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Liverpool Unveils Strategy for 2500 New Homes
An additional 2,500 new homes will be built in Liverpool under plans unveiled by the city council. Liverpool City Council have announced its housing delivery plan for the period 2012-2015.
The proposals would see the council establish a £20 million funding pot for new housing, formed from capital receipts and also any new money received through the government’s New Homes Bonus scheme.
The council has identified 20 brownfield sites throughout the city and intends to transfer them to registered social landlords and provide subsidies to help them develop the sites into housing.
Although the land would be transferred at zero cost to housing providers, there would be conditions attached so the council could claw back the grant should some sites not be developed.
As well as the new build proposals – which are intended to provide 2,000 new homes – the strategy also includes plans for a further 500 homes to be built as part of the planned development of the Stonebridge Cross area.
This scheme will be delivered in partnership with developer consortium the Symphony Group through a local asset-backed vehicle (LABV) model that seeks to attract private sector investment in regeneration projects.
The third strand of the housing strategy is to use a portion of the £20 million pot to bring empty homes back into use. The council will also make £3 million available for a new mortgage scheme to help, in the first instance, 200 first-time buyers purchase a home. Repayments will be used to help fund further mortgages.
The council expects to lever in a total of £130 million for new housing under the plans.
Ann O’Byrne, Liverpool City Council’s cabinet member for housing, said: "It makes eminent sense to invest in housing in this way. Over time we can recoup a good part of our investment by the increased income from council tax and the New Homes Bonus. With the ending of [Labour’s] Housing Market Renewal initiative and the general lack of investment in the housing market, we have to find imaginative ways of providing the type of good quality, affordable homes that people want. By releasing sites at no cost, providing a subsidy and working with private developers and registered providers, we will see 2,000 new homes built in this city. We have a waiting list of 18,000 people and we will drastically reduce this [under these proposals]."
