Multiple funding streams from Government, combined with a £2bn investment fund, as well as the new Mayoral Development Corporation, means Liverpool city region now has a ‘golden opportunity’ to usher in a new era of housebuilding. Tony McDonough reports
Local housing associations say Liverpool city region now has a “golden opportunity” to build tens of thousands of homes and vibrant new communities.
Liverpool City Region Housing Associations (LCHRA) is a coalition of 23 housing associations. Its chair, Claire Griffiths, has told LBN that multiple new announcements since the start of 2026 could usher in a new era of housebuilding.
Towards the end of 2025, city region Mayor Steve Rotheram secured £700m funding towards new homes. He later expressed an ambition to build up to 64,000 new homes over the coming years.
At the MIPIM property expo in Cannes, the Mayor revealed more details about the proposed new Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC), which he claimed would inspire “one of the UK’s most dramatic renaissance stories of the 21st century”.
At the same event, Mr Rotheram also announced a £2bn investment fund would be set up in the city region to fund major projects including housing, infrastructure and transport.
And, in the past few days, it has been revealed that the Mayor has secured a further £95m from Chancellor Rachel Reeves to support new developments and job creation.
This money has come from the Housing Acceleration Fund and City Densification Fund. Claire Griffiths is also chief executive of Croxteth-based Cobalt Housing, which has been working to regenerate some of the most deprived areas of north Liverpool.
She said: “Our members have been investing in new affordable homes for many years, however the drive and push we are seeing now for accelerating and increasing delivery feels different ,
“LCRHA’s have been working closely with the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and Homes England to agree the short and medium term pipeline schemes to move forward with. We are now seeing multiple funding streams coming through and that is exactly what we need.
“There is a real opportunity to build thousands of new affordable, good quality homes with high levels of thermal efficiency to combat fuel poverty. Our members have the capacity, experience and ambition to take the lead on what we hope will be a new era of house building.”
Claire is also excited about the MDC, which will look to regenerate 174 acres of land along or close to the waterfront. These efforts are being supported by Homes England, which is committing more than £50m.
For us, there is so much more to housebuilding than just building houses and apartments. We want to create and maintain thriving communities where people live in warm secure homes and get access to opportunities and amenities.
This is a tremendous opportunity for our region to continue to deliver vibrant and diverse communities.”
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LCHRA’s mission, and that of its members, is to go beyond just building and maintaining bricks and mortar. In 2025, it commissioned a report from the Housing Associations Charitable Trust (HACT) to assess what contribution they were making to the social fabric.
This study revealed that around £155m of social value had been created by LCHRA members in the 2024/25 financial year alone. The biggest contribution came from cost-of-living support, totalling more than £76m, while almost £21.5m was invested into employment and training.
“It examined activity including cost-of-living support, employment assistance, wellbeing activities, youth projects, digital inclusion, environmental clean-up, community groups and decarbonisation. And we scored highly on all counts,” explained Claire.