Plans to build 300 new homes in Rochdale

The Oldham Rochdale Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder is pressing ahead with plans to almost double the number of homes it has built to date by procuring development partners to build more than 300 new homes in Rochdale.

Rochdale Council has already received a number of expressions of interest for two of its biggest sites and will be looking for interest in up to four other locations from later this year.

HMR Director Alastair Graham said: “We’re making very significant progress across all areas of our programme and it’s fair to say that this procurement exercise is a major milestone both for us and the communities we serve in Rochdale.”

The first developers will come from the Homes and Communities Agency Developer Partner Panel and will be asked to build around 120 homes across two sites at Dean Street in Hamer and Hartley Lane on Kirkholt.

The procurement process is underway with the partnership hopes to appoint developers later this summer. If this process is successful, the same method could be used to attract interest in further locations, also in the East Central and Kirkholt areas of Rochdale.

Richard Duddell, who is leading the procurement exercise on behalf of Rochdale Development Agency, said: “Building high quality new homes is what HMR is all about. We’ve got our eye on the economic climate and the plans of the new government but took the view that we should just get on with it.

“These are good, ready sites and there are fantastic opportunities for developers and the communities involved.”