First house completed in Liverpool’s Welsh Streets regeneration

Plus Dane Housing, in partnership with Liverpool City Council and Homes England, have announced the first of 99 affordable homes to be rebuilt in Liverpool’s Welsh Streets has been completed.

The homes are being opened up to provide larger kitchen and living spaces, and there will also be a programme of improvements which includes addressing structural defects such as subsidence replacing timber floors with insulated concrete floors, external wall insulation, new roofs, re-wiring, new heating systems, new windows and, new kitchens and bathrooms.

Existing tenants currently living in Welsh Streets will be given the right to return to their properties once work has been completed.

The streets were built in the 1870’s to house Welsh workers in the city but many of the Victorian properties have been derelict for decades. In 2005 they were condemned for demolition under New Labour’s controversial Pathfinder scheme.

Madeleine Nelson, Acting Chief Executive of Plus Dane Housing said: ‘Plus Dane is hugely proud to be a part of the regeneration of Welsh Streets, working closely with our partners Homes England and Liverpool City Council having been involved in the neighbourhood for decades. This is a flagship regeneration programme for us and more than just creating homes we want to support the rebuilding of the community to ensure it remains a great place to live for our current and future customers.

Lynnie Hinnigan, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Housing said: ‘I’m delighted that Plus Dane is now in a position to launch the first wave of these new, affordable homes in the Welsh Streets. This is a symbolic moment in the regeneration of the area and a great example of how the city council is working with numerous housing partners, like Plus Dane, to bring vacant properties back into use. In the past four years alone we’ve managed to convert 1,500 vacant units into homes and aim to breathe new life into 3,000 more over the next four years.’

Laura, one of the first residents to move back to Gwydir Street following the completion of the pilot said:  ‘I lived here for 6 years before moving out while the work was being done on my house but I wanted to move back into the street because I love the area and the neighbours. I am so happy now, it feels like a proper home, all fresh, clean and new and so much easier to keep warm.’

It is expected that the transformation of the Welsh Streets will complete in 2021.

New Start recently travelled to Toxteth to visit the community land trust which is transforming some other streets in the area. For more click here