Manchester seeks CPO powers for £100m Brunswick scheme

MANCHESTER City Council is seeking compulsory purchase powers over an estate in Ardwick that is in line for a £113m private finance initiative (PFI) revamp.

According to council papers, the CPO will cover an area with 653 houses within the Brunswick estate which sits between Upper Brook Street and Stockport Road, south of the Mancunian Way.

Of the estate’s 1,135 homes, 902 are council properties and 233 are owner occupied. Most of the buildings were constructed in the 1970s and consist of low rise housing and several blocks of flats.

The plan is to refurbish more than 600 houses, improve the layout of the estate, and increase the number of owner occupiers. More than 500 houses will be built with 300 available for sale.

The changes involve the demolition of 278 houses, of which 49 are privately owned. Some 124 will be reversed – the front will become the back – and of these 37 are private. Some 117 private houses are included in the CPO because of boundary changes which will cause gardens to shrink in 36 cases.

Of the 49 privately-owned houses earmarked for demolition, four compensation deals have been struck, and talks continue for 18 others. A further 17 have made contact with the council but eight have not yet made contact despite receiving letters.

A planning application that involves the demolition of 278 homes, the construction of around 500 and the refurbishment of 839, was approved in the summer.

The work will start in January and the estate will be managed for the next 25 years by the Solutions 4 Brunswick consortium which consists of construction group Galliford Try, Contour Homes, investor Equitix and maintenance company Mears.

The only park, Gartside Gardens, will shrink by 35% and across the development there will be a loss of 13,200 sq m – the size of nearly two football pitches. But the council said facilities at the park will be upgraded.

The scheme was first unveiled five years ago but later stalled was only given the green light by the government in June after the council submitted a “value-for-money” business case for the scheme, identifying £4.9m of savings.

The council signed the PFI contract with the S4B consortium yesterday. Cllr Nigel Murphy, executive member for housing and regeneration, said: “Contracting S4B officially to the Brunswick PFI scheme marks the end of a long journey for local residents who have waited many years for their regeneration plans to become a reality.”

In a stock exchange announcement housebuilding and construction group Galliford Try said that S4B had reached financial close on the scheme.

Chief executive Greg Fitzgerald said: “We are very pleased to reach agreement with Manchester City Council, our consortium partners and other project stakeholders to secure what will be an important regeneration project for Greater Manchester. S4B is already well advanced in its planning for the project, and we look forward to formal commencement of works early in 2014.”

 

Click here to sign up to receive our new South West business news...
Close