Work begins on £13.6m new homes plan for Merseyside

Construction work has started on an ambitious £13.6m plan to provide more affordable homes across Merseyside.Liverpool Housing Trust (LHT) is building a total of 89 new houses and flats in Walton, Fazakerley, Kirkby, Runcorn and Prenton for affordable rent and shared ownership sale. Work is already underway on a £1.9m development in Bedford Road, Walton, to build 12 two-bedroom houses and 2 two-bedroom bungalows for rent. Meanwhile, in Roughwood, Kirkby, work has begun on a £1m scheme for 8 two-bedroom houses and 2 two-bedroom bungalows for rent.In Fazakerley, work continues on phase two of LHT’s £2m Alt Bank House supported living scheme, which will see 10 one-bedroom flats, 1 one-bedroom bungalow and 5 two-bedroom bungalows with wheelchair access being built.Elsewhere, in Runcorn, building work has started on two schemes totalling £5m to provide 38 much-needed homes.Castlefields will see 10 two-bedroom flats for affordable rent and 10 two-bedroom houses for shared ownership being built on the former Bridgewater Day Centre site. And in Murdishaw, the former Jolly Brewer pub site will make way for 10 two-bedroom flats and 8 two-bedroom houses, all for affordable rent.Finally, on the Wirral, a total of 19 properties will be available to rent once construction is complete on two sites in Beechwood, Prenton.The former One O’Clock Gun pub site on Bidston Green Drive will become home to 5 two-bedroom houses, 2 two-bedroom flats and 2 one-bedroom flats, while the Fender/Feltree site – situated between Farmfield Drive, Beechwood Drive and Fender Way – will see 9 two-bedroom houses and 2 two-bedroom bungalows being built.The developments have been part-funded by a grant from the Homes and Community Agency (HCA), while the schemes in Beechwood have been part-funded through a £265,000 grant from Wirral Borough Council. All the developments are expected to be completed by November 2017.