More than 100 developers have heard from Mayor Joe Anderson why they should become Liverpool’s official Housing Delivery Partner.
The ‘Build Our Future’ event at the Arena and Convention Centre Liverpool today (Monday 1 July) gave organisations the chance to meet the Mayor and find out about his plans for the five-year partnership, which will see the selected partner or partners working with the city council to deliver 1,500 new homes for Liverpool, and bring a further 1,000 back into use.
Developers flocked to the city to find out about the exciting opportunity, with 155 delegates from over 100 firms represented at the event.
Mayor Anderson said: “I’m delighted we have had such an overwhelming response. It shows developers have real confidence in Liverpool as a great place to do business. We are always looking at ways of doing things differently here, and this approach isn’t happening anywhere else in the country.
“I promised to build 5,000 new homes in Liverpool by 2016. We’re already building 2,500 of them. We want everyone in Liverpool to have access to a decent home, and that’s why improving our housing stock is one of my top priorities. To achieve this, it’s vital that we work creatively with other organisations from the public and private sector.
“This partnership will help us build on the fantastic progress we are making in housing in this city, unlocking new investment opportunities, and allowing us to pool resources and expertise. This is about improving the lives of thousands of local people, so we are only looking for organisations with a real commitment to housing regeneration – and the track record to back it up.”
The City Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing, Councillor Ann O’Byrne, said: “We are making fantastic progress in this city through our £130m Housing Delivery Plan, and the buzz of housing activity can now be seen in every part of our city, from Anfield and Norris Green Village to Edge Hill.
“But we want to achieve even more. This new partnership will help us build on the fantastic momentum we’ve created in housing in recent years. It’s about working creatively with public and private sector partners and finding imaginative ways of providing the type of good quality homes people in this city want.
“It’s great news that this opportunity has generated such huge interest from developers. It certainly bodes well for the future of housing in this city.”
The partnership supports the Mayor’s target of delivering 5,000 new homes and bringing a further 1,000 properties back into use over the next three years.
The city is already making real progress in reaching the Mayor’s target, with 30 live housing developments currently en route for completion in the city, delivering 2,500 homes.
The partnership will build upon and complement the range of other innovative schemes being delivered by the city council to improve its housing stock, including a pilot scheme offering homes for a pound, to help breathe new life into the Granby and Arnside Road areas of the city.
The council is also delivering a £3 million mortgage scheme with Lloyds Banking Group, which has already helped dozens of local families with the local authority providing loan ‘top-ups’ to help people into their first homes.
Liverpool needs to build almost 41,000 new homes by 2028 to meet demand.
The procurement documents can be viewed at www.thechest.nwce.gov.uk. The closing date for submission of the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) is Friday 19th July 2013. More information about the Bidders Events in Liverpool is available at http://www.liverpool.gov.uk/buildourfuture The contract will be awarded in January 2014.
