Louisa Street, Manchester
Louisa Street in Openshaw, East Manchester is a joint venture between Westchurch Homes and Jigsaw Homes North for 71 affordable homes. We advised on the planning strategy to ensure a smooth route through the planning system and secure a delegated decision to approve.
Credit: View Associates
For: Westchurch Homes and Jigsaw Homes North
With: View Associates and Heritage Architecture
What is it: A 100% affordable housing scheme, comprising 42 apartments and 29 houses, that met local need and directly supported the Council’s Housing Strategy.
Local Planning Authority: Manchester City Council
What we did: We represented developer Westchurch Homes on its first scheme in Manchester, when it needed a planning advisor who had an established track record in the City.
As part of its joint venture with registered housing provider Jigsaw Homes, we advised Westchurch on the planning strategy for 71 affordable homes on this brownfield site.
Through taking a thorough and proactive approach, and building on our positive relationship with the Council, we anticipated issues before they became issues, and ultimately secured planning permission under delegated powers.
Credit: View Associates
The challenge
Viability was the key challenge here.
Affordable housing schemes inevitably impact on a developer’s bottom line, but this former industrial site in East Manchester also required plenty of remedial work before it could be transformed. A non-designated heritage asset on site gave an additional dimension.
Added to this, the City Council, rightly so, places a high bar on design quality and space standards. We needed to demonstrate that the applicants had carefully considered the proposed design – which included demolishing the non-designated heritage asset – and that it achieved the appropriate quality, all while maintaining important viability metrics.
Credit: View Associates
The solution
The principle of new affordable housing was established from the outset, but the devil was in the detail.
We took the time to understand the local planning authority’s ambitions for the site, meeting regularly to establish clarity on both sides about what would be expected when the proposal was submitted.
Although the building fronting onto Louisa Street was not statutorily listed, it still held local historic significance. So we brought specialist advisor Heritage Architecture on board to establish its significance. We knew the design team needed to carefully consider reusing the building, but this process ultimately confirmed that it wasn’t possible to meet space standards and achieve the high quality of development sought through restoration of the existing building.
Taking this approach at the outset removed any doubt around the significance of the building or its potential to be retained, demonstrating clearly that the only viable solution was to demolish it.
The application was approved under delegated powers in June 2023.
The benefits
It’s by no means guaranteed that a scheme of this scale would side step planning committee and be delegated to officers to determine.
But we built a robust case that left no room for ambiguity and dealt proactively with the demolition of a non-designated heritage asset, which may otherwise have been a potential area for concern.
We established trust with the local planning authority and presented a clear picture of why the scheme should be supported, anticipating and dealing with objections before they had chance to emerge.
This approach paved the way for a clear route through to a delegated approval.
The planning application made clear how closely the proposal aligned with the Council’s wider housing and regeneration objectives, particularly in relation to its Housing Strategy (2022-2032) which sets out the aspiration to deliver 10,000 new affordable homes across the city.
Our client said:
“With the Euan Kellie team at the helm, securing this planning permission felt pretty seamless. They brought together the right experts and coordinated the whole process, anticipated potential pitfalls and facilitated a meaningful dialogue with planning officers to proactively address and resolve issues.
“All in all, it was probably one of our smoothest runs through planning and, importantly, we were able to start on site earlier than programmed.”
A 100% affordable housing scheme on a brownfield site, in a highly accessible location in inner city Manchester. By our accounts, that’s a big success for placemaking.
Work is well underway at Louisa Street, with completion anticipated in May 2025.
