Combined Authority Launches £15m Open Call to Help Deliver 4000 New Brownfield Homes

The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has launched a £15m open call to developers to help deliver up to 4000 new homes on brownfield sites across the City Region.

In July 2020, the Liverpool City Region was allocated £45m from the Government’s Brownfield Land Fund to deliver previously-developed, or brownfield, land suitable for at least 3,000 and preferably 4,000 homes.  The money will be used for site remediation and other measures required to make sites ready for development.

Since then, the Combined Authority has already supported seven projects across the Liverpool City Region with more than £11m investment to deliver 886 homes.

At its meeting on 4 June, the Combined Authority agreed a strategy for investing the remaining £34 million, including an open call for private sector development.  Any private sector or charitable body, or Registered Provider, may apply.

Full details for prospective applicants are available on the LCRCA website here.  In general terms, however, applications will need to align with LCRCA’s ambitions for the city region’s housing offer, as set out in its Housing Investment Strategy.

The aim of the Strategy is to diversify the housing offer and attract new residents and in doing so, support economic growth. The Strategy also seeks to ensure that housing contributes to the City Region’s net zero carbon objectives. Applicants should familiarise themselves with the Strategy’s objectives and criteria which include:

• Delivering high quality, high value residential development in Halton, St Helens and south Knowsley


• Prompting higher density family accommodation in Liverpool city centre, North Docks and Wirral Left Bank through the use of innovative design;


• Delivering multi-tenure housing in North Liverpool, South Sefton and North Knowsley;


• Securing residential opportunities around town centres, creating accessible and sustainable places;


• Delivering a high degree of energy efficiency in new properties (not less than EPC Band B);


• Looking to ensure that homes are accessible or capable of being adapted to meet the occupants’ changing needs; and


• Ensuring housing development is of high-quality design.

The LCRCA is keen to see the use of exemplar design, including looking towards the Future Homes standard and to encourage the use of Modern Methods of Construction.

Steve Rotheram, Metro mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said:

“For too many people across our region, the chance to own a home of their own remains out of reach. To tackle the housing crisis and help more people realise their home ownership ambitions, we need to take serious action to get more homes built across our region.

“When I was elected, I promised to prioritise brownfield sites for housebuilding and have been working hard to make that a reality.

“Last year we spent £11m to help deliver almost 900 houses on brownfield sites. We have now approved another £34m that should help take the total to almost 4,000 new homes for people across our region.”

Councillor Graham Morgan, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Portfolio Holder for Housing and Spatial Framework, said:

“We have ambitious plans to ensure that we tackle the housing shortage and deliver a great choice of high-quality homes, right across the city region.  Building on brownfield sites will be vital to that process – after all there are around 800 of them with enough space to build 42,000 homes.  I’d encourage any developer with a good-quality potential scheme on a brownfield site to apply to the Brownfield Land Fund.”

In planning terms, any land that has been previously developed is classed as brownfield.  In the Liverpool City Region, much of this land is derelict and formerly industrial so must be cleaned up before it can be redeveloped.

In total, around 800 brownfield sites have been identified across the six local authorities of the Liverpool City Region. The updated brownfield register identifies 1,813 acres of brownfield sites which could provide space for more than 42,000 homes, if remediated.

The seven sites already supported through the Brownfield Land Fund are:

• Moss Nook, St Helens – £2m


• Buckley Hill, Sefton – £1m


• Foundry Lane, Halton – £400k


• Halton Court, Halton – £1.8m


• Paddington Village, Liverpool – £3.6m


• House of Fraser Building, Wirral – £2.2m


• Denford Road, Liverpool – £280k

For more information on the Brownfield Land Fund visit Brownfield Land Fund | Liverpool City Region Combined Authority