Middlewood Locks secures £35m from the HCA

FairBriar International has received £34.7m in funding from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) to support the development of its 24.5-acre Middlewood Locks mixed-use scheme in Salford.The facility comprises £25.5m of residential development finance to enable the fast-track delivery of phase two of Middlewood Locks. This phase will provide 546 new one- to three-bed homes across four buildings totalling 360,129 sq ft on two plots.The remaining £9.2m will help fund infrastructure and enabling works across the development, which will kick-start further phases.The overall facility is for an initial three-year period and is subordinate to the senior lenders to the first two phases of the development.Middlewood Locks aims to create a new waterside neighbourhood around three large basins of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury canals. It will provide a total of 2,215 new homes, 900,000 sq ft of commercial space including a hotel, and a range of amenities upon completion.Currently under construction, the first phase of Middlewood Locks will provide 571 one-, two- and three- bed apartments, with the first wave ready to occupy in spring next year at prices starting from £155,000.Middlewood Locks is being developed by FairBriar International, a joint venture led by Leeds-based Scarborough International Properties. The remaining shares are split equally between Metro Holdings of Singapore and Hualing Group of China.