When I became Leader of the Council back in 2010, one of my priorities was tackling the huge issue of empty properties across the city. I found it astonishing that at a time when the city was facing huge cuts in central government funding, homes which could provide valuable Council Tax income to help support services were lying empty. It was a harsh reminder that the city\u2019s recent rebirth as a global cultural destination following European Capital of Culture in 2008, hadn\u2019t yet spread across the whole city.<\/p>\n
Take Granby Four Streets, a set of once-grand and imposing Victorian properties close to Toxteth. Over several decades, a number of regeneration schemes had been brought forward, mainly involving razing most of the homes to the ground. The council had bought many of them, but a small number of dedicated and loyal residents refused to move out of the area and argued passionately that the existing properties were worth saving and investing in.<\/p>\n
I thought: \u201cWhy can\u2019t we hand over some of these properties to people for \u00a31 and get them to do them up?\u201d It was a case I had heard made by empty homes campaigners, but few places had tried it because they feared it was too risky. To manage the risk, we set a few rules: We would run it as a pilot scheme involving around 20 properties, and we would spread them around, with some of the homes dotted around the Four Streets and others located elsewhere.<\/p>\n
We wanted Homes for a Pound to enable local people to get on the housing ladder, so you couldn\u2019t apply unless you lived or worked within the city, and you needed to be a first time buyer. As this was about rebuilding communities, it was vital that the successful applicants committed to the area, so we required them to live in the property for 5 years and not sub-let in order to make a quick profit. The response was overwhelming and we had around 4,000 expressions of interest which resulted in around 1,000 formal applications.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not all been plain sailing, and we have learned a lot as we have gone along. Some people walked away when they saw the size and scale of the work needed. There were issues securing home insurance because the properties weren\u2019t being lived in during the refurbishment. Although some of the applicants were competent at DIY, we had to help them find tradespeople for the structural work.<\/p>\n
It was a great moment to hand over the key to the first successful applicant, Jayalal Madde, and it was incredible to return a year later and see how he had totally transformed a rundown and neglected property into a beautiful home for his family.<\/p>\n
Work is well underway on transforming the other homes which form part of the pilot, with one other family already moved in and others almost ready to complete.<\/p>\n
Such has been the success of this scheme that we have recently opened applications for an ambitious expansion of Homes for a Pound which will see 150 properties in Picton \u2013 a part of the city which is already undergoing a lot of regeneration, including the city\u2019s new hospital and a secondary school.<\/p>\n
Make no mistake, Homes for a Pound is absolutely not a panacea for dealing with empty homes. In some cases it is simply not economically viable to refurbish properties. But, it is one bit of the complex jigsaw we are piecing together to tackle the issue.<\/p>\n
In the Four Streets, alongside Homes for a Pound, some of the properties are being transformed by housing associations. Others have been taken over by a Community Land Trust led by local people in a project which has been shortlisted for the prestigious Turner Prize.<\/p>\n
Over in Anfield, in the shadow of LFC, we are carrying out a wholesale regeneration project for this long neglected area, in partnership with the football club and a housing association. Small terraced properties are being transformed into family homes by knocking 2 of them into 1 and creating gardens to replace the cramped backyards. For the first time in decades, there is a waiting list of people wanting to move into the area.<\/p>\n
Overall we are committed to bringing back into use another 2,000 properties in addition to the 1,000 we have already completed, and another 1,000 that we are on with tackling. We are working in partnership with developers to build 5,000 new homes, as we know that people want to live in Liverpool but have moved to neighbouring areas because we simply don\u2019t have enough modern family properties.<\/p>\n
Put simply, we are driving up the quality, standard and range of properties to make sure that people wanting to live in the city have a choice of good quality properties to live in, whatever their budget. Even if it\u2019s only \u00a31.<\/p>\n