A little-known corner of Manchester, on the outskirts of the city centre, has been ‘completely transformed’ in less than a decade. The neighbourhood in question is Brunswick — which is sandwiched between the arterial route of Upper Brook Street on one side, and Stockport Road on the other. This corner of the city, next to Ardwick, is completely different today compared to 2014.
S4B began its 25-year-long mission to transform the area in 2014, commissioned by the council. So far, £106 million has been spent on refurbishing more than 650 council homes, and building 500 new properties for sale and rent. That’s alongside constructing a 60-apartment purpose-built extra-care facility for over-55s, a new housing office development with 18 apartments and new shops, and ‘completely overhauling’ four high-rise blocks. The development of the area is plain to see on Google Street View images, which can show us the same spot ten years apart.
And these developments have led Karina McLoughlin, who’s lived in Brunswick for her entire life, to wax lyrical about the changes.
“Brunswick has changed in the last nine years in a positive way,” she said. “The new community spaces and events for families are great as they bring the community together. It now looks cleaner and alleyways being blocked off makes it feel safer.
“From my mum moving into the first phase of the new builds to the last houses being put up, even though we’ve lived through the building work it certainly does not feel like it’s been nine years and it’s been worth it to see this positive change for our area. We love it here”.
And Louise Blanchflower, S4B senior contract manager, believes the area has ‘completely transformed’. She said: “It’s been a fantastic nine years for S4B and many improvements are already making a real difference to residents living in the area.
“Everybody involved is very proud of Brunswick and the neighbourhood is being completely transformed to provide quality homes, local facilities and so much more. It’s been a real pleasure to work with local residents in these first nine years and we look forward to delivering many more improvements as S4B goes from strength to strength.”
It’s also just the start of things to come, Gavin White says. Coun White is Manchester City Council’s executive member for housing and development.
He added: “We know that full estate transformations can’t happen overnight, which is why we needed the long-term commitment over the last 9 years of each of the organisations involved to deliver the changes to the Brunswick neighbourhood, and build new affordable housing in this area too.
“Homes for both sale and rent, and alongside homes for older people and families, this investment programme is building an attractive, high-quality neighbourhood for residents at all stages of their life.”
