Homes England pledges £55m for Liverpool Waters regen
The grant will go towards unlocking the 2,350-home Central Docks, a Peel-owned brownfield site within the £5bn masterplan.
Homes England will provide a £55m grant from its Brownfield Infrastructure Land fund to pave the way for the Liverpool Waters scheme, which also features a 4.7-acre public park.
The money will pay for the infrastructure work needed to get the 25-acre former dockland development-ready and could unlock £500m of private investment, according to Liverpool City Council.
Last week chancellor Rachel Reeves hinted that stimulus to unlock the site, which she described as stalled, was imminent.
The authority’s cabinet is expected to sign off an agreement with Homes England tomorrow [Tuesday]. The funding is subject to Treasury approval.
Homes England chief executive, Peter Denton, said: “I am beyond pleased to see continued progress at Central Docks as part of the city’s clear vision to completely regenerate Liverpool Waters for the people it serves.
“The provision of funding and expertise, as part of a long-term partnership with the council, the Mayor and the wider sector, is exactly what Homes England is here to do – supporting local places aiming to unlock the potential for change, growth and the creation of sustainable, vibrant communities.”
Liam Robinson, Leader of Liverpool City Council, said the grant would act as a “huge economic catalyst for North Liverpool”.
“I was delighted to hear the new chancellor cite Liverpool Waters as a key scheme in her first speech in the Treasury,” he said.
“Liverpool City Council stands ready to help deliver that mission to unlock our brownfield sites to kickstart a new era of house building.”
He added: “The Central Docks scheme has the potential to be a true flagship scheme of what can be achieved by a partnership between central and local government and the private sector.
Peel Waters won planning approval for Central Docks last year.
Chris Capes, director of development for Peel Waters, said that grant would help overcome the difficulties related to brownfield development.
“The practicalities of developing brownfield sites are always a challenge for investors and developers, and so innovation and partnerships are essential to drive forward the regeneration we all want to see,” he said.
“Investment in this critical infrastructure will help lever in at least ten times the amount in private sector funding, leading to the complete transformation of the Central Docks neighbourhood and the creation of an inclusive, distinctive and healthy new community.”
The cash injection is a clear indicator of the new government’s plans, according to Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region.
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A gamble here from Rachel Reeves as there is no guarantee that Peel will lever in developers for this site. The land in question beyond Waterloo Dock and up to the Everton Stadium has stood idle for about 15 years since Peel bought the Docklands, and as we all observe they can hardly do anything without public funds. They still tell us that Liverpool Waters is a £5 billion scheme but that was the figure even before Everton got involved, and the IOM ferry terminal. Since then they’ve greatly reduced the number of homes forecast as well as the amount of office space, so let’s not get too excited about these latest announcements.
By Anonymous
@3:15 Wow you sound really down about it . do you work for LCC.
I personally think this is great news .
By Anonymous
Peel? Liverpool Waters? Forgive me if I don’t hold my breath.
By Anonymous
Liverpool Waters was initially announced in 2007….17 years ago. This is now more than half way through their proposed 30 year timescale for the whole of Liverpool/Wirral Waters scheme.
Everyone has now come to reaslise Peel’s business strategy is not to use or even raise its own capital, but merely wait for other developers to develop on their own land. If this is so, (serious question) just what was the point in MDHC handing over the land on both sides of the Mersey from Seaforth down to the Albert Dock to Peel. Surely MDHC could have done that and kept the land in quasi public ownership?
By Old Hall Street
Nearby is the Ten Streets regeneration zone, this would certainly be due a kickstart from this Brownfield Fund. Since
it’s announcement in 2017 very little has been delivered, ok we have some bars and recording studios but the area generally is like a war zone with streets full of fly-tipping,buddleia, overflowing paladins etc. Can’t a grant be pursued to clean up these streets so developers can see the potential. We took a walk round there over the weekend and were shocked at the mess , also had noted that some small projects had planning agreed nearby the Everton stadium but none had started and buildings were derelict or badly maintained. The main positive was the Torus development near Stanley Dock which looks great ,so more of this.
In essence the Council needs be proactive and get some grant money in to hot wire regeneration here.
By Anonymous
Old Hall Street, MDHC hadn’t been in public ownership since the 1980s. It was a PLC taken private when Peel bought then out, so Peel bought the whole company off the stock market not ‘the land’. Not a decision the public sector could have impacted. But yes, they have delivered very little on either side of the Mersey after nearly two decades of promises
By ST
Regarding the park, can’t Peel get some financial assistance the RHS ,they got millions for some park in Salford.
By Anonymous
As regards the park I’m not sure the type pictured is suitable for this area, which would get high winds. I think we need avenues of trees with grass and flower beds ,as well as hard standing ,sort of like the Tuileries in Paris, in the centre could be a cafe for people to sit out and take refreshments.
By Anonymous