A £7.3m drive to bring hundreds of empty homes back into use is one of a series of measures in a £30m programme to revitalise neighbourhoods across Liverpool. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool City Council will tackle vacant homes, improve fitness centres, play and park areas and create communal bin hubs in a £30m city-wide programme.
In a bid to tackle homelessness the city will spend £7.3m to bring hundreds of empty homes back into use. The authority says it would save almost double that figure in reducing temporary accommodation costs.
Grants will be made available to private sector landlords to encourage them to bring 365 properties back into use. It is estimated it will save £13.3m in reduced temporary accommodation costs.
A further £310,000 will be used to create a customer services hub to rapidly assess homeless households, staffed by a newly formed Housing Solutions Service.
The aim is to cut delays and improve decision-making of the 10,000 referrals received annually, which will reduce unnecessary placements in temporary accommodation.
As part of the overall programme, £20m will deliver improvements to Lifestyles fitness centres, park and play areas and the roll-out of communal bin ‘hubs’.
An initial £5.18m will be invested to begin the modernisation of Lifestyles leisure centres, including new gym equipment, refreshed reception areas, upgrades to disused 3G pitches, and the creation of adventure activities.
A total of £4.75m will also be spent to begin the upgrading of 23 play areas and improving a number of parks with new benches, litter bins and the resurfacing of pathways.
And £2.2 million will be used for the roll-out of communal bins ‘hubs’ over the next three years in areas with a high density of terraced housing to help drive up recycling rates and meet the requirement to collect food waste from 2026.
They are based on a scheme in Glasgow which has proved popular with residents and reduces flytipping.
Council leader Liam Robinson said: “These investments are possible because of the work we have done over the last couple of years in making our finances sustainable.
“It is an integral part of our journey to delivering quality, joined-up services in our neighbourhoods, which reflect the needs of local residents.”
Other projects include £213,000 for the installation of new public computers and self-service kiosks in libraries and £116,000 for equipment to expand the roll-out of face-to-face access to council services in libraries.
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Deputy council leader and Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources and Transformation, Cllr Ruth Bennett, added: “We are determined to improve life for residents in communities across Liverpool by making our city cleaner and greener.
“We have spent the last couple of years putting the council on a much firmer financial footing and as a result we are now able to commit to making investments in services that we know our residents really value and care about.”