UK: Developer CERT Property has decreased the number of units at its 30-storey Clippers Quay scheme in Salford by 90, and increased the size of the remaining 171 units.
CERT Property lodged plans for the scheme – which also features 141 residential apartments – in December 2021.
Since then, it has been in an ongoing dialogue with Salford City Council planners, who expressed reservations about the size of the proposed units.
Having seen its OMI-designed scheme stuck in the planning process for some 30 months, CERT has now cut the number of coliving units from 261 to 171.
This will increase the average unit size within the development. The units, which previously ranged from 193.75 square ft to 250.8 square feet, now range from 250.8 square feet to 328.3 square feet.
A British Property Federation report from 2023 puts the average coliving unit at between 172 square feet and 290 square feet.
CERT’s decision to reduce the number of units has affected the viability of the project. A viability appraisal by CBRE states that, even without affordable housing and S106 contributions, the residual profit margin is negative.
On this basis, the report states that the scheme would cost £83.1 million to build and have a gross development value of £81.5 million.
CBRE concludes that the development requires “significant reductions in construction costs and increases in rental prices to reach the target risk-adjusted developer’s return”.
