Sefton Council’s Cabinet today approved the go-ahead to acquiring 18 new apartments that will be the Borough’s first new council housing in since 2006.

Sandway Homes, the authority-owned housing development company, is scheduled to start work on the Buckley Hill Lane, which will include the mix of one- and two-bedroom Council homes, in early November.

After today’s meeting, a delighted Cllr Trish Hardy, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing said:

“This is an amazing realisation of work that has been going on for a long time to create the type of housing Sefton has needed for a long time.

“Today’s decision makes clear that we are on the side of local people in recognising the need for secure, quality accommodation and providing those much-needed homes.”

At their meeting today, Sefton Council’s cabinet also agreed a £2.2m Supplementary Capital Estimate funded through Section 106 housing capital receipts, historic right to buy sharing agreement receipts and Homes England grant funding. Rental from the scheme will be reinvested into Sefton Council’s Housing Programme.

Electric vehicle charging points to each of the new properties at the Buckley Hill development and to the apartment block. Apartments on the ground floor will be built to meet national accessibility and adaptability standards.

Energy efficient design with high thermal efficiency values to reduce heat loss, high efficiency boilers and heating systems are among the measures that will help reduce the Buckley Hill Lane site’s carbon footprint and offset its impact on climate change.

Cllr Hardy added:

“Today confirms that Sefton Council’s decision to establish Sandway Homes in 2018 as part of our  commitment to creating the new, high-quality homes was right.

“Today marks the start of our drive to re-establish a strong council housing stock in Sefton.”

People can find out more about Sandway Homes and its development in Sefton at https://sandwayhomes.co.uk