The last remaining house on a village street in Kempston Hardwick is set to be demolished to clear the way for Universal United Kingdom Resort, with dailymail.com first reporting the move. The property sits on Manor Road, which already cuts through the resort site, and Universal’s own update page says the road is closed for site stabilisation and enabling works until 27 November 2026.
That matters because the resort is no longer just a planning headline. Bedford Borough Council says works on site started in 2026 and opening is planned for 2031, while Universal’s project page says Universal United Kingdom Resort will be the company’s first Universal-branded theme park and resort in the UK and Europe.
Manor Road is already inside the build area
The public planning material places the development on the former Kempston Hardwick brickworks and adjoining land, south-west of Bedford, with Manor Road running through the site. Those documents describe Manor Road as the route linking Kempston Hardwick to Woburn Road on one side and Ampthill Road on the other, which is why changes here matter well beyond a single property.
Universal’s community update says the current closure keeps through traffic off Manor Road, with access to Kempston Hardwick station via the Woburn Road junction only. The company also says more traffic management on Manor Road will be needed after the present closure ends, although those details have not yet been confirmed publicly.
A small demolition in a much larger scheme
The house removal sits within a much larger programme of resort infrastructure. Universal says the project will include a world-class theme park with several themed lands, a 500-room hotel and retail, dining and entertainment uses, and that it will be supported by transport upgrades including an expanded Wixams railway station, direct slip roads from the A421 and other local road improvements.
Universal also says the resort is expected to generate nearly £50 billion of economic benefit, create 20,000 jobs during construction and support 8,000 jobs once operational. That scale is why apparently small changes on Manor Road matter: every closure, access diversion and demolition around the site feeds into the wider task of preparing the brownfield land for a 2031 opening.
What happens next
For now, the confirmed milestones are the current Manor Road closure window and the resort’s 2031 opening target. A demolition date for the house itself has not been confirmed publicly, so the next thing to watch is whether Universal extends or amends the road management plan once the present closure ends on 27 November 2026.
