Work to construct 157 new homes on a former factory site in Southport begins

Work to construct 157 new homes on a former factory site in Southport is now underway.

Elan Homes acquired the 14 acre Philips Factory site with outline planning consent earlier this year and enlisted specialist contractors to demolish the disused buildings.

The homebuilder has now begun redeveloping the brownfield site to provide much-needed new homes.

John Kendrick, managing director of Elan Homes, said: “The former Philips Factory site is a significant acquisition for Elan and the development will be part of the expanding Northern business over the coming years. We recognise that there’s a wider housing need and redeveloping brownfield sites such as this gives us the opportunity to address that demand. Ahead of changes to Help to Buy being introduced next year, we’re moving towards a wider product mix to cater for a variety of buyers and budgets.

“Construction of the homes is now underway and we’re working towards releasing the first properties for sale in early 2021.”

Located within a residential urban area of northern Southport, on the border with Crossens and Churchtown, the site had been used as factory since the early 20th century, initially for the production of Vulcan Motor Cars and later by Philips Electronics, who made magnets for their television products.

Elan will develop 11 acres of the 14 acre site, with a large area of open space to be created within the development.

Located on Balmoral Drive, the scheme has been named Balmoral Gardens.

The 157 homes will include two, three and four-bedroom designs ranging from 675 sq ft to 1,347 sq ft. A fifth of the homes will be built to the Life Time Homes standard, ensuring that they will be easily adaptable for people’s changing needs.

Supporting the growth of the neighbourhood, Elan will make an education contribution of £334,276.55 to local schools. The housebuilder will also finance highways works on North Road.

“As part of our commitment to sustainable development, we’re bringing a vacant site back into good use and also creating new open space for the community to enjoy,” John added.

“We will also be including provisions for bats within the developments by using bat bricks and slates, plus we’ll be installing bird boxes too. There will also be an electric vehicle charging point for every home, helping residents use more sustainable modes of transport.”

Elan has completed a number of developments across the Liverpool City Region including those in Thornton and Crosby, Mossley Hill and Aigburth. The homebuilder’s current sites in the area include The Dunes in Formby and Mossley Gardens, Mossley Hill.