Wigan care facility to complete in 2022

An £8.5m care home containing 66 en-suite rooms is to built in the village of Bickershaw, on the outskirts of the Greater Manchester town.

The Croft is being delivered by Urban Village Care, a sister company to Urban Village Capital, which invests in and builds care homes across the UK.

Urban Village won planning approval for the scheme in August 2016 and has begun preparatory work at the site since Wigan Council recently discharged pre-planning conditions. The main construction work has yet to start but the developer has set a targeted completion date of 2022.

Urban Village is also finalising an agreement with a specialist senior living operator that would manage the facility.

Under the plans, the 0.75-acre site would deliver a care home that would also contain communal facilities including lounges, dining facilities, a cinema, a hairdresser and guest rooms, as well as assisted bathrooms, a nurse station and staff room. The scheme also has parking and gardens.

Urban Village Group chief executive Nick Sellman said: “Figures from the Office for National Statistics indicate that 18% of the population is aged 65 or over, and that almost a third of these people live alone.

“These figures, along with others from [charity] Age UK, show that there is a real demand for high-quality care home facilities across the country and that we can play a significant role in helping meet that demand with developments like The Croft.”

The company has recruited an experienced care delivery team to oversee the facility, Sellmann added.

“Our care homes, which will be built at various locations across the country, have been carefully designed to ensure those who live there can enjoy a real quality of life and be part of an incredible community.”