Hallmark breaks ground on 15 October on its Manor Road care home: 110 en-suite rooms for residential, dementia and nursing care, due to open in 2028.
Building is getting under way on a 110-bedroom care home on Manor Road in Woodford Green. Hallmark Luxury Care Homes says it will open in 2028. The home will provide residential, dementia and nursing care, along with the hospitality and wellbeing facilities that Hallmark builds into its homes.
The company marks the start of work on Thursday 15 October with a ground-breaking event led by its chief executive, Nye Brown. Guests meet at The City Pavilion on Collier Row Road in Romford, where the event runs from 11am to 1.30pm. The invitation describes the day this way: “Hop on board as we take you to the site, coffee in hand and hard hat at the ready, to celebrate a development designed for people to thrive.” The event is by invitation, and replies go to Hallmark’s events team.
Where the home is being built
Hallmark gives the address as 7a Manor Road, Woodford Green, IG8 8GG. Redbridge Council’s planning register records the site as 11 to 12 and Findlay House, 7 Manor Road, in the council’s Bridge ward. The planning statement filed with the application describes it as land used by the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association for training, including its main building, Findlay House. According to that statement, the charity no longer needed the site because it was moving its operations to its neighbouring site immediately to the east, where it had its own planning permission (ref. 2682/21). The invitation calls the new home Hallmark’s newest care home “coming to the community of Chigwell”. The site itself is in Redbridge.
What was approved, and when
Hallmark’s agent, Turley, applied on Hallmark’s behalf, and the council received the application on 2 October 2023. The council’s record lists it as reference 2882/23: “demolition of existing buildings and construction of a new residential care home (Use Class C2) with associated parking, landscaping and associated infrastructure and works.” The register shows it went to the Planning Committee on 26 February 2024. On 6 March 2024 Hallmark announced that it had planning permission for “a 110-bed, residential, dementia and nursing care home” on the two-acre site. The council issued the formal decision notice on 21 March 2025, granting permission with conditions. Under the first condition, work has to begin within three years of that date.
Since then the scheme has been slimmed down. In October 2025 Turley asked the council to approve what it called minor changes, which followed “extensive design development” to get the scheme ready for construction. The amendment (2882/23/01) was approved on 23 October 2025. In its application, Turley said the scheme would keep “all 110 bedrooms” while the building’s internal floor area fell by about 9%, from 8,204 to 7,476 square metres. The planning officer’s record of that decision says the main block was shortened, which pulls the south side of the building between 3.6m and 6.1m further from neighbouring homes. The upper floors facing Manor Road were also made narrower.
Who the home is for
In the planning statement, the 110 bedrooms are divided by floor and type of care. All of them have their own en-suite, and the statement says the standard rooms are at least 20 square metres. Twelve of the rooms are designed so that couples can move in together, including in the dementia and residential communities.
- Ground floor: 27 residential care rooms
- First floor: 32 dementia care rooms
- Second floor: 16 nursing care rooms and 20 residential care rooms
- Third floor: 15 residential care suites
The 15 suites come with a small kitchenette and living space. Hallmark’s operational report for Manor Road says the kitchenettes let residents “who are still able to prepare simple meals for themselves, but may require care for some other reason,” keep some independence while getting the same 24-hour care as the rest of the home. In its 2024 announcement Hallmark called this part of the home The Residences, “a premium suite with a kitchenette, and exclusive amenities, fine dining and concierge services”.
The dementia floor follows what Hallmark calls a household model: small groups of rooms, each with its own lounge and dining area. The planning statement says residents “will be able to move between types of care to meet their changing needs over time.”
The hospitality and wellbeing facilities
The planning statement lists the facilities planned for the home:
- a wellness suite with therapy rooms and a gym
- a cinema, lounges and tea rooms, dining, a restaurant, a sky bar, an orangery and café areas
- meet and greet, hobby and music rooms, a library and celebration spaces
- a faith and prayer room
- clinic and medical spaces and assisted bathing
- gardens and terraces with walking routes
The 2025 amendment added a hydrotherapy suite in a single-storey section at the north-east corner. Turley’s letter says “offering this form of therapy on site will be a significant benefit to residents”. The site will have 53 parking spaces, 40% of them with electric vehicle charging, plus an ambulance bay by the main entrance.
Hallmark’s existing homes are sold on what the company calls Hallmark All-Inclusive, which covers “all your food, drink and care needs” in a single fee. Those homes have cafés, cinemas and bars, and Hallmark says it makes every effort to let residents’ pets move in with them. Its operational report for Manor Road says Hallmark works with local schools, colleges and nurseries and “welcome[s] them into our homes at every opportunity”. It also says a wellbeing coordinator at the new home will recruit volunteers to keep it connected with local organisations, groups and clubs.
Jobs and the building work
In 2023 Turley prepared an economic and social benefits statement for Hallmark. The figures below are the applicant’s estimates from that statement, not the council’s:
- about 160 full-time equivalent jobs on site once the home is open
- after allowing for knock-on effects and for jobs that would have existed anyway, 145 net new jobs for people living in Greater London, about 60 of them filled by Redbridge residents
- about £33.8 million to build the home, supporting an average of around 60 construction jobs a year over a build expected to take three years
The same statement estimated that 110 new care beds would increase the supply of care places in Redbridge by about 8%, measured against the roughly 1,300 people who were living in medical and care establishments in the borough at the 2021 Census.
For neighbours, the council’s decision notice requires a construction management plan. The standard working hours in the conditions are 8am to 6pm on weekdays and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays, with no work on Sundays or public holidays unless the council agrees otherwise.
Who Hallmark are
Hallmark opened its first care home in 1997. On its About page it describes itself as family-owned and says it runs 22 care homes in England and Wales. Those nearest to Woodford Green are Hutton View in Brentwood and Anisha Grange in Billericay, and its only London home at present is Kew House in Wimbledon. The company says residents and relatives give its homes an average score of 9.8 out of 10 on carehome.co.uk, which has named Hallmark one of its top 20 care home groups for 11 years running. When the Woodford Green permission was announced in 2024, Hallmark’s then managing director, Aneurin Brown, said:
“The care home in Woodford Green represents an exciting period of growth for us after recently opening two homes in Somerset and West Sussex, and we are very pleased to help meet the growing demand for specialist care in the area.”
“The development will provide local residents with a place where they feel safe and supported to live an active and fulfilled life and we are looking forward to creating a luxurious and homely, new care community.”
What it means for you
- If you live near Manor Road: building work is starting on the site next to the Guide Dogs centre, opposite the Crown and Crooked Billet. The planning documents for both applications, including the drawings, are on Redbridge Council’s planning register.
- If you are looking at care for a relative: the home is due to open in 2028. Hallmark has not yet published fees or a date for taking enquiries for Manor Road. Hallmark’s website covers its existing homes and how to make a care enquiry.
- If you work in care: the applicant’s estimate is around 160 jobs on site. Hallmark advertises its vacancies on the careers section of its website.
We have also asked Hallmark whether any beds will be available to residents whose care is funded by the council, and about local recruitment and the building contractor. Hallmark says it will send the answers, and we will add them to this article when they arrive.
Sponsored feature for Hallmark Luxury Care Homes.
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