Tag Archives: Homes

Getting our Filwood Broadway bid over the line

Today’s guest blog is from Councillor Tom Renhard, Cabinet Member for Housing Delivery and Homes

Ellis Genge, named this week in Steve Borthwick’s first England Rugby squad, has been among the Knowle Westers to today welcome brilliant progress in investing in their area. Sometimes, you need to maul, scrum, kick, and ruck to get stuff done. Filwood Broadway is a perfect example of trying everything to get things over the line.

There’s been a game plan in place for the area for some time but, for one reason or another, the projects needed to bring the plan to life have not quite got going. Because of this stagnation and lack of progress, we took the decision to start laying the foundations needed to revitalise the area and, working as a team for this part of south Bristol, has got us on a path in 2023 that will see massive leaps forward over coming weeks and months.

What’s happening? What’s happened?

Let’s recap.

Back in April last year, Cabinet approved up to £300,000 of funding to go towards building  a new multi-use games area (MUGA) and providing investment towards new floodlights at Filwood Playing Fields.  During that same meeting I also approved over £400,000 to deliver new public spaces and improvements in the area. Around the same time the council also allocated £90,000 of COVID recovery funding to spend on the children’s play area within the Broadway. These investments have helped kick start the regeneration work and begin laying foundations for the future.

Fast forward to this week and there have been further developments that will move our plans forward significantly.

The big news this week is the major funding we’ve secured from government following a bid to the national Levelling Up Fund. The £14.5 million we’ve secured will go a long way towards bringing new homes to the area whilst introducing better quality public realm (£2.1 million), investment in community centre (£7.6 million), creating space for improvements to local library services (£3 million), new business and commercial space, new sporting facilities, and delivering a greener and more attractive environment. This will enable us to add to the 2,563 new homes which were built in Bristol last year, including more affordable new homes than for any year in the last twelve. The benefit to cost ratio of our successful Levelling Up bid will mean a positive impact worth more than £45 million for this part of south Bristol in local employment, social value, health benefits, and cultural amenity.

The announcement comes as another major step is taken on this path with the approval of plans to build 30 new homes on the site of the former Filwood cinema on the Broadway. The approval given by the council’s Development Control Committee yesterday (Wednesday 18 January 2023), means that we now have the green light to press ahead with bringing much needed social housing and also includes nearly 600 square metres of floorspace for shops.

In the next couple of weeks we will publish an updated plan for the area for the city’s Cabinet to consider and ask to proceed with delivering this exciting vision for Filwood and Knowle West.

Transforming the derelict former cinema site

Opening its doors in 1938, Filwood cinema was arguably Knowle West’s biggest attraction for many years. The cinema could pack over 1,000 people hosting films, concerts, and boxing matches. The cinema was designed by Dennis Hurford and F. G. W. Chamberlain and was built as part of the Filwood Broadway development.

In the 1950s, cinema attendance began to fall in the UK. From the 1960s the cinema began to hold bingo on Saturdays and was sold in the 1980s to become a full-time bingo hall. Eventually, in 1994, the building closed entirely, and some of the original seats and projectors can be seen in the M Shed

In 2023, nearly 30 years since the cinema building was last in use, new changes are planned on the old cinema site. The 20-year Knowle West Regeneration Framework, first published in 2012, has an ambition to develop and transform the Filwood Broadway area for the community – much like the original development plan back in the 1930s.

One of the most significant moments to happen this year will be the demolition of the old cinema. Planning permission to knock down the building was granted in 2019, after falling into a poor state of repair. Wring Group Ltd will carry out the demolition and have begun their site set up and preparation. The physical demolition is due to begin in February and be completed by early May. 

This demolition will pave the way for the new homes and retail space approved this week. Public feedback from two separate consultations on these plans carried out in December 2019 and January 2022 helped to shape the final approach. Feedback from the consultation last year was largely supportive for redeveloping the old cinema site and positive comments were received about how it will enhance the Broadway and local area.

The social homes will comprise of 17 flats and 13 houses including 10 one-bedroom homes, 11 two-bedroom homes, and nine three-bedroom homes. 100 per cent social housing will be delivered at the site, as scheme viability was achieved without the need to include affordable housing such as shared ownership.

There will be vehicle access from both Filwood Broadway and Barnstaple Road, along the new residential street. Pedestrian and cycle access will also be available from Hartcliffe Road. This will help to make sure that for local trips, walking and cycling become the most convenient option, and for trips further afield, public transport becomes a viable option. Public and private spaces will be clearly defined, accessible and safe.

The development will also be set up to utilise renewable energy. Each home will be connected to a communal ground source heat pump system and the commercial units will be served by air source heat pumps for both heating and domestic hot water.

The new development has been commissioned and funded by the council and will make sure that the land is best used – delivering much needed social rent homes whilst helping to reinvigorate the area and provide new services for the local community.

A number of developments are in the pipeline for Knowle West and Filwood in order to regenerate the area and better meet the needs of the city and local community. Find out more.

Much needed new homes for Filwood Broadway

Context setting

Councillor Tom Renhard, smiling, with trees in the background.
Today’s guest blog is from Councillor Tom Renhard, Cabinet Member for Housing Delivery and Homes

In a recent blog, I wrote about Bristol’s housing crisis and the need to improve housing accessibility for everyone across the city. House prices are almost nine times the average salary, making Bristol the most expensive Core City to afford a house. The city urgently needs the delivery of new affordable homes to tackle this and achieve thriving and safe communities.

Launching The Living Rent Commission showcases our commitment towards achieving fairness for all. The commission aims to improve rent affordability in the private rented sector. By empowering tenants’ rights to make recommendations on possible rent stabilisation powers, and ultimately working with Westminster on policy development to reform the private rented sector in Bristol. We’ve worked with representatives across the housing sector, including renters through our Bristol renters survey and Renters’ Summit earlier this year. This provided us with a deeper understanding of the issues facing residents who rent and helps us look for solutions to tackle this.

As the city’s biggest social housing landlord, and its biggest landowner, we recognise the role we must play in meeting this housing need. We must build more houses to meet the housing demand. We are committed to building 2,000 homes each year, with 1,000 being affordable. Last year we beat this target as 2,563 homes were built. 90% of these new homes were built on previously developed land. These sites are often challenging but are an opportunity to recognise and provide wider community regeneration aspirations as well as provide much needed affordable housing.

Demolition job

Next week will mark the start of demolition works at 18 – 20 Filwood Broadway, a former cinema and bingo hall which has not been in use for decades. Approval to demolish the building was given in June 2019 following a planning application for 30 affordable homes with community and commercial space on the site.

We are grateful to residents who shared their views in the public consultation in December 2019 which looked through the draft design options. A second round of public consultation is now closed. The first phase of this work included removing asbestos on site and preparing the required structural works.

The planning application is for the creation of 30 dwellings comprising of ten one-bedroom units, eleven two-bedroom units, and nine three-bedroom units. In total there will be 17 flats and 13 houses, connected to a communal ground source heat pump system. This development will deliver as much social rent accommodation as possible, supported by an element of shared ownership housing where necessary to make the scheme viable.

We know that successful placemaking is key to the long-term success of our high streets and local centres – harnessing continued investment in new homes, to repair and reinvigorate existing neighbourhoods, strengthening physical connections between areas, creating vibrant, resilient and healthy communities. This is why the application proposes 595 square metres of flexible community and commercial floor space for shops, cafes, and the possible relocation of the public library.

The development will also include a new public space facing onto the Broadway and new trees and planting. There will be vehicle access from both Filwood Broadway and Barnstaple Road, along the new residential street. Pedestrian and cycle access will only be available from Hartcliffe Road. This work will help support a thriving community, ensuring that for local trips, walking and cycling become the most convenient option, and for trips further afield, public transport becomes a viable option. Public and private spaces will be clearly defined, accessible, well managed and safe.

The application for this was submitted in July this year and we expect a decision in the coming months. If planning permission is granted, we expect construction to commence in February 2024. More details about this regeneration work can be found on our website.

Note: An earlier version of this blog contained a typo regarding the date which this building fell into disrepair.

Cost of living crisis: reducing rising household bills 

Councillor Kye Dudd smiles at the front of the picture, with trees and grass blurred in the background.
Today’s blog is by Cllr Kye Dudd, Cabinet
Member for Climate, Ecology, Waste and Energy
and Labour Councillor for Southmead

The cost of living crisis is affecting us all. As we look to the colder months, I know many people are deeply concerned about the cost of heating their homes and rising energy bills.

Projections that energy bills could continue to rocket into early 2023 have sent shockwaves throughout our city, where around 30,000 households live in fuel poverty. We support calls for immediate national action to freeze bills to save families on average £1,000, by taxing record oil and gas profits.

In the medium and longer term, Bristol City Council is glad to have secured even more funding through the government’s Home Upgrade Grant, to help even more eligible households in Bristol, Bath, North East and North Somerset to install energy saving measures in their homes, through the Bright Green Homes project. Eligible residents who do not use gas central heating are now invited to apply for grant funding, to help reduce their household energy bills and help make their homes more energy efficient.

Eligible households may be entitled to receive up to £25,000 of funding for a huge range of energy saving and low carbon technologies, which will be incredibly important as we look ahead to the colder winter months. This includes external and cavity wall insulation, double glazing, energy efficient doors, as well as air source heat pump installation and solar panel systems. 

Over 200 households have already benefitted from the first phase of the Bright Green Homes scheme, with more families set to have help to keep their energy costs low and reduce carbon emissions.

To be eligible for this £2.7 million round of funding, you must:

  • not use gas central heating. The scheme is only open to households who use oil, coal, LPG, or electric heating systems;
  • have a combined gross annual household income under £30,000 per year;
  • have a valid Energy Performance Certificate with a rating of D, E, F, or G;
  • live in Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset or North Somerset Council areas;
  • be the owner, landlord or private rented tenant of the property.

The scheme has funding for a limited number of homes across Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset and North Somerset. If your household meets the eligibility criteria, please complete the online questionnaire.

A photo of the inside of a attic ceiling, at the front of the image you can see the rafting lining the ceiling, with home insulation installed to keep in heat.
Installed Home Insulation

The Bright Green Homes scheme will not only help to reduce energy costs for individual households, helping more households become more energy efficient is also an essential part of Bristol’s commitment to be carbon neutral by 2030.

If you have any questions about the project, please contact the Energy Service Bristol team on 0117 352 1180 or email domestic@energyservicebristol.co.uk.

More information about the Bright Green Homes project can be found on the Bristol Energy Service website.

For those who are not eligible for the scheme, you can find energy saving tips on the Energy Service Bristol website.

Launching a Living Rent Commission

Todays blog by Cllr Tom Renhard, Cabinet Member for Housing Delivery and Homes and Labour Councillor for Horfield

In Bristol we face a housing crisis.

We have almost 18,000 households (and growing) on our waiting list for social housing, along with over 1,100 households in temporary accommodation. The cost of renting in this city is one key cause alongside the lack of security that renters have in the private rented sector.

Over the past decade the cost of renting in the city grew by 52%, whilst wages only increased by 24% over the same period and current levels of inflation are far outstripping any growth in income. The spiralling costs mean housing is becoming increasingly unaffordable, pushing many further away from their place of work, family, and support networks, impacting across sectors and low and middle income households

Cllr Tom Renhard, end revenge evictions

This is why we have launched a Living Rent Commission.

We are bringing the best, partnership focused organisations together to explore the issues facing renters.

The principle aims of the commission are to:

  • Improve affordability of the private rented sector
  • Understand the impact of regulation on rent prices including on housing quality and maintenance
  • Identifying the most effective rent controls
  • Consider what other powers are required
  • Consider how to empower tenants’ rights

The powers needed to ensure the rental market is accessible and works for all do not exist. The commission will make recommendations on possible rent stabilisation powers. The powers come from government and so we will work with Westminster on policy development to reform the private rented sector, enabling Bristol to become a Living Rent City.

While we will focus on delivering change for the tens of thousands of renters in Bristol, we are also making links with other urban areas and could see this work pave the way for rent reform that benefits millions across the country. This is our time to make the case for a Living Rent, and it has never been more important given the current cost of living crisis with no immediate end in sight.

We have a track record of supporting action to improve conditions for renters. Whether that be lobbying for the end to no fault evictions, that are a huge driver of homelessness in our city, or campaigning to bring in the eviction ban during the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been pushing for renter reform for some time.

With cross party support, I wrote to the Secretary of State setting out the city’s support for the Renters Reform Coalition proposals for change. We will lobby to ensure these issues remain on the agenda. I will continue to fight for better protection for renters and ensure they are not driven out of Bristol.

So how can people contribute to the work of the Living Rent Commission?

We will be ensuring a wide range of people have the opportunity to be heard, including the lived experience of what it is like on the ground. I am grateful to the organisations who are prepared to work together on the Advisory Board and other organisations who will have plenty of opportunity to shape the work.

Get involved, so Bristol can have a clear voice on this – we need a Living Rent that is manageable for people and works for Bristol.   

Want to know more? Get in touch by emailing: city.office@bristol.gov.uk

Membership of Living Rent Commission Advisory Board as at 26/07/22:

  • Fair Renting Campaign
  • Generation Rent
  • ARLA
  • ALL Wessex
  • Shelter
  • Bristol Older People’s Forum
  • Ashley Community Housing
  • Black South West Network
  • UWE Student’s Union
  • UOB Student’s Union
  • We Can Make
  • Trowers and Hamlins
  • Brighter Places