Liverpool has seen a huge amount of regeneration in recent years that has attracted a range of new investors, whether that’s businesses renting office space or building science labs for life science startups. Billions have been invested into long-neglected areas such as the waterfront and docklands, and parts of the city centre.
The city was in danger of being overshadowed by its north west rival Manchester in the early years of the 21st century, but now Liverpool has got momentum and energy that just keeps getting bigger. Other notable regeneration projects of recent years include the revamp of the flagship Lime Street, and the Liverpool One shopping and leisure facility park.
Liverpool’s housing stock is also being rapidly upgraded, with thousands of empty homes brought back into use and thousands of new houses, apartments and student accommodation blocks being built in and around the city centre. Now, the Mayor of Liverpool has unveiled an innovative new project to deliver a supply of zero-energy bill homes.
The ambitious plans will address housing shortages with high-quality, affordable and eco-friendly residential projects, The Guide Liverpool reports. The homes will be manufactured via Modern Methods of Construction, meaning that they will be partially built and assembled off-site, reducing waste and lowering their carbon footprint.
The structures will be highly insulated and designed to be compatible with renewable energy sources. In many cases this will mean that the homes are carbon neutral and will have very low or even zero energy bills. The homes will be fairly priced, attracting new people to live and work in the city and helping to grow the economy.
Mayor Steve Rotheram said: “The country is in the throes of a housing crisis that is driving up prices, creating homelessness, and holding back our economic growth. For too long, we have faced national governments that have ignored the growing crisis, but we have a new government that wants to tackle it head on.”
He added: “Keir Starmer’s pledge to build 1.5 million homes is exactly the bold action we need, and I want as many of them to be built here in the Liverpool City Region as possible. With innovative solutions like modular construction, we can make a massive dent in that target and deliver homes faster, more affordably, and sustainably.”
“As Mayor, I’m committed to overseeing an affordable housing revolution in our region – including the return of large-scale council house building. We’ve got the skills, the expertise, and the determination to make this a success, and we stand ready to work with the government and legislated providers to make it happen.”
A current development of 13 zero energy bill homes is already underway in Wallasey in the Wirral, supported by a £195,000 grant from the Liverpool City Region Brownfield Land Fund and Homes England.