The Mayor of Liverpool has begun a search for a new housing partner who can help him deliver 1,500 new homes for families in the city, and bring a further 1,000 back into use.
The Mayoral Cabinet has today, Friday 8 March, approved plans for the city to seek a partner, to support the delivery of new and refurbished homes in Liverpool.
It’s the latest part of the Mayor’s plans to work with the private sector to drive up the quality of housing in Liverpool.
Liverpool has seen a substantial increase in interest from potential developers, Registered Housing Providers and voluntary groups who want to work with the city on housing schemes. The new initiative will give one or more organisations the opportunity to bid to become an official partner of the council.
Mayor Joe Anderson said: “Making sure that Liverpool people have decent homes to live in is one of my top priorities. But in these tough financial times we cannot go it alone. By working people from both public and private organisations, we’ll be able to build 5,000 new homes and refurbish a further 1,000 homes. Putting roofs over the heads of Liverpool people will also protect and create local jobs.”
Through the partnership, the city council will prioritise the creation and safeguarding of jobs for local people and will work with the partner organisation, through the city’s ‘Liverpool in Work’ programme, to ensure supply chain, labour and skills are sourced locally wherever possible.
The partnership would aim to build on the city’s housing growth in recent years, with work on 2,000 new homes currently on-site across the city. Proposals from bidders which require the council to underwrite investment will be rejected.
Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing, Councillor Ann O’Byrne, said: “This is an exciting initiative, and yet another great example of how we working with public, private, community & voluntary sector partners to rejuvenate housing in this city.
“We are already achieving great things, and this new partnership will help build on this work, giving us the ability to drive forward housing renewal and improve our neighbourhoods at a faster pace.”
The city council hopes to award the contract in July.
The partner or partners will be appointed through a competitive tender process. Bidding organisations will be expected to demonstrate:
• The level of investment they will be able to make in housing in the city and details of their proposed projects. There will be the potential to develop new projects as the partnership evolves.
• Evidence that they are a financially viable company.
• Evidence of delivering quality housing which meets Decent Homes and Lifetime Homes Standards.
• Experience of delivering both small and large-scale residential developments, as well as both affordable and executive homes.
• Ability to deliver a mixture of tenure options and to incorporate green and energy efficient features where appropriate.
• A willingness to tackle areas of the city which have a track record of being difficult to regenerate
• Experience of community engagement.
