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Sefton Council’s Cabinet members have approved the Business Case for the first new properties to be used as council housing for since 2006 at their meeting today.

Thirteen properties will be acquired by the Council from its housing development company Sandway Homes’ Buckley Hill Lane development for use as Council housing.

Apartments for rent

Nine apartments will be for rent, six of them having one-bedroom and three of them with two-bedrooms. All ground floor apartments being accessible and adapted with a level-access shower. Four of the two-bedroom houses on the site will be available on a shared ownership basis, offering an affordable route to home ownership.

Cllr Trish Hardy, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing said: “Thanks to our innovative and far-sighted decision to establish Sandway Homes, the Council now has opportunities to start making these much-needed, new affordable homes available in Sefton alongside the development of high-quality housing at locations across the Borough.

“This is just the first opportunity to develop new council housing through Sandway and looking ahead, we are now developing a new Business Plan to set out proposals for a whole new Council Housing Programme in Sefton.”

Commitment

Sefton Council established Sandway Homes in 2019 to enable it to meet its commitment to providing local people with new high-quality housing, in line with its 2030 Vision. The plans to include council apartments as part of the Buckley Hill Lane development have been approved by the Council’s Planning Committee.

Sandway Homes’ 63-property, Buckley Hill Lane development is located on the edge of Netherton. It consists of two, three and four-bed homes and one and two-bed apartments, most of which will be for sale. The scheme is on land previously occupied by tower blocks, known locally as the Z Blocks. Existing service diversion works have now commenced, and the main construction phase is due on site in November 2022.

Affordable homes

Louise Davies, Sandway Homes Managing Director said: “The inclusion of affordable homes has been a pre-requisite of each of the Sandway schemes across the Borough.

“This ensures that we are providing access to home ownership and high-quality rented accommodation to a wide range of customers as part of our developments, as well as properties to buy on the open market.

“Buckley Hill Lane will go on site later this year, with the sales launch planned for Spring 2023. We have a range of spacious homes with a high standard of specification which we are certain will be well-received in this area of Sefton.”

More information and details of the high-quality, contemporary homes Sandway available to buy and under construction in Sefton can be found at www.sandwayhomes.co.uk.

You can read the report to the Sefton Council Cabinet meeting here. 

As part of Sefton Council’s consultation on its plans to extend its housing licensing schemes, teams from research company independent market research company M.E.L. Research, will be calling at properties in the Bootle area from tomorrow (Wednesday 25^th May).

Face-to-face surveys

Earlier this month, the Council launched a 12-week consultation on extending its Selective and Additional (HMO) Licensing schemes for private rented homes and multi-occupancy properties, online. Keen to ensure it gets as wide a range of views as possible, the Council has commissioned M.E.L. Research to carry out the face-to-face surveys too.

Researchers from M.E.L. calling at properties in Sefton will be able to show residents an authorisation letter to prove they are working on behalf of the Council. Anyone concerned whether callers are genuine can also contact the Council’s Contact Centre on 0345 140 0845 to make sure.

Hazards

Since Licensing was introduced by Sefton Council in March 2018, serious health and safety hazards have been removed from over 300 licensed properties. These included fire safety, electrical hazards, damp & mould and excess cold.

Over 80 Landlords have received Civil Penalty Fines for failing to licence their properties and while 60% of the properties inspected under Licensing did not initially meet the required housing standards, 98% of these were subsequently improved.

With the current Licensing schemes due to end on 28th February 2023, Sefton Council is now carrying out a 12-week consultation on its proposal to extend them until February 2028.

People can find out more and take part online here.

When the consultation was launched Cllr Trish Hardy, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing, said: “Introducing the current licencing schemes has enabled Sefton Council to work with private landlords in the areas covered to improve their standards of management.

“This, in turn, has resulted in improved living conditions for their tenants as well as improvements for the wider areas, such as reduced anti-social behaviour.

“By extending the scheme for a further five years, we want to build on this success and bring about further benefits for landlords, tenants and those communities.”

After piloting the door-to-door surveys in the Bootle area, M.E.L. will then move on to other areas of Sefton.