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Metro mayor would like to see ‘big chunk’ of Labour’s 1.5 million homes pledge to be in Liverpool City Region
The metro mayor of the Liverpool city region has said he would like to see a “big chunk” of the Labour Party’s pledge to complete 1.5 million homes to be delivered in the area, if the party wins the next election.
Steve Rotheram was speaking to Inside Housing as part of a development site visit at a multimillion-pound scheme being built by Torus, the North West’s largest social landlord.
He said: “If Labour’s committed to building 1.5 million homes, I want a big chunk of them to be in the Liverpool City Region. So first thing is we need to demonstrate to them that we can do it. I think we’re doing that OK. Then that you can trust us.
“Then we need those chunks of money to work with our registered social landlords to hopefully then look at sites that previously [we] wouldn’t have been viable to develop.”
Asked what he thinks of Inside Housing’s Build Social campaign, which is calling on politicians from across the political spectrum to pledge to deliver 90,000 homes for social rent a year, Mr Rotheram said he wants to look at delivery capacity, rather than setting a target that could be missed.
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He said: “The only thing about targets is that you have to be achievable, and you have to be realistic. Because we’ve seen this government just come up with targets, and then you keep on missing them.
“So what I’d rather do, I’d rather look at what the capacity is for us to build social housing to an appropriate standard. That’s why I think this [site] is really important.
“It takes a project like this, next to a canal, in a former industrial park in an area that has been looked upon as being fairly run-down. Because I think we’ll start the renaissance of this whole area.”
The £51m site at Hartley Locks in Lightbody Street is a stone’s throw away from Everton Football Club’s £500m new stadium being built at Bramley-Moore Dock.
The development will see the landlord build 185 one, two and three-bedroom apartments, alongside 10 three-bedroom townhouses and seven new commercial spaces. All homes built will be available via Rent to Buy, in an attempt to encourage people onto the property ladder.
Steve Coffey, chief executive of Torus, said: “As a group, we are committed to building and working in a more sustainable way – in a way that benefits both our tenants and the environment.
“Connecting to a district heating network powered by a water source heat pump on this scale is not only impressive, but also exciting as we can see how different technologies can be implemented across our development programme.
“For us, Hartley Locks is very much the catalyst for wider investment in North Liverpool and although it’s one of our first schemes, it won’t be our last. It’s fantastic to be taking a lead on redeveloping not only this site, but the area, which for a long time has needed investment.”
James Eager, construction director at Eric Wright Construction, said that the firm is delighted to be supporting Torus with the development.
He said: “This is the latest in a number of successful medium-rise residential projects we have successfully delivered.”
Mr Rotherham also spoke of his ambition for the region to be net zero by 2040 at the latest – a full decade ahead of the government’s current plans. So far, £105m has been invested to retrofit 10,000 homes.
He added: “We are working around the clock to deliver on our goals with the limited funding we have been able to wrestle from the government, but I know that we simply cannot achieve our targets on our own. Collaboration between the public and private sector is helping us to go further and faster than ever before.”
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