Foundations was set up by the city council earlier this year with the aim of building 10,000 new homes over the next few years and providing employment for 2,000 people. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool Council has identified land in north Liverpool where it wants to build the first 120 new homes via its £500m ‘ethical’ housing company.
Foundations was set up earlier this year with the aim of building 10,000 new homes over the next few years and providing employment for 2,000 people.
Now it has identified a piece of land located between Denford Road, Ackers Hall Avenue, Dunchurch Road in the Yew Tree area of the city and has been identified as good potential for housing development.
It is located in primarily a residential area with good amenity including access to local schools and colleges and good road network being a short drive to Queens Drive. Foundations aims to set aside a number of the properties for foster carers and the elderly.
A former council-owned housing estate, the land has historically been cleared and left vacant.
The site contains a small park and associated area of green space. These facilities will be excluded from the development site and the design phase of the contract will consider how these they could be enhanced through the scheme.
Foundations wants to to rebalance the city’s social housing stock, transform the rent-to-buy sector and drive up council tax receipts for the council.
Formally established in January, it has been tasked with creating bespoke properties for the homeless, foster carers, large families, the elderly and people with a disability and to improve the availability of good quality, affordable homes in the city.
Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson said: “This site is in Yew Tree is the first of a number of sites that Foundations will be developing in its first two years of operation, breathing new life into communities all across the city and providing quality, affordable homes for people with many differing needs.
“A lot of work has been going on behind the scenes to get Foundations up and running and the recruitment of the team has already begun with a new chief operating officer and chairman to be announced next week.
“We will be announcing more sites in areas of Liverpool, from Dingle to Speke, in the near future with the aim of delivering 2,000 homes by the end of 2020.”
For Foundations the profits of both house sales and rentals will be returned to the council, as the only shareholder in the company, with a percentage reinvested in new stock.
It takes forward an approach that has led to the build of 750 new properties with Liverpool Mutual Homes and Redrow, via the Liverpool Housing Partnership, the profits from which have been used to create 450 affordable homes.