128 new homes in Ancoats have been approved by Manchester’s planning committee in the first of a new council housing development project.
Manchester City Council explains that the green light given to the first phase of the new ‘This City’ development will include 118 apartments across two buildings, alongside 10 townhouses – which will have either three or four bedrooms.
The apartments will be a mix of 27 one-bedroom and 91 two-bedroom homes.
30% of the homes will be made available at the Manchester Living Rent, which is capped at the Government’s Local Housing Allowance rate and is therefore “affordable to residents on housing benefit”, according to the Council.
This will increase the number of homes available to people on lower incomes in the city centre, while the remainder will be available at market rent.
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The development brings back into use a Brownfield site bound by Rodney Street, Jersey Street, Wadeford Close, and Butler Street on the border of Ancoats and Miles Platting.
128 new homes in Ancoats have been approved by Manchester’s planning committee / Credit: This City / Buttress
As well as the homes sitting in a “highly sustainable location” close to the city centre, which give residents the option of walking, cycling, and using public transport to access local services and employment, the town houses will also each include a parking space with electric vehicle charging points, and private gardens to the rear.
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There’ll also be plenty of space for bicycle parking, and the addition of The Mobility Hub – a new concept that the Council says will centralise and reduce the need for onsite car parking, as well as limiting traffic in the wider neighbourhood.
£32 million will be invested in the wider public realm, and a greening scheme will also see Ancoats become a low-carbon sustainable neighbourhood – with a focus on active travel, walking, and cycling routes.
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1,500 homes are expected to be delivered in this area in the coming years as the final phase of the regeneration of Ancoats, the Council confirms.
30% of the homes will be made available at the Manchester Living Rent / Credit: This City / Buttress
“It’s great to see the first This City site out of the blocks and delivering the homes that we know Manchester people need,” said Cllr Bev Craig – Leader of Manchester City Council.
“Our intention is to scale up development to at least 500 homes per year and at least 20percent of these will be made available at the Manchester Living Rent – delivering high quality, affordable housing for families on lower incomes.
“This is a really exciting time for Ancoats and the beginning of the completion of a regeneration journey spanning two decades.”
Featured Image – Manchester City Council
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Luxury Manchester gym Blok confirms permanent closure after weeks of uncertainty
Daisy Jackson
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure, weeks after the doors to the premium fitness facility mysteriously closed.
Around a fortnight ago, members began to arrive to their classes to find the gym on Ducie Street locked up and a forfeiture notice on the door – but at the time, Blok said that it was fighting to reopen.
Sadly, in an email sent to members today, its founder has confirmed that the studio is now permanently closed.
Blok – which has several very successful sites down in London – said that its relationship with its landlord has ‘broken down to a point where trust has been lost’.
The gym wrote that it’s been left with ‘no workable way forward’.
They said: “BLOK Manchester was a space built by our loyal and dedicated community. Whether you joined us for one class or one hundred, we are deeply grateful. You helped create something genuinely special in an incredible city.”
In the immediate future, they said they’ll be supporting the team of fantastic trainers who worked here, as well as looking after members.
Members will be contacted within a few hours with options and refunds owed.
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure. Credit: The Manc Group
CEO and founder Ed Stanbury said: “While this marks the end of a chapter, we don’t see it as the end of our story in Manchester. We’re already speaking with developers about potential future sites and remain committed to returning to the city when the time is right.
“Thank you for being part of our story so far. Let’s shape the future of wellness. The mission continues.”
Commenting on Blok’s Instagram post – its first in almost a fortnight – people have been sharing their sadness at the closure of its Manchester site.
One person wrote: “beautiful space, beautiful staff and beautiful community.”
Another said: “Sending love to all the instructors !! :(((( gutted”
Someone else commented: “THE BEST CLASSES. I’m gutted.”
‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
Emily Sergeant -
2nd September 2022 
