Salford City Council has laid out its commitments to build 417 affordable, eco-friendly and “good quality” homes in the city region.
It’s set to be the biggest public housing programme the city has seen since the 1960s.
Arriving in the wake of around 6,000 households waiting to be housed by the council, it’s been revealed that former school sites will be turned into community-led housing run by tenants, while the other schemes will belong to wholly council-owned company Dérive.
All the new homes – a mix of one to five-bedroom houses and apartments – will be low carbon and low energy units, which will be built with a “fabric first” approach.
It’s believed that the local authority will have to borrow up to £65 million to finance the “ambitious” project, but it hopes that the housing programme will end up enabling the saving of council cash in the future.
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What exactly is in store for Salford then?
The new housing includes 47 flats and four houses on the Clifton Green in Pendlebury – for which planning permission has already been granted – 12 houses in Brassington Avenue and six houses and 35 apartments in Ryall Avenue in Ordsall, which were given the go ahead by the planning panel in October, a total of 111 homes built at the former St Luke’s Primary School in Weaste and the Irwell Valley Lower School in Irwell Riverside, of which 69 will be owned by the Broughton Trust and Inspiring Communities Housing.
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The council has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding agreement with the two community-led organisations, which means it will work in partnership to provide much-needed affordable homes.
Contractor G and J Seddon has been chosen to build all of these homes.
PRP / Salford City CouncilPRP / Salford City Council
Plans for 177 homes in Longshaw Drive, Little Hulton are also being prepared, but construction company Wates will not progress the proposal past the planning application stage as their costings were too high for the council, and the local authority also plans to acquire a further eight houses and 17 one-bedroom apartments being built by Salix Homes in Kara Street, Langworthy.
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Peter Openshaw – Assistant Director at Dérive – described the developer’s first set of schemes as the biggest public housebuilding programme by the city since the 1960s, but admitted the 417 homes will require the council to borrow between £60 – £65 million.
And future schemes would require further borrowing still.
Bill Hinds – former Leader of Salford City Council who is now the lead member for finance – said it’s the most “ambitious” council housing project in his 37 years as a councillor, adding: “Sixty-plus million pounds is a lot of money, so it is absolutely crucial how we do borrow that money – the most resilient forms of borrowing to enable us to do that.”
The scheme is relying on grant funding from the UK government’s affordable housing public body – Homes England.
PRP / Salford City Council
Paul Dennett – Mayor of Salford – said councils need to be more “interventionist” in order to tackle the current “housing and homelessness crisis” in this country.
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He said: “What we need to get back to is what happened in post-World War Two in many respects. Councils were building council housing en masse and homelessness in this country was rendered statistically insignificant.
“The moral and ethical argument is strong, but I also think the empirical argument is really strong for actually being more interventionist in a market that clearly isn’t delivering the homes that we need.”
Approving the scheme yesterday, he added: “This is a fantastic initiative and development which will hopefully put pressure on the market, but also encourage local authorities up and down the country to play a much more active role in the housing market moving forward as we drive up standards, as we deliver net-zero carbon homes, as we tackle the housing and homelessness crisis moving forward.”
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You can find more information via the Salford City Council website here.
News
Police appeal for information after pedestrian killed on Mancunian Way followed earlier welfare concern reports
Emily Sergeant
Police are continuing to appeal for information after a pedestrian was killed on Mancunian Way during the early hours.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) explained that the shocking incident occurred at approximately 12:50am on Friday 31 October when it was reported that a Volkswagen Passat had collided with a man in his 20s.
Sadly, the collision was fatal and the pedestrian died at the scene.
The driver of the Volkswagen, a man in his 40s, was subsequently arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.
Following the incident, subsequent police enquiries have established that a call was made to the force shortly after midnight which reported concern for a man walking on the carriageway, and GMP says it believes the man in that report was the man who was involved in the fatal collision.
Officers were sent out as ‘high priority’ to carry out an extensive search of the surrounding area after the report was made, but it was said that they couldn’t locate him.
#UPDATE | Officers are continuing to appeal for information following the fatal collision on Mancunian Way this morning.
We have referred ourselves to the IPOC after reports that the victim was possibly spotted on the carriageway earlier that morning.
— Manchester City Centre Police (GMP) (@GMPCityCentre) October 31, 2025
Due to this earlier report, GMP has confirmed that it has referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) to look into its response to the search.
The victim’s family is aware, have been updated, and they are being supported by specialist officers at this time.
GMP’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit is still appealing for anyone who may have witnessed the incident to come forward, and are particularly keen to speak to anyone who may have CCTV footage, dashcam, or mobile phone footage from the area in the moments leading up to the incident.
“This is a tragic incident for all involved and we express our deepest condolences to the family of the man who has lost his life, and whom we are doing our utmost to support at this time,” commented Sergeant Andrew Page.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact police on 0161 856 4741, quoting log number 111 of the 31/10/25, or by using the ‘report tool’ or LiveChat function on the GMP website – www.gmp.police.uk
Alternatively, you can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Featured Image – Geograph
News
Stockport paedophile who abused teen girls in early 2000s handed five extra years in prison
Emily Sergeant
A prolific paedophile who ‘groomed, exploited, and coerced’ teenage girls in the early 2000s has had his sentenced extended.
It was reported on back in June that Christopher Oates, from Stockport, was brought to justice after he subjected vulnerable girls to what Greater Manchester Police (GMP) referred to as a ‘campaign’ of violence and sexual abuse 20 years ago.
Oates was charged with possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, three counts of engaging in penetrative sexual activity with a girl aged 13-15 years old, and two counts causing / inciting a child aged 13-17 years to prostitution.
He was originally sentenced to 13 years in prison for all his crimes.
But now, following a successful appeal by GMP, working with the survivors and the Crown Prosecution Service, to take the ‘unduly lenient’ sentence to the Court of Appeal, Oates has now been handed an extra five years in prison.
Paedophile who abused teenage girls twenty years ago has sentenced extended by five years after successful appeal
We’ve worked with the survivors and the CPS to take Christopher Oates’ unduly lenient sentence to the Court of Appeal. pic.twitter.com/4yfgjpWxCN
His sentencing increase comes after the 45-year-old groomed one of the survivors from when she was just 14 years old, by providing her with a false sense of security, paying her compliments, and pretending to be her boyfriend, all before he proceeded to ply her with drugs, gifts, and affection, and using the trust and control he gained to persuade her to start sex work on the streets of Manchester.
When the teenage victim began to doubt his intentions and asked to go home, Oates dragged her down an alleyway, violently attacked her, and threatened her with a gun, stating: ‘You do as I say, you’re mine now,’ commanding her to go to her ‘spot’.
It was this incident that prompted the teenager to confide in her mother and support services, and from here, found the strength to move forward with her life, while still courageously supporting the police investigation.
From this investigation, detectives were then able to identify a second teenage victim, a 17-year-old, who Oates also coerced into sex work.
Speaking on Oates’ sentencing increase, DI Eleanor Humphreys, who was a senior investigating officer for this case, said: “We join both victims in expressing our relief and delight that the Court of Appeal has reviewed Oates’ lenient sentence and increased it by five years.
“Oates will now rightly serve consecutive sentences for both victims, meaning that his time behind bars reflects the totality of his offending against both women – whose lives he has so badly impacted.
“We will not relent in ensuring child sex offenders are brought to justice and face the full consequences for their horrific crimes.”
The Manc -
15th December 2020 
