Work to construct 18 new properties that will be the first council housing in since 2006, is scheduled to start  in early November.

New apartments

At their meeting next week, Sefton Council’s cabinet will hear that Sandway Homes, the authority-owned housing development company, will begin work on their new site Buckley Hill in the second week of November. And they will be asked to approve the acquisition of the 18 new apartments on the site for use as Council Housing.

Cabinet members will also be asked to approve a £2.2 million Supplementary Capital Estimate funded through Section 106 housing capital receipts, historic right to buy sharing agreement receipts and Homes England grant funding. The scheme was also supported with £1.05m from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. Rental from the scheme would be reinvested into Sefton Council’s Housing Programme.

Single and two-bedroom homes

The 18 apartments at Buckley Hill Lane will be a mix of one- and two-bedroom homes and those on the ground floor will be built to meet national accessibility and adaptability standards.

Electric vehicle charging points to each dwelling and to the apartment block and Energy efficient design with high thermal efficiency values to reduce heat loss, high efficiency boilers and heating systems are among the measures that will help reduce the Buckley Hill Lane site’s carbon footprint and offset its impact on climate change.

 There will also be sustainable design and landscaping throughout the site with ‘green streets’ and surface water drainage will be integrated into landscape features to encourage wildlife. The properties will also conform to the latest Building Regulations which will ensure that they will have a higher energy efficiency rating than the average equivalent property in Sefton.

Groundbreaking

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 that we now have the opportunity to progress this groundbreaking scheme with Sandway Homes and acquire the Borough’s first new council housing in 17 years.

“I am confident my cabinet colleagues will be pleased to approve the acquisition.”

Sold

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.

Commitment

Cllr Hardy added: “The Council established Sandway Homes in 2018 as part of its commitment to creating the new, high-quality homes needed across the across the Borough and that is exactly what the company is achieving.

“Approving the acquisition of Sefton’s first council homes next week will be the next step in that success story.”

Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said: “Having grown up in a council house, I know first-hand the stability that having a quality, secure home can bring to a family.

“Yet Margaret Thatcher’s policy of selling council housing stock without investing in replacements resulted in decades of decline - and the housing crisis facing families has only got worse. The cost-of-living, married with a spiralling property market, means that, for many families, the dream of taking the first step on the housing ladder is far beyond their reach. Through developments like this, we’re helping to transform families lives by building affordable homes they can call their own.

“This is just scratching the surface of my housebuilding ambitions. Through my Brownfield Land Fund, we’ve committed £60m to build 4,000 homes across our region, helping local people to realise their home ownership ambitions while also protecting our precious green spaces from over development. It’s proper levelling up in action and I can’t wait to see the thriving communities it helps to create.”

You can use this link to find the agenda and papers for next week’s Sefton Council cabinet meeting.