At Great Places, we aim to provide fantastic homes in thriving communities where people choose to live and grow in peace and safety.
This year’s International Day of Older People’s theme is ‘What’s on Your Doorstep?’, which celebrates the services that help people live well in later life. But how are we building homes that provide more than four walls and give older people a community to thrive on their doorstep? Introducing, Kindred House in Whalley Range, where we are building the UK’s first purpose-built majority LGBTQ+ Extra Care housing scheme for those aged 55 and over.
Alongside this, will be Chorus, a collection of 40 shared ownership apartments being delivered through Plumlife Homes at Lavender House. Once complete, Kindred House will provide 80 affordable social rent homes for LGBTQ+ people and allies, helping residents live independently in a safe, supportive and inclusive community.
Kindred House is being delivered through a unique partnership between Great Places, Manchester City Council, LGBT Foundation and the Russell Road Community Steering Group. Together, they have worked to ensure the development reflects the needs and aspirations of residents now and in the future.
Members of the Community Steering Group have also been helping to shape the design of communal spaces and have started work on a Community Agreement that will help define the values, culture and ethos of the future community.
One of the first pieces of work undertaken was the walk around the local area to map facilities and services. This helped all partners ensure Kindred House was designed to become part of the local community and add to the already vibrant community.
The co-production efforts have also extended to members regularly attending Pride on The Range to engage the local community in the development of the scheme. There was also a public consultation on-site to bring the the local community into the planning process.
