New owners and plans for the Manor Gardens housing community

 

Barnwood Trust is pleased to announce that specialist housing provider Stonewater will be the new owners and managers of the housing site at Manor Gardens and will take forward the redevelopment plans.

In early 2020, Barnwood Trust obtained planning permission to redevelop Manor Gardens in Barnwood, Gloucester. This was for a scheme of 46 new accessible homes set in landscaped gardens, with shared spaces to encourage a supportive community.  Barnwood Trust had a change of strategy, following rising costs of the project and the impact of Covid-19 on disabled people and people with mental health challenges, and began a search for a suitable housing provider to take ownership.

 

Transfer to Stonewater

Following a formal tender process, Barnwood Trust Trustees are pleased to announce that Stonewater will be the new site owners and will continue Barnwood’s vision for an inclusive community living at Manor Gardens. Stonewater will take forward the original planning permission to develop the site, delivering an integrated housing scheme for disabled and non-disabled residents. They will also take on the ownership and management of the existing homes at Manor Gardens.

Barnwood Trust Chair of the Board, Ann Santry said: “Stonewater has an outstanding record of both delivering housing management, working closely with its residents and local communities, and development of new high-quality homes. We were impressed by their proposals for Manor Gardens and getting to this point is the outcome of a very positive and constructive partnership. The Trustees are delighted that going forward our existing residents will have the benefit of a more experienced landlord and our original plans for the new housing will be delivered.”

 

The new scheme

Across the site, the Manor Gardens housing scheme is for 46 new accessible apartments and family homes, 44 at Manor Gardens and two new bungalows built at the adjacent Newstead Road. These will replace 23 outdated one-bedroom bungalows, scheduled for demolition. In addition, the Manor House will also be refurbished to complement the site. Stonewater are currently applying for planning permission to convert the Manor House into a community space, offices and four apartments, two of which would be fully accessible.

Stonewater expects the building development to take approximately two years to complete. This will start with three months of demolition on site, expected to begin in summer 2022.

Matt Crucefix, Director of Development (South and West) at Stonewater, said: “Manor Gardens is an important redevelopment project that will bring contemporary affordable homes to Gloucester that are able to meet the wide-ranging and diverse needs of local people. We’re incredibly pleased to have finalised our proposals with Barnwood Trust and that we’re in the position to work with PRP Architects who were appointed by the Trust to deliver the original development.

“Supporting more than 76,000 of our own customers, we have a wealth of experience and knowledge when it comes to providing a high-quality service. For this particular scheme we’ll be looking to employ a full-time dedicated Housing Officer based at Manor Gardens, who will be supported by the wider team, to support the residents moving forward.”

 

What happens now

The Trust has now exchanged contracts with Stonewater, and the sale is expected to reach completion later this year. As ownership and site management transfers to Stonewater Housing Association, Elim Housing Association will step down as the Trust’s managing agent at Manor Gardens. This is following more than 10 years of skilled, dedicated and resident focused service at the scheme, by Elim.

The wellbeing of residents at Manor Gardens remains of utmost importance to Barnwood Trust. During the process of changing to the new site owner, Barnwood is working closely with Elim and Stonewater to ensure the transition is as smooth as possible for everybody.