More affordable homes set for Plymouth

Plans outlined for demolition site near Manadon

Major plans have been outlined to replace an old sheltered housing estate in the Manadon area of Plymouth with 73 affordable homes for older people.

Plymouth Community Homes wants to redevelop Brake Farm, which was built more than 50 years ago. The buildings and bedsits do not currently meet modern building standards, say planning documents.

The housing provider has submitted a pre planning enquiry to Plymouth City Council to demolish the 53 homes on the steep site adjacent to Bladder Meadow near Crownhill Village and create one and two bed flats, half of which will be general needs housing for the over 55s and the other half sheltered housing which will have supported services on site.

Plymouth City Homes announced in March 2024 that it was looking at the future of Brake Farm.

It is proposing an H-shaped building, split into two distinct wings, connected by a central entrance and circulation area.

For more information go to:

https://planning.plymouth.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?keyVal=T5Q00OMM00600&activeTab=summary

The latest plans to the city council also include one by itself for prior approval to demolish the Dell Children’s Centre at Blandford Road in Efford to make way for affordable homes.

In October 2024 , the council announced that it had secured £540,000 from the government’s Brownfield Land Release Fund, which helps local authorities support the delivery of housing, to bring two empty public buildings back into use. One is Dell Children’s Centre and the other Douglass House, also in Efford.

In a letter to the planning department housing delivery officer for the council Alex Gandy said the building had been rendered “unsafe and uninhabitable”. It was previously run as a children’s centre for Barnados and a nursery.

Initially earmarked for refurbishment, the project was abandoned after costs of removing asbestos escalated and it was no longer “practical or viable”, say documents with the planning application.

The council will undertake demolition before handing the site to a delivery partner for the construction of 15 homes.