more than 400 co-living units in Ordsall.
To learn more about Progressive’s scheme, search for application reference number 23/82208/FULEIA on Salford City Council’s planning portal.
The professional team for Progressive’s Gorton Street project also includes Zerum, Turley, Renaissance, Novo, Exterior Architecture, GIA, OFR, Our Studio, Hann Tucker, Our Studio and Hydrock.
On one hand this will contribute really well to the activation of the archways in Greengate. The design is just naff though. Something similar to Meridian Square, Stratford by BDP would have been much more likeable here
By Anonymous
More profits for developers, higher rents for living in shoeboxes. Stack us high, sell us cheap.
By John
The current scheme is certainly an improvement on the previous one judging by these images.
By Steve
Co-living wears the cloak of some hippy dippy nirvana. The reality will be a mental health disaster zone, a total break down of social order within them and obsolescence within a very short building life
By Anonymous
Well said John.
By The Squirrel's Nuts
I actually think smaller sized apartments are needed there is a unmet demand for affordable 1 bedroom flats which these studios could contribute to. Many young people are forced to house share as its more economical rather then renting a 1 bedroom costing a lot more. The national space standards should be removed in my opinion.
Also those Arches have stayed derelict for years, they could of activated them early on, generate a revenue and made their development more attractive.
By Anonymous
Good News! Good to see Salford being more enlightened than many other LPA’s. Co-Living is a great concept. Why should Students have all the fun? If PBSA is ok for a young adult in Higher Education why is it not suitable for an adult in Employment? Surely the customer should be able to chose rather than have councillors and planning officers choosing that they can’t have what they want. It’s a great way of providing a lot of dwellings on a small footprint which helps alleviate the housing crisis.
By GJ
I’ve seen similar apartments advertised at £1000 per month rent for a small bedroom & ensuite and everything else shared. No wonder developers are keen to push the narrative of co-living when its actually just all about their profits
By Anonymous
This is great news for Greengate. One less surface car park and more homes and leisure use with the arches and green space. The co living is fine, look at Abito, they’re all small studio spaces with none of the amenities and no one complains. Not everyone wants to share a space with some random off Spareroom.
By Anonymous
Future slum housing. They could easily build fewer units which would be totally self-contained, as housing should be for adults.
By GetItBuilt!
So basically it’s another way to make more units that developer can sell within same space.
Nothing but greed that is being covered with some sort of philosophy behind it.
By Michael
Co-living thrives in Mcr/Salford, while in Liverpool its yet another housing provision the councillors don’t like. No wonder there’s very little building going on here, Liverpool just seems to find endless reasons for blocking development and the lack of stories on PNW just confirms this.
By Anonymous
Terrible design yet again
By Anonymous