Liverpool approves plans for 1,000 private rented homes

The plans have been brought forward by Regeneration Liverpool, which is a joint venture between the Council and regeneration specialist Sigma Inpartnership.

The scheme will see the private equity fund providing development finance to build the new homes as well as providing a long term management function. The completed homes will then be sold into institutional markets within around five years.

The Council said in its cabinet report (6-page / 107KB PDF) that the model would satisfy the demand from the institutional sector, but without putting the institutions in "any level of development risk position". It also said there would be no requirement for a guarantee from the local authority as all the risk was taken by the equity fund.

The Council said that the homes would contribute to the Mayor of Liverpool's targets to construct 5,000 homes.

”Our fund will deliver significant numbers of homes to the Mayoral target in Liverpool, starting with an initial investment in Norris Green and at the former Queen Mary School site," said Graeme Hogg, director of Sigma Inpartnership owner Sigma Capital in a statement.

“In order to accelerate delivery, we were looking to Council for more geographic diversity of sites, so we are extremely pleased that the paper was approved for the addition of another 1,000 new homes.  We can start to set the wheels in motion for what will ultimately have a major and positive impact on the rental housing market in the city,” he said.

“Everyone deserves to live in a decent home, and that’s why we’re working hard on a number of initiatives to deliver new properties in every part of the city," said the Council's cabinet member for housing Ann O'Byrne. "This new fund will give our work a real boost, bringing in much-needed investment in our private rented sector."

“It will support the Mayor’s pledge to build 5,000 new homes in this city over the next three years. And it will mean many more people in this city will be able to look forward to moving into new, high quality homes,” O'Byrne said.

The fund is expected to be available for investment in the late summer. The Council said that delivery of the homes was expected to be "much faster than a regular house building model".