McCarthy Stone has unveiled Sydney Grange retirement community – the first such community to be built using Modern Methods of Construction (MMC).
Located in Failsworth near Oldham, the development features 51 one- and two-bedroom apartments designed exclusively for those aged 60 and over. The scheme will be sold using Homes England’s Older Persons Shared Ownership (OPSO) scheme – with apartments available for £95,000 based on 50 per cent ownership.
Sydney Grange has been built using an eco-friendly category 2 panelised system developed by Remagin, Europe’s leading manufacturer of Light Gauge Steel Frame (LGSF) MMC solutions. The panels are built in Remagin’s Leeds factory and then assembled on-site. Homes England provided grant funding to support both the MMC and OPSO aspects of the development.
McCarthy Stone CEO John Tonkiss said: “We are delighted to showcase the first of what will be many more affordable retirement communities that we will build in partnership with Homes England and Remagin. This visit highlights our shared vision of creating homes that are not just places to live, but thriving and affordable communities where older people can enjoy an enhanced quality of life. It is a truly groundbreaking model that provides new retirement apartments at affordable prices and in parts of the country where development previously would not have been viable. We look forward to continuing this partnership in the months and years ahead.”
Shahi Islam, director of affordable housing at Homes England, said: “McCarthy Stone's Failsworth development is an excellent example of high-quality and affordable housing for older people. We are pleased to support it through our older persons shared ownership scheme which forms a key part of Homes England’s efforts to provide suitable housing and build strong communities. Expanding the use of MMC is also a priority for the programme so it’s great to see the success of the partnership with Remagin. We look forward to supporting this model and seeing it progress.”
