New business plan sees Goram Homes double pipeline as work on first scheme set to begin
Bristol council-owned housebuilder, Goram Homes, has had plans to build nearly 3,000 homes over 10 years approved by the council.
The plans, given the nod at a meeting of the council’s cabinet last week, represent a near doubling of the firm’s housing pipeline from last year, given the addition of the allocated 1,435-home Hengrove Park site to its business over the last 12 months.
Goram, which was set up in 2018, says it is set to start on site with partner Vistry with its 268-home Romney House scheme next month, which will be the first of its sites to come forward.
As well as adding the Hengrove Park scheme, the firm’s 2,992-home housing pipeline now contains a proposed 100% affordable extra care home at the former Blake Centre on Gainsborough Square.
However, the 2022 business plan confirms that plans have been abandoned to develop the 50-home Knowle West Health Park scheme, in response to public feedback, and plans for another site, Novers Hill, have been significantly scaled back in the light of environmental concerns, with the number of homes reduced from 157 to just 70.
Goram says just under half of all the homes in its pipeline will be affordable. The firm is at the forefront of Bristol Council’s plans, recently announced, to ensure at least 1,000 affordable homes are built in the city each year by 2024.
Stephen Baker, managing director of Goram Homes, said the pipeline meant the firm can now build developments “at pace”.
Tom Renhard, cabinet member for housing delivery and homes at Bristol Council, said Goram Homes will play a crucial role in delivering 1,000 new affordable homes a year from 2024. “The Goram Homes pipeline is a signal of our ambitions for the type and number of homes we want to see built in Bristol,” he said.
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