Liverpool's ambitious housing plans is on track

LIVERPOOL is making huge strides in delivering new and refurbished housing across the city and is on track to surpass the ambitious targets set by the Mayor. 

A new Cabinet report reveals that the City's housing delivery plan is exceeding expectations, with programmes of activity already underway set to deliver over 5,200 new and 1,100 refurbished houses over the next 4 years. 

The news is a major boost to the Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson's pledge to deliver 5,000 new and refurbished homes for the City by 2016. 

Work is gathering pace on a range of projects aimed at building thousands of new homes and bringing vacant properties back into use; as part of City's £130 million housing delivery plan.

Schemes include the £25 million 'Anfield Village'; with agreement now reached between the council, north Liverpool residents and partners, and work underway on retaining and refurbishing 374 homes in the area which had previously been earmarked for demolition.

In the South of the City, the Council has awarded a contract to Leader 1 who are investing £25 million in refurbishing 149 houses and building 50 new homes over the next 3 years in the Granby Four Streets area, Webster Triangle and Arnside Road. Work is due to start on site in the coming months.

Final consultation is also taking place with the community on the £15 million plans to revitalise housing in the Welsh Streets area of the city. The proposed scheme, delivered by the city council and Plus Dane, includes the delivery of over 150 diverse, affordable, high-quality new homes. 32 terraced properties on Madryn Street and Kelvin Grove, including 9 Madryn Street, the childhood home of Ringo Starr, will also be retained and refurbished. A planning application is due to be submitted next month.

And the Council's Asset Backed partnership with Sigma Inpartnership, Regeneration Liverpool, is delivering a range of residential and mixed use developments on 5 sites, with its largest scheme, the redevelopment of the Boot Estate, on-site and expected to deliver around 1,150 new dwellings over the next 10 years.

Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson said:- "Creating a thriving, prosperous housing market in Liverpool is a major priority for me because I know how important it is for the future of our city. That's why I pledged, when I took office, to deliver 5,000 new and refurbished homes across the city. We face significant challenges. Government cutbacks have hit us hard, including the loss of £135 million in Housing Market Renewal Funding. A weak economy is also leading to difficulties in obtaining funding to build, refurbish and buy homes. But we are determined to overcome this and are pressing on with delivering the quality housing which our city so desperately needs. We are achieving this by working creatively with our public and private sector partners and we are delivering a number of groundbreaking initiatives which are now beginning to have a real impact. There's much more to do, but I'm delighted with the progress made so far."

The City Council is working with partners, including private developers, registered providers and the Homes and Communities Agency to deliver schemes and draw down vital funding.

A consortium made up of the council, Plus Dane, Liverpool Housing Trust (Symphony Group), Riverside and South Liverpool Housing has been set up which aims to deliver 681 new homes across the City by 2015.

Liverpool has also achieved significant success in securing Government funding. The City was awarded £9.3 million in 'Transition Funding' at the end of last year for neighbourhoods worse affected by the cessation of the Housing Market Renewal programme. And £16.5 million in 'Clusters of Empty Homes funding' was secured in May which will bring over 750 empty homes back into use across the Liverpool City Region.

The city council's Cabinet Member for Housing, Councillor Ann O'Byrne, said:- "Our Housing Delivery Programme has got off to a great start and we're already making huge progress in delivering new homes, bringing properties back into use and regenerating our neighbourhoods. We are enjoying some real success stories. More than 30 schemes are already on site, delivering 2,000 homes; with many more to follow. It's down to effective partnerships between the City Council, the private sector, registered providers and residents, and a shared determination to deliver real change. There's a long road ahead of us if we are to achieve our ambition of delivering high quality, affordable housing in all of our neighbourhoods, but this report shows we have every reason to be optimistic."

Future proposals being considered include the release of former school sites for residential use, as part of the City's Schools Investment Plan. These sites could accommodate an additional 900 houses. A number of other sites are also currently being investigated for the longer-term development of up to 1,600 homes, including Everton Park, which is currently the subject of a comprehensive regeneration programme.  And Liverpool is to invest £255,000 in an additional 260 units of Extra Care Housing for older people across the city, offering integrated housing, care and support packages with 24 hour assistance for residents.  It is estimated that that the construction jobs associated with delivering these schemes will exceed 1,300. The 'Delivering the Mayoral Housing Priority' report will be presented to the Council Cabinet on 31 August 2012.

Neil Armstrong has died

THE US Astronaut who led the NASA Apollo 11 mission and on 20 July 1969 he was to become the 1st human to set foot on the moon, has died on Saturday, 25 August 2012. He was 82. It is reported that he died as the result of heart complications following heart-bypass surgery. He will go down on history as one of the most famous pioneer of space exploration. The "giant leap for mankind" speech he made on landing is now one of the most influential speeches ever made.  As the news broke of his passing, the US space agency has tweeted:- "NASA offers its condolences on today's passing of Neil Armstrong, former test pilot, astronaut & the 1st man on the moon."  Mr Gerard Gilligan, Hon Secretary, Liverpool Astronomical Society, who are the oldest Astronomy Society in the UK, said:- "It is very sad news. Perhaps no words in recent human history became better known than those few Neil uttered as he stepped onto the lunar surface. Many members of the Society became interested in the science of astronomy during the days of the Apollo landings, and part of that history has now left us. Our condolences to his family, close friends, and fellow Apollo astronauts."