Liverpool launches property fund to thwart speculators

LIVERPOOL City Council is launching a “strategic acquisition fund” to buy land or leasehold interests that would support the city’s economic regeneration.

It would have a pot of £4m in its first year, 2011-12, followed by £4m a year in the subsequent two years.

In a report the council said it would enable it to pick up assets that might otherwise be targeted by speculators keen to bank land while values are low.

“Land and property is being marketed or subject to auction, and although they may be acquired by developers with credibility and cash-flow, there is a significant risk that speculators who are cash rich will acquire properties to land bank for future returns which could result in ransom or frustration for wider regeneration.”

Key targets for the fund will be in the city centre and around the universities, north Liverpool and south Liverpool near the airport.

Its first acquisitions will be around Great Homer Street in north Liverpool where a compulsory purchase order has been made to progress Project Jennifer which will include new retail and employment space, houses, a community centre and a leisure centre on the 45-acre site of the former Great Homer Street market.

The authority is also stepping up its efforts to sell unwanted buildings and land. It has produced a glossy prospectus with details of 20 sites around the city that are now on the market. It includes school sites, depots, allotments and a large building in Dale Street.

See the full list here: http://councillors.liverpool.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=79751