To celebrate Carla and Lisa purchasing No.6 Coronation Street, Grace takes a dive into the history of the house
Recent spoilers and scenes were geared towards a house move for Carla and Lisa. Their little family has certainly outgrown Carla’s small, albeit lovely, flat. The most likely and logical place for the girls to select would be Yasmeen Metcalfe’s house, Number 6 Coronation Street. Sandwiched between the Platts and Sally the Ally, there is no better place for an iconic couple on an iconic street. For an LGBTQ couple to buy a house on the fabled street? Iconic. Most queer soap couples don’t get this far. Let’s have them be the first. So, let’s discuss this address shall we?
Without much exaggerating, it can be easily said that Coronation Street is likely to be the most dangerous and eventful stretch of cobbled street in the English-speaking world. Not a single house or flat has escaped some form of tragedy, crime, accident, affair, or worse. Some places have been set ablaze and rebuilt twice (looking at you corner shop). There is at least one location that has had no less than four deaths take place (rhymes with drovers). We need not mention the aptly named Underworld. (RIP Rana amongst others)
There are inevitably addresses on the Street that have had more than their fair share of terrible things. Number 6 Coronation Street has long been the dumping ground for new arrivals, from the Harris’s to the Nazir’s. At least three occupants have died whilst on the show.
The middle child of the Street’s new builds, 6 has been the most readily available and arguably least iconic of the main locations. Whilst the surrounding houses had families such as the Platts, Peacocks, Websters, and Barlows, there has been less recognisable names at 6, including, the Barnes’, Harrises, Mortons, and Windasses. Few casual viewers likely have any tangible or fond memories of these characters, with only the Windass clan lasting more than a few years. The Nazirs have been the longest lasting of the seven owners, lasting 11 years. Of these most recent occupiers, only Alya remains, with her brother, sister-in-law, father, grandmother, and grandfather all moving on in some form or another. My particular recent memory has a tendency to focus on the Harris clan; more specifically sixteen year old Katy Harris and her incredibly inappropriate yet somehow normalised sexual relationship with forty-something Martin Platt. Absolutely outrageous.
The space occupied by the three new build houses was in the 60s originally home to Elliston’s Raincoat Factory, a four-storey building overlooking Coronation Street. The factory provided a living wage for many of Weatherfields residents until its closure in 1968. The building was demolished that same year, with the space subsequently being occupied by a row of seven flats. These maisonettes lasted only 3 years, when in 1971, a fire, lit by Valerie Barlow as she was being electrocuted to death, spread and exposed shoddy building work and multiple structural faults. The flats were demolished and replaced by a community centre and distribution warehouse. These locations remained until 1989, when a large-scale redevelopment of the area was approved and the land was cleared.
The new layout comprised of the factory, newsagents, garage, three flats, and three semi-detached houses on the land. This represented the largest change to the Streets layout in the show’s history. Barring any minor cosmetic changes, and later additions, by and large the street remains in its 1990 configuration. The changes allowed for more characters and wider storylines to appear on the soap. The development commencing in 1989 was seen as the beginning of a new era on the soap. The 70s and 80s by and large seeing the exits of the vast majority of original and long-running characters. The new, modern Corrie was now well poised to compete with the more trendy and topical shows, Eastenders and The Bill. Audiences, whilst fond of Bet, Ken, Hilda and Mavis, needed younger, fresher faces, and ones that tackled the issues faced by people in real life.
Number 6 had gone through owners and residents faster than even the Rovers (14 owners in 70 years) and has had 8 (now 9) owners in 35 years. More than 55 residents have called it home since its inception. I will list them all at the end of the article, but there are some names more iconic than others. The owners, in order, are as follows.
Des Barnes (1990-1998) Steph Barnes (1990-1991)
The very first occupants, Des and his wife, Steph moved into the new house. They could only afford the mortgage with help, as the land was developed by Maurice Jones, Stephs father. Des and Steph’s marriage fell apart after only a few years, and Des was left as the eventual sole owner. For those British television lovers, you might recognise Stephs actress Amelia Bullmore. Gentleman Jack, Happy Valley, and Scott & Bailey, to name a few.
Natalie Horrocks (1998-2005?)
Natalie Horrocks, later Barnes, met and married owner Des in 1998. He died less than two months after their wedding due to a beating from some drug thugs. Natalie, it should be mentioned, had previously an affair with Kevin Webster, seducing him whilst his wife Sally was away nursing her sick mother. Classy. Anyway, Natalie inherited the house from her late husband, and rented it out, becoming landlady of the Rovers. After a wild ride on the street, including a dead husband, dead son, and a sister who stole her boyfriend, Natalie called it time on the cobbles. She made no mention of selling number 6, so it was assumed that she continued to rent it out for the foreseeable.
Charlie Stubbs (2006-2007)
Resident cheater and well-known scumbag Charlie Stubbs bought the house off of the landlord, who was described using “he”. This has led to some speculation regarding whether or not Natalie still owned the property. As it were, no confirmation or clarity was ever provided.
Charlie had needed a place to stay after he was kicked to the kerb by his long-suffering fiancé Shelley Unwin. She had survived his emotional and psychological abuse and had jilted him at the altar. I still remember me and my mum cheering her on when she refused to say “I do”. Charlie was unrepentant, and his womanising ways eventually coming back to bite him, when, in 2007, then girlfriend Tracy Barlow murdered him. Good riddance.
Jerry Morton (2007-2011)
I confess, dear reader, I don’t have a single vivid memory of Jerry Morton and his family, apart from David Platt throwing a jack through the kebab shop window in 2008. Jerry attacked David, but the police arrived and arrested David before either could get hurt.
Jerry moved and bought number 6 in spring 2007, bringing his four children. The house was a bit crowded, especially when his ex-wife later left her son with him. Jerry’s time on the street didn’t last too long. Suffering a heart attack, Teresa, his ex-wife, returned, ostensibly to nurse him. In reality, she began to poison him, intent on weaking him enough to keep her around. Eventually, he discovered her plot, and threw her out. The toll of the ordeal led to Jerry seeking a new life in Spain (ever the escape for soap residents). He took his two youngest, leaving his other adult children behind. Within a year, the rest of the family had moved on, leaving the house to rent out to tenants. The Windass clan moved in at the end of 2008, causing trouble from the off.
Owen Armstrong (2011-2014)
Local builder and hardman Owen had made few friends since his arrival in 2010. Known to skim from his customers and cook his books to avoid HMRC, his head was turned by recently abandoned Anna Windass. He first befriended Anna when her common-law husband, Eddie left her and Faye, unable to deal with the latter’s behavioural issues.
In June 2011, Anna mentioned that “The bloke who owns my house” was putting it up for sale. Despite offering her first refusal, Anna was distraught at being unable to afford the house. Owen, keen on Anna, and not wanting recently adopted Faye to have to move, bought the house and rented it out to her. The act endeared him greatly to her, and they were a couple within a few months. The two made a life together, facing the usual ups and downs of soap life, but when, in 2014, the family faced financial ruin, the house was seized and put up for auction. The family was distraught, but had no choice but to move out.
Yasmeen Nazir (2014-2025)
In 2014 it was announced that the first muslim family was to move onto the street. The nazirs, comprised of Yasmeen, her husband Sharif, their son Kal, and his children Alya and Zeedan.
Kal was a former army friend of Garys, while Sharif was a businessman. The family lost Kal in 2015 while he and girlfriend Leanne were saving Amy Barlow from the fire at Victoria Court flats (RIP Maddie). 2016 sees Zeedan’s girlfriend Rana Habeeb move in with the family. They later marry in a Muslim ceremony. Sharif leaves the house in disgrace after it is revealed that he was having a seven-year long affair with family friend Sonia Rahman. The Nazirs are left in debt due to Sharif’s impromptu departure. Yasmeen’s friend Cathy Matthews moves in when her relationship with Roy Cropper unexpectedly ends when he reveals he doesn’t want to get married.
After becoming estranged from his family in 2017, Alya’s friend Aidan Connor moves in while he gets back on his feet, much to Yasmeen’s disapproval. Zeedan and Rana have a legal ceremony, so they would be married in the eyes of both Islam and the UK Government. This happens as Rana begins an affair with Aidan’s sister Kate, whilst struggling with balancing her sexuality and her faith.
One cannot talk about Yasmeen without talking about her second and worst husband, Geoff Metcalfe. Geoff was the father of Sally’s husband Tim, and presented as a kind and harmless man. Without going into too much detail about his horrendous emotional abuse of yasmeen, the marriage ended with the death of Geoff. He fell off the roof of Number 6 after setting it on fire. Yasmeen was free of his abuse, and the house survived. Unlike its tenant. Oh well.
Yasmeen waved goodbye to the cobbles in 2025, leaving the sale of the house in the hands of her granddaughter Alya.
Enter Carla Connor and Lisa Swain. (2025-)
Depending on when this article is published, the house keys may now be in the hands of Carla and Lisa. As of writing this, the Connor-Swains are in a bidding war with Debbie Webster and Ronnie Bailey. I wonder who will win. Wink wink.
Previous and current residents of 6 Coronation street.
- Des Barnes (1990-1998)
- Steph Barnes (1990-1991, 1992)
- Raquel Watts (1992, 1994)
- Lisa Duckworth (1992-1993)
- Tommy Duckworth (1992-1993)
- Doug Murray (1993)
- Colin Barnes (1993)
- Steve McDonald (1994)
- Andy McDonald (1995)
- Claire Palmer (1996-1997)
- Becky Palmer (1996-1997)
- Angie Freeman (1997)
- Chris Collins (1997)
- Samantha Failsworth (1997)
- Natalie Horrocks (1998)
- Sally Webster (1999)
- Sharon Gaskell (1999)
- Debs Brownlow (2000)
- Duggie Ferguson (2000)
- Matt Ramsden (2000-2002)
- Charlie Ramsden (2000-2002)
- Tommy Harris (2002-2005)
- Angela Harris (2002-2005)
- Katy Harris (2002-2003, 2005)
- Craig Harris (2002-2006)
- Keith Appleyard (2005-2006)
- Charlie Stubbs (2006-2007)
- Tracy Barlow (2006-2007)
- Amy Barlow (2006-2007)
- Jerry Morton (2007-2008)
- Jodie Morton (2007)
- Darryl Morton (2007-2008)
- Mel Morton (2007-2008)
- Kayleigh Morton (2007-2008)
- Finlay Bryant (2007-2008)
- Teresa Bryant (2008)
- Eddie Windass (2009-2011)
- Anna Windass (2009-2014)
- Gary Windass (2009-2011)
- Faye Windass (2011-2014)
- Owen Armstrong (2011-2014)
- Sharif Nazir (2014-2016)
- Yasmeen Nazir/Metcalfe (2014-2025)
- Kal Nazir (2014-2015)
- Alya Nazir (2014-2016, 2018-2019, 2020 to present)
- Zeedan Nazir (2014-2018, 2021-2023)
- Rana Nazir (2016-2018)
- Sonia Rahman (2016)
- Cathy Matthews (2016-2018)
- Alex Warner (2016-2017)
- Aidan Connor (2017)
- Imran Habeeb (2017-2018)
- Geoff Metcalfe (2019-2020)
- Ryan Connor (2020-2021)
- Elaine Jones (2021)
- Stu Carpenter (2022-2024)
- Eliza Woodrow (2022-2024)
- Mason Radcliffe (2024)
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