Work on 18 new homes in Bootle are set to begin in a £2.2m project that will see Sefton build its first council housing in 17 years. Tony McDonough reports
Sefton Council is to build its first council homes in 17 years in a £2.2m scheme at Buckley Hill in Bootle.
Sandway Homes, the council’s own housing development company is set to start work on the 18 apartments. They will comprise a mix of one and two-bedroom properties.
Councillor’s on the Sefton cabinet on Thursday will be asked to approve the acquisition of the properties for use as council homes. Cabinet members will also be asked to approve a £2.2m Supplementary Capital Estimate.
This will be funded through Section 106 housing capital receipts, historic right to buy sharing agreement receipts and Homes England grant funding. Rental from the scheme would be reinvested into Sefton Council’s housing programme.
Ground floor apartments will be built to meet national accessibility and adaptability standards.
There will also be electric vehicle charging points and energy-efficient design with high thermal efficiency values to reduce heat loss, high efficiency boilers and heating systems.
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Throughout the site there will be “sustainable” with “green streets” and surface water drainage will be integrated into landscape features to encourage wildlife.
Cllr Trish Hardy, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing said: “Affordable housing is very much needed across Sefton, so I welcome this news that we now have the opportunity to progress this groundbreaking scheme.
“I am confident my cabinet colleagues will be pleased to approve the acquisition.”
Last month, Sefton Council’s cabinet heard that just seven properties out of a total of 78 are left for sale on Sandway Homes’ Hey Farm Gardens and Sandy Brook plots and 25 of the properties handed over have been affordable homes.
Sandway also reported that work is due to start soon at Buckley Hill and Molyneux Gardens, and a planning application was due to be submitted for a development at the former Bootle High School site in Netherton.
These will result in almost 120 more new, high-quality properties in the borough. Cllr Hardy added: “The council established Sandway Homes in 2018 as part of its commitment to creating the new, high-quality homes we needed.”