To meet a growing local need for social housing in Salford, ForHousing has completed its White Lion development – 18 social rent homes on a brownfield site designed with a focus on creating safe, modern places to live. Roseanne Field reports.
The need for social housing in the UK is ever increasing, with demand far outweighing availability – Shelter estimates that there are currently 1.3 million households on social housing waiting lists in England. The National Housing Federation says that at least 90,000 homes need to be built a year to meet the demand.
This figure is significantly higher than the 70,000 homes the Government announced would be built over the next 10 years, though this forms only part of a plan to build 300,000 social and affordable homes under its £39bn Social and Affordable Homes Programme.
Around £529m has been allocated to Greater Manchester, where more than 97,000 households are on social housing waiting lists, 26,000 of which have been identified as being in priority need. Within the region, Salford reportedly builds more social homes than any other local authority. Despite this, Salford City Council says it currently has up to 3,500 applications on its housing register, and is receiving approximately 30 new applications a day.
The urgency of the need for affordable housing is indisputable. One organisation chipping away at this task is social housing provider ForHousing, which currently owns 19,000 homes across the north west in areas including Salford, Knowsley, Oldham, Fylde and Trafford.
The provider places emphasis on positively impacting the lives of its social housing tenants, by providing “safe, well-maintained homes while making sure we deliver customer focused services that are fair and efficient,” explains ForHousing director of development, Chris Mather.
ForHousing prides itself on driving tenant satisfaction as well at what it calls “an inclusive culture – creating a place where everyone can thrive and be themselves,” adds Mather. “We aim to provide excellent services that are efficient and easy to access through automation and detailed insight.”
To support the region’s acute need for social and affordable housing, ForHousing is continuously looking to add to its portfolio, with seven developments currently underway and a further two due to start this year, and over 1,000 planned homes in the pipeline.
In the “family-friendly” town of Swinton, located within the City of Salford, sits one recently completed scheme by the firm. It makes use of a disused piece of brownfield land and supports Salford City Council’s “priority to increase the supply of social and affordable housing across the borough,” says Mather.
Known as the White Lion scheme, due to its location behind the White Lion pub in Swinton, the development comprises 18 new social rent apartments, which are a mix of one- and two-bedrooms. Historically the site had a variety of uses, and at the time of beginning the project it was home to a car park and grassed area. It was a win-win for ForHousing, “helping local people access high-quality homes and genuinely affordable rents while making effective use of a brownfield site within an established community,” Mather explains.
The project is only five minutes from local shops, Swinton town centre and public transport links, providing access to necessary amenities and keeping residents connected to the community.
A collaborative effort
Collaboration is key on most projects, and this was certainly no exception. ForHousing worked with construction and development company Whitfield & Brown – who also took care of the planning application – on the delivery of the project.
The land-inclusive nature of the project meant that assembling the right team was crucial. Whitfield & Brown appointed BTP Architects as designers for the project, while ForHousing engaged AA Projects (now Drees & Sommer) as employer’s agent.
The development was also supported by funding from Homes England and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) Brownfield Fund, which was launched in 2020 from the MHCLG’s £400m Brownfield Housing Fund. It’s designed to unlock housing development on brownfield sites where it otherwise wouldn’t be possible, or wouldn’t happen at the desired pace. In total the scheme cost £3.9m, of which £1.3m was funded by Homes England and £270,000 by the GMCA Brownfield Fund. The remaining cost was funded by ForHousing investment and group loan facilities.
Mather says the grant funding element was crucial: “It played an important role in making the scheme viable and ensuring the homes could be delivered for social rent,” he explains. “Funding programmes such as these help housing providers bring forward affordable housing developments that might otherwise be challenging to deliver because of construction costs and market conditions.”
Striking the right balance
The size and number of apartments in the development was carefully considered. In total there are 18 apartments, comprising 13 one-bedroom apartments at 50 m2 and five two-bedroom apartments at 61 m2. These sizes were chosen to meet the National Design Space Standards (NDSS), in accordance with Homes England requirements. It also tallied with affordable housing schemes ForHousing has delivered previously in Salford.
The ratio of one- and two-bedroom units was arrived at “in conjunction with our housing management directorate which is based on current lettings patterns within the area,” explains Mather. “The chosen mix reflects local housing demand and helps ensure the homes meet the needs of people most likely to benefit from apartment living, while remaining affordable and sustainable over the
long term.”
Additionally, the housing provider has found “significant challenges” letting two-bedroom apartments, due to the way in which housing benefit works. “Families that are on housing benefit generally need at least three people to occupy the apartment to avoid being affected by under-occupation rules,” Mather explains.
While applying their own strategy, ForHousing also liaised closely with the Strategic Housing Department at Salford City Council to ensure their design and approach to the scheme mix would meet their affordable housing need locally.
This helped finalise the apartment ratio, but also led to the inclusion of four ‘accessible friendly’ homes on the ground floor, in line with Building Regulations M4(2): Accessible and Adaptable Dwellings. “While there were financial and spatial limitations to achieve compliance as a fully wheelchair accessible apartment, we were able to provide full wetrooms with walk-in showers and double pattress walls for grab rails to be added in the future.”
It was agreed with Salford City Council – as per ForHousing’s ongoing partnership with the authority – that all of the homes would be let via the council’s housing register Salford Home Search. In line with other new homes the housing provider has built in the borough, the agreement means that the homes will be offered to households nominated by the council via its Salford Home Search when they are first let. From second lets onwards nominations will defer to ForHousing’s transfer agreement. The homes are also to “remain affordable in perpetuity,” Mather explains. “The homes are grant funded affordable housing apartments and are developed with the intention of them remaining so for their lifetime.”
The development is three storeys, meaning a lift was not installed – as a general rule Regs (Part M) only require lifts installed in blocks of four or more storeys, partly in order to keep service charges low for tenants. The block is linear and the apartments comprise an open plan kitchen/living room with a bathroom and one or two bedrooms.
For any developer or housing provider ensuring residents feel safe and secure is a top priority, and ForHousing are no exception. Safety and security were “important considerations” throughout the design process, says Mather. The development has a fully integrated door entry system, providing controlled access to the building, secure cycle storage, bin stores and the rear parking area.
Only letter post box deliveries are allowed, with parcels and large deliveries managed by the tenants themselves. “This ensures that the block, and access to it and internal circulation areas remain as secure as possible.” The layout was also designed with secure access and “clear lines of management” in mind, while simultaneously “maintaining a welcoming environment for residents,” says Mather.
Aside from safety and security, the other key focus for ForHousing when designing and building social rent homes, is that they feel high quality and attractive while remaining affordable and sustainable now and over the long term. “Key considerations include building safety, energy efficiency, accessibility, durability of materials, future maintenance requirements and the needs of local communities,” Mather explains. “Social housing should offer the same quality and design standards as any other tenure, while also delivering long term value and positive outcomes for residents.”
Construction & sustainability
Work began on site in 2024, in the form of the demolition and clearing of some existing garages and hardstanding on the site. Construction was traditional brick and block; the floors and stairs are precast concrete, and the roof comprises structural timber with a single layer composite. While in this instance it was the developer’s choice to use more traditional methods, Mather says ForHousing uses MMC systems on approximately 50% of their developments.
The housing provider is committed, says Mather, to “delivering more sustainable homes.” This includes a decision to no longer install gas on any of their schemes, switching to air source heat pumps with efficient panel radiators for heating. “White Lion follows this intentional approach for homes designed without a gas connection; residents benefit from low carbon heating technology; the heat pumps help reduce carbon emissions while supporting lower long term energy costs,” explains Mather.
As well as the air source heat pumps, the homes also have high levels of insulation within an energy efficient building fabric – to further help reduce properties’ energy consumption as well as support lower running costs for the building’s residents. EV charging facilities have been provided in the secure parking area. The homes have an EPC rating of B, and SAP scores range from 82 to 88. “Delivering affordable homes that are also efficient to heat is increasingly important in helping residents manage household costs while reducing environmental impact,” Mather says.
Externally, the development includes landscaped amenity areas at the front, creating an “attractive setting” for residents while also boosting kerb appeal and “improving the street scene,” says Mather. At the rear of the development is a secure parking area, which “maintains a clear separation between communal and vehicle spaces.”
Following handover of the development, it was fully occupied immediately, showing the demand in the local area for affordable housing. Feedback from residents has been, says Mather, “extremely positive.” Surveys were conducted three months post-occupation and returned 100% satisfaction from those who responded.
Residents highlighted “the quality of their new homes and the difference secure, affordable housing has made to their lives.” One resident in the new scheme, Jayden, described the positive impact having his own new home has had on him personally. “I do feel more settled here. Especially at a young age, to be offered a new build home is like fulfilling a lifetime ambition,” he says. “I can’t thank ForHousing enough for how much support they gave me throughout the process.”
For Mather and the ForHousing team, this scheme is a key example of what can – and needs to – be achieved in the areas where affordable homes are needed most. “The White Lion scheme demonstrates how housing associations, local authorities and development partners can work together to unlock brownfield land and deliver high quality affordable homes,” he says. “With demand for social rent continuing to grow, developments like this play an important role in helping people access safe, secure and affordable homes while strengthening local communities.”