Social impact developer CAPITAL&CENTRIC is set to redevelop the former Central Retail Park site in Rochdale into a thriving new community.
As featured on BBC2’s Manctopia: Billion Pound Property Boom, the brownfield site will be the first in the UK to deliver CAPITAL&CENTRIC’s new housing concept ‘Neighbourhood’, which is in partnership with Rochdale Borough Council and Rochdale Development Agency.
Neighbourhood Rochdale will include over 200 suburban homes for rent, including a mix of modern, spacious and low carbon homes. Designed by shedkm to be a sustainable exemplar, it will also include a linear park, running track, gym and community hub alongside community space such as café-bars and delis.
The site – which has been vacant for nearly a decade and was previously occupied by Wynsors, Focus and MFI – is a short walk from both the train station, which offers an easy commute into Manchester city centre, and Rochdale town centre.
The plans are part of the transformation of Rochdale town centre, which is in the middle of a £400m regeneration programme.
Councillor John Blundell – Cabinet member for Regeneration, Business, Skills and Employment at Rochdale Borough Council, board member at the Rochdale Development Agency, and chair of the Rochdale Stations Alliance – said: “With millions already invested into Rochdale town centre, we’ve set the bar very high in terms of want to achieve here and this type of high quality housing is the perfect fit.
“To see the first large scheme come forward from Rochdale’s Rail Corridor strategy is a major milestone and shows the commitment to the strategy.
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“The work we’re doing to create a high quality retail and leisure offer and a reimagined public realm, makes Rochdale a really attractive place to live and I know that these will be the first of many new homes to be built in Rochdale.”
Adam Higgins – co-founder of CAPITAL&CENTRIC – said: “Many Greater Manchester towns have been hit hard by the declining high street but there’s a huge opportunity for places like Rochdale to reinvent themselves with town centre living. The council have a really ambitious vision to transform the town centre and we’re working with them to create an aspirational community with super energy efficient homes, game changing architecture and all the amenities that will attract people to town centre living.”
Designed to breathe life back into struggling town centres, the Neighbourhood concept could be rolled out by CAPITAL&CENTRIC across the UK.
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It aims to reinvent suburban living by designing homes and communities that suit how people live today.
Using modern methods of construction and with open-plan, design-led homes that maximise the use of space, Neighbourhood is a challenge to generic, out-dated housing types that focuses on curating mixed communities for people of all ages.
It goes beyond thinking just about housing, and includes workspaces, community hubs and amenities.
Adam Higgins continued: “Neighbourhood is our way of bridging the gap between urban and suburban living. An antidote to poor quality, out-dated and uninspiring housing types, it recognises that people want to live in communities not just homes, so in Rochdale, we’re planning plenty of green space, a community hub and café-bar.
With easy links into Manchester and a proper mix of homes, we see it appealing just as much to young professionals as downsizers ands it’ll also be pretty unique in that it’s suburban homes but all of them will be for rent.”
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A planning application for Neighbourhood Rochdale is expected early next year.
It will be built by leading construction company Willmott Dixon – who recently completed the £80 million retail and leisure development nearby at Rochdale Riverside – and the site investigation works have started on site this week.
You can find more information via the CAPITAL&CENTRIC website here.
Property
First look at major new multi-million pound Rochdale housing scheme with 200+ homes
Emily Sergeant
First look images showing a major new multi-million pound housing scheme in Rochdale have been released.
The long-awaited redevelopment of a vacant brownfield site close to Rochdale town centre has moved a step closer this week, following a £15 million funding award from the Government’s community regeneration partnership.
The scheme, which is known as Station Gardens, will feature more than 200 homes – including both apartments and houses – and a park for the use of the wider community, as well as a retail unit on the site of former central retail park close to the borough’s main train station, which has stood vacant for more than a decade.
Rochdale Council says the Government’s funding has given the scheme a ‘much needed jumpstart’ and contractors are expected to ‘start build out of the site this year’.
The first look images of a major new multi-million pound Rochdale housing scheme / Credit: Rochdale Council
As well as the housing scheme, the funding will also support a project aiming to ‘breathe new life’ into empty town centre units by creating local craft workspaces, retail outlets, and a youth arts centre to help community engagement.
It will also support the rebuild of one of the buildings on Hopwood Hall College’s Rochdale campus to create an additional floor for Higher Education and Access Students.
33 new build-to-rent apartments will be created on the corner of Maclure Road and Station Road, just across the road from the train station too, using funding from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority‘s (GMCA) brownfield land fund, and contractors are expected to start delivering this scheme in late spring.
200+ properties will make up part of the development close to the town centre / Credit: Rochdale Council
The Station Gardens scheme is also part of the borough’s wider rail strategy, seeking to redevelop brownfield sites around the borough’s five railway stations.
Up to 7,000 new homes and new employment sites should be delivered by the end of it.
“This scheme will transform an empty brownfield site into much needed new homes, including affordable homes, and a high-quality public park and will bring huge benefits to the wider area,” commented Councillor Danny Meredith, who is the cabinet member for housing and regeneration at Rochdale Borough Council.
“Situated just minutes from our newly regenerated Rochdale town centre and the train station, which gives easy access to Manchester, Leeds and the rest of the borough, this is a fantastic site for new homes.”
Featured Image – Rochdale Council
Property
Property experts reveal when the best time of year to sell your home is
Emily Sergeant
Ever wondered when the best time to sell your home is?
Of course, when it comes to putting your property on the market, it may be more of a personal choice swaying your decision as to when you choose to list due to your circumstances, commitments, or lifestyle, but for others who just want a quick sale, it’s less about when you’re ready and more about when the prospective buyers are ready.
The Greater Manchester property market has been thriving over the last few years, with house prices rising on both the sale and rental front – and 2025 looks to be no different.
And now, estate agents across the north and experts from property listing website Rightmove have revealed when exactly to put your property on the market if you want to ensure a speedy sale and secure the best price.
Property experts have revealed when the best time of year to sell your home is if you want a quick sale / Credit: Albert Bridge | Maria Ziegler (via Geograph and Unsplash)
Spring has always been known as one of the busiest times of the year for estate agents, and these stats back that up.
Rightmove says its latest research shows that February and March are the best months to list your home, with seven in 10 (66.3%) homes listed in these months making it to completion, which is the highest success rate of the year.
Homes listed in February also find buyers the most quickly too, taking an average of 51 days, with March and April following close behind at 52 days.
Property experts say the 2025 housing market has been ‘busy so far’.
Spring time is always one of the year’s busiest periods for estate agents / Credit: Pexels
Buyer demand is up by 8% compared to the same time period last year, and the number of sales being agreed has also risen by 15%, meaning there’ll be more opportunities for sellers to find the right match for their home this year, so if you’re thinking of selling in 2025, it’s probably time to get cracking.
“These insights should make for encouraging reading for anyone thinking of listing their home for sale soon, as well as anyone who has already come to market this year,” commented Rightmove’s Chief Data Officer, Steve Pimblett.
“The spring selling season is traditionally one of the busiest periods of the year for agents, and the signs of buyer activity we’ve been seeing are setting the scene for a positive one this year.”
Emily Sergeant -
10th September 2020 
