Dozens of affordable homes coming to 'somewhat monotonous' real-life Waterloo Road

Dozens of new houses will be built near the real-life Manchester street that gives its name to a hit BBC drama.

Housing association Mossacre St Vincent’s (MSV) has secured planning permission to build 70 homes in Cheetham Hill. The development will be connected to Waterloo Road, the namesake of the flagship BBC school drama set in Manchester starring Jason Manford.

All 70 of the homes will be available at affordable rates. Some 44 are set to be houses and 26 ‘cottage-style apartments’, a planning application said. MSV argued building on the land will spruce up the ‘somewhat monotonous’ area.

“The two sites sit within an immediate context of two-storey houses of a uniform character and pockets of low quality open landscape associated with a wider housing ‘estate’ built in the early 1970s,” the planning statement said.

Council planners have now concluded ‘the proposal involves the comprehensive development of the site in order to bring forward and deliver several key priorities for the city including new family homes with a significant affordable offer’.

“Therefore, the proposal represents a significant investment to deliver key objectives for the city including a contribution to the council’s objective for affordable homes adding to the mix of tenures in the city, as well as new landscaping, bio-diversity enhancements, place making and energy efficient homes and associated buildings in a sustainable location,” the report added.