Hundreds of new rental homes could be coming to Bedford’s town centre, if a proposed scheme goes ahead. The plan is to deliver a mix of studio apartments and, one, two and three bedroom homes.

The scheme would come with onsite facilities, which could include a gym, a cinema room and public spaces, all of which would be included within the rental fees.

The proposed works are for the corner of Greyfriars and Midland Road (2/30 Greyfriars & 75/87 Midland Road). Castlecap, who are behind the scheme and its partners gave a presentation on its Build to Rent (BTR) to Bedford Borough Council’s Housing Committee on Wednesday, September 7.

The committee members were told the scheme would create “high-quality and much needed” residential homes in Bedford, and remove “functionally obsolescent” buildings in the town centre.

Piers Rooke, Castlecap’s CEO, said: “We feel that there’s a really unique and exciting opportunity, particularly given what’s happened post-covid, to regenerate that area, to produce buildings and an offering that meets modern criteria.”

Councillor Stephen Moon (Conservative, Great Barford) asked how many units would be required to make the scheme viable. David Hughes, from Alchemy and is the development manager for the scheme, said the larger institutional investors for this type of quality scheme look for a minimum of 250 to 300 units.