It’s official – the Liverpool Housing Partnership is one of Merseyside’s finest property initiatives and has been described as “a shining example of private and social housing working together.”
The pioneering collaboration between Redrow Homes, Liverpool City Council, Liverpool Mutual Homes (LMH) and Willmott Dixon – was winner of the ‘Property Deal of the Year’ title at NW Insider magazine’s 2016 Merseyside Property Awards.
The Insider judges used words like “innovative, complex and transformational” to describe the landmark deal.
In reaching their decision, they heard how the partnership is expected to create a £205m investment over the next five years, with potential for a further £200m in subsequent years. It is designed to drive up the range and quality of properties in the city, with Redrow Homes and LMH jointly set to build 1,500 new homes and LMH aiming to bring up to 1,000 back into use.
Capital receipts generated by the sale of Council sites and assets will be reinvested into the housing programme, to enable more affordable homes to be built. The partnership will also create construction jobs, apprenticeships and other skills training opportunities.
Liverpool City Council’s cabinet member for housing Cllr Frank Hont was at the Insider Merseyside Property Dinner at Liverpool’s Titanic Hotel to collect the award. He said later: “The Liverpool Housing Partnership is a unique partnership which is already starting to deliver benefits for the city, and I am really pleased that it has secured this much-deserved recognition.”
Chris Bowen, Development Director at LMH, added: “This award is great recognition for our ground-breaking approach to increasing house building in Liverpool. We are delighted that the partnership has now moved into the delivery stage with so many projects on site”.
The event was attended by 423 people from the all spheres of the region’s property industry; and the Liverpool Housing Partnership beat stiff competition from the sale of Baltic Village PRS scheme (Promenade Estates) and the acquisition of Kirby Town Centre (St Modwen) in the property deal category.
Redrow’s first project under the LHP umbrella, 21 three and four-bedroom family homes at Knights Park, in Woolton, has just launched with one young couple queuing overnight to secure the home of their dreams.
Marwood Tower, Liverpool Mutual Homes’ £8 million revamp of a dilapidated tower block between Great Homer Street and Kirkdale Road into 81 modern apartments for the over-55s, is due to be completed in August.
These are just two of 17 initial schemes, which will draw in £97 million of investment for 306 affordable rent properties, 50 for private rent and 241 executive homes.
“These 651 properties represent the first phase the Liverpool Housing Partnership’s delivery programme, with a similar number anticipated in phase two,” said Faye Whiteoak, Redrow’s development director for the Liverpool Housing Partnership.
“For our part we’re delighted that the partners’ efforts to pool skills and resources, provide long term investment and approach housing deliver in such a strategic way have been recognised by an outside organisation of Insider’s standing.”
Members of the Liverpool Housing Partnership board are pictured with the Insider trophy during a site visit to Marwood Tower.