Report of the Strategic Director (Growthand Development) attached

The Executive considered a report of the Strategic Director (Growth and Development) which outlined proposals to dispose of the former Spire Hospital site, Russell Road, Whalley Range, to Great Places Housing Group (GP), on a long leasehold basis to facilitate the delivery of 120 new affordable homes.

The Executive Member for Growth and Housing reported that the development would deliver c79 social rent apartments as part of the UK’s first purpose built and co-produced LGBTQ+ majority extra care housing (ECH) scheme with ground floor space for wider community use, and c41 apartments for shared ownership in a separate apartment block. 

The LGBT majority extra care scheme had been included within the Council’s extra care development programme in response to the findings of a Council commissioned research by the LGBT Foundation. This research identified  access to good quality affordable and accessible housing as being a key issue for older LGBT people in Manchester to provide a safe and accepting environment and found high levels of loneliness, isolation and health problems amongst older LGBTQ+ people.  The report also found that older LGBTQ+ people may have no family network for support and therefore had a greater reliance on commissioned services

Subject to approval to dispose, it was proposed that the Council and Great Places would negotiate the terms of and enter into an agreement for lease with the condition that Great Places secure a satisfactory planning consent within an agreed timescale.  Following the grant of planning permission for the proposed scheme, the Council would grant a 999-year development lease, in line with Homes England funding requirements. The lease would contain specific development obligations to ensure the scheme was brought forward and completed within agreed timescales. The user clause within the lease would be restricted to social rent homes as part of the UK’s first purpose built, coproduced LGBTQ+ majority Extra Care scheme alongside Shared Ownership apartments. The lease would be drafted to maintain the LGBTQ+ majority of the ECH scheme.

The scheme would bring a brownfield site, vacant for several years, back into use. And the development would be low carbon and highly sustainable using up to date energy efficiency measures through Passivhaus principles designed to reduce end user electricity costs. The completed development would incorporate secure cycle storage and be located close to high frequency bus corridors. This would encourage active and public transport.

Based on the proposed scheme, Great Places had made a financial offer in the form of a premium payment to the Council to acquire the site. The detail regarding the offer was set out in Part B of this report.  An external valuation had also been carried out based on the assumption of an implementable, planning policy compliant scheme based on a residential open market scheme.

Councillor Leech sought clarification as to who would be eligible to apply for the c41 apartments that would be subject to shared ownership.  The Executive Member for Growth and Housing confirmed that all of the LGBTQ+ community would be eligible to apply for one of the shared ownership apartments.

Decision

The Executive endorse the proposals to dispose of the former Spire Hospital site, Russell Road, Whalley Range, to Great Places Housing Group (GP), on a long leasehold basis to facilitate the delivery of 120 new affordable homes as part of the UK’s first purpose built and co-produced LGBTQ+ majority extra care housing (ECH) scheme.