Using the remaining £34m from its £45m Brownfield Land Fund, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority will kick-start work on 4,000 new homes on Brownfield sites. Tony McDonough reports
Up to 4,000 new homes will be built on brownfield sites across Liverpool city region in a £34m plan unveiled by the Combined Authority (CA).
In July 2020 the city region secured £45m from the Government’s Brownfield Land Fund to deliver previously-developed, or brownfield, land suitable for at least 3,000 and preferably 4,000 homes.
The money will be used for site remediation and other measures required to make sites ready for development. So far, around £11m has been invested into projects which will deliver 886 homes.
Now the CA is looking to spend the remaining £34m from the Brownfield Land Fund on projects across Liverpool, Wirral, Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens and Halton. The cash will be divided among:
- Local Authority-led land acquisitions.
- Local Authority-led projects.
- Private sector development (open call to be announced).
Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram said: “For too many people across our region, the chance to own a home of their own remains out of reach. To tackle the housing crisis and help more people realise their home ownership ambitions, we need to take serious action to get more homes built across our region.
“When I was elected, I promised to prioritise brownfield sites for housebuilding and have been working hard to make that a reality. In planning terms, any land that has been previously developed is classed as brownfield.
“In the Liverpool city region, much of this land is derelict and formerly industrial so must be cleaned up before it can be redeveloped.”
In total, 700 brownfield sites have been identified across the six local authority areas. The updated brownfield register identifies 1,813 acres of brownfield sites which could provide space for more than 42,000 homes, if remediated.
The seven sites already supported through the Brownfield Land Fund are:
Moss Nook, St Helens; Buckley Hill, Sefton; Foundry Lane, Halton; Halton Court, Halton; Paddington Village, Liverpool; House of Fraser Building, Wirral; and Denford Road, Liverpool.