Council approves acquisition deal to mark return to housing provision after 18 years

The acquisition of 18 new apartments, which will signal Sefton Council’s first new council housing since 2006, was approved at the authority’s meeting last night (January 18).

Work is already under way at Sandway Homes’ Molyneux Gardens development at Buckley Hill Lane in Netherton, which will include a mix of one- and two-bedroom council homes across two attractive apartment blocks.

The wider development also includes a range of quality two-, three- and four-bed open market homes, with the first being released for sale soon.

Sandway Homes is the arm’s length housing development company set up by Sefton Council in 2018.

High efficiency boilers and heating systems and energy-efficient designs with high thermal efficiency values to reduce heat loss are among the measures that will help reduce the Buckley Hill Lane site’s carbon footprint and offset its impact on climate change.

Elevations of the proposed properties

Each of the new properties at the Buckley Hill development and the to apartment block will have electric vehicle charging points. Ground floor apartments will be built to meet national accessibility and adaptability standards.

Sefton Council agreed a Supplementary Capital Estimate of £2,222,783 funded through affordable housing capital receipts, historic right to buy sharing agreement receipts and Homes England grant funding to purchase the properties.

The scheme was also supported with £1.05m from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.

Rent from the properties will be reinvested into Sefton Council’s Housing Programme.

Cllr Trish Hardy, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing said: “We have long recognised that local people need homes, and this scheme will secure some of that much needed, high quality accommodation.

“We approved 18 new properties last night, but this just marks the start of our drive to re-establish a strong council housing stock in Sefton as well as confirming Sefton Council’s decision to establish Sandway Homes in 2018 was right.”

When the acquisition of the 18 properties was approved by Sefton Council’s Cabinet, Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said: “This is just scratching the surface of my housebuilding ambitions.

“Through my Brownfield Land Fund, we’ve committed £60m to build 4,000 homes across our region, helping local people to realise their home ownership ambitions while also protecting our precious green spaces from over-development. It’s proper levelling up in action and I can’t wait to see the thriving communities it helps to create.”