New Affordable Homes Rise in Southcote

Work has started to build 30 council homes on a site in Dwyer Road, Southcote, that has been dormant for nearly 20 years.

The Alice Burrows care home opened in 1967, closed in 2007 and was later demolished.

Construction is for 100 per cent affordable council housing: a five-bedroom house, four semi‑detached homes, 10 three‑bed townhouses and 15 one‑ and two‑bed flats across seven buildings, including an apartment block and a terrace of six.

Photos show a large crane on site and the apartment block taking shape. Hoardings show a concept image naming the block as 'Appleford Mews' - though the artist spelled it 'Appietord Mews', likely an error.

Work is being carried out by Francis Construction. The first bricks were laid in December 2025 and Construction Map lists completion in January next year.

The site was earmarked for housing or care in Reading Borough Council's 2019 Local Plan. Plans were submitted in May 2023 and unanimously approved in December 2023 after a decade of consideration that began around 2013.

At the time of the approval, councillor John Ennis (Labour, Southcote) said: "It's been a decade of waiting, it's been a decade of promise.

"As a local councillor, we've been looking at this piece of land which has been lying idle for a long, long time, we've been promising residents we would build there.

"I couldn't promote this more."

The suburban site sits near the edge of Reading at the junction with Burghfield Road, which leads to The Cunning Man pub. Nearby facilities include the Tesco Express Esso on Bath Road, the Greggs drive‑thru, the Asda Superstore in Tilehurst and Kings Academy Prospect secondary school.

James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter