New Government funding to speed delivery of social housing
The leader of Wirral Council has welcomed the announcement of a major cash boost for Liverpool City Region to build more homes and turbocharge social housebuilding.
Liverpool City Region is set to receive £700m to build new social and affordable housing as part of a major Government programme.
The funding will speed up social housing plans by enabling providers to start bidding for projects, break ground sooner, and kickstart thousands of desperately needed new homes for local families.
The Combined Authority will also receive £13.8m to enable 555 new homes to be built in the Liverpool City Region, tearing down crumbling buildings and clearing old car parks and disused industrial land to create communities on derelict, brownfield sites.
Leader of Wirral Council, Cllr Paula Basnett, said:
This is a significant and very welcome investment for our region. Delivering high-quality, affordable homes is one of the most pressing challenges we face, and this funding will help us to move at pace to meet that need.
I look forward to working closely with Mayor Rotheram, our colleagues across the Liverpool City Region, and our local housing partners to ensure Wirral benefits fully from this opportunity. Together, we can turn this investment into real homes, real progress, and real hope for our residents.
The funding builds on the City Region’s track record, with more than 4,000 homes already in the pipeline thanks to £60m previously invested in the Liverpool City Region.
Housing Secretary Steve Reed said:
This investment will be lifechanging for thousands of families in the North West waiting for a safe, secure home of their own.
We’re putting our regional Mayors firmly in the driving seat to build – with new cash to turn wastelands into homes and slash social housing waiting lists.
We’re backing the area all the way to get spades in the ground, fire up those diggers and build, baby, build.
new affordable housing in the Liverpool City Region, setting out ambitious plans for the types of homes and sites prioritised for construction and how many suitable bids for grant funding could come forward in each area.
This means homes are built where they’re needed most, designed around local priorities, and shaped by people who know their communities best.
Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said:
This marks the single biggest earmarked investment in housing our region has ever seen – and the largest pot of funding we’ve ever seen for social and affordable homes. It’s a massive vote of confidence from the government in our region’s ability to deliver.
Since I was elected, we’ve built more than 32,000 homes, invested a further £60m developing brownfield sites, and retrofitted 10,000 houses. We’ve built up real momentum – but now we’re ready to turbocharge our housebuilding plans.
This new funding will help us go even further towards our target of building 16,000 new social and affordable homes over the next decade – good quality homes that local people can be proud of while also helping us to tackle the homelessness crisis.
We’ve got the vision, the skills, and an abundance of ambition to help the government hit its national targets – but, most importantly, this is about helping more local people and families into safe, secure, and affordable homes of their own. Homes where people can put down roots, build their futures, and get on the housing ladder.
“We’re ambitious, we’re excited, and we’re ready to get to work.
Cllr Graham Morgan, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Cabinet Member for Housing and Regeneration, said:
This unprecedented earmarked investment is a game-changer for the Liverpool City Region. It gives us the tools to accelerate the delivery of high-quality, affordable homes on brownfield land — turning derelict sites into thriving communities. We’re proud of our track record, but this new funding allows us to go further and faster, creating places where people can live with dignity, security, and opportunity.
At a time when the housing crisis is affecting families across our region, this funding couldn’t be more vital. Too many people are stuck in unsuitable accommodation or priced out of the market altogether. By unlocking land and empowering local providers, we’re tackling the crisis head-on — building the homes we need, where we need them, and ensuring that regeneration works for everyone.
This announcement comes after the Housing Secretary made his first big intervention in the social and affordable housing space and hosted the industry’s biggest providers at a summit last month, urging key players in the sector to ‘Go big, go bold, and go build’.
