A major assessment of ‘unsafe, unfinished and empty’ property developments within Old Trafford is to be undertaken by Trafford Council.
The council has said it will consider taking possible enforcement action in a bid to address serious issues at seven developments within Clifford and Longford.
The developments, which have been identified as having either poor construction, incomplete works, substandard cladding or substantial fire damage, include the Empress Mill and Trafford Press and Veno buildings on Chester Road.
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Earlier this week, both Empress Mill and Trafford Press buildings, as part of the Orchard Point development site, were sold for £1.5 million at auction by commercial property auctioneers Acuitus. The 2.10 Acres site was sold as a 'rare development opportunity', with historic planning consents granted for 200 flats and commercial accommodation.
Units at Empress Mill, which is situated just minutes away from Old Trafford stadium, had sold for an average price of around £85,000 when the development was first announced back in 2011. But leaseholders told the M.E.N two years ago the units they had invested in were inhabitable.
Made up of 116 one and two-bedroom apartments, leaseholders said the building had been plagued with leaking roofs, mould, exposed electrical wires and a dodgy gas connection. In the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire, regulators in 2018 found the building to be without proper fire protection and was deemed unsafe.
In 2021, Empress Mill leaseholders spoke how they were still having to pay mortgages on units despite the building being boarded up and inaccessible. One said: "We have invested in something that doesn’t exist. I’m paying £120 a month on a mortgage for a pile of rubble."
The auction of the buildings came after the development's numerous owners fell into liquidation. The sold land will be subject to long leasehold interests, with more than half of the 124 existing leaseholders believed to have now surrendered their leases.
On Monday (February 20), Cllrs Liz Patel, Executive Member for Economy, and Regeneration and James Wright, Executive Member for Housing and Communities will both table a paper to Trafford Council’s Executive to call for decisive action to tackle the incomplete development, sub-standard construction, and partial fire damage at both the Empress Mill and the Trafford Press and Veno buildings.
The poor repair of the Grade-II listed former Duckworths Essence Distillery building, which is located next to the Trafford Press building on Chester Road, will also be discussed.
The council will also discuss an incomplete fire escape and stairwell with substandard cladding at Aura Court on Percy Street, alongside poor construction at a development on Browning Street.
A property on 37 Seymour Grove with substandard cladding and a development on 5-33 Northumberland Road which has been impaired by an adjacent vacant derelict site complete the list of seven buildings to be assessed by the council.
Trafford Council said that in some cases, and in response to safety concerns, Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service (GMFRS), has served several Prohibition Notices, which prevent the residential occupation of several of the buildings.
Cllr Patel said: “We have spent years trying to address these issues alongside a number of partners including the Fire Service and we are now saying that enough is enough.
“We will not stand by and do nothing as these unsafe and unsecure buildings blight our communities. Developers must do the right thing or face enforceable action.”
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