Liverpool City Council has announced plans to build 2,500 new homes in Liverpool, under a scheme being launched by the Labour Party.
The programme, worth £500million overall, will take three years to see through, and will provide more than 2,500 affordable homes and homes for rent.
Hailed as the biggest and most ambitious programme the city has seen in decades, the project will see the City Council hand its own land over to social landlords, as well as providing a subsidy of up to £15,000 per home. Social landlords will pay for the construction.
The Council will put £3million into the scheme to help first time buyers, and a futher £2million is being invested repairing derelict homes.
500 of the homes will be on the Stonebridge Cross site, off the East Lancs Road, as part of a further £200million proposal.
The plans will also create over 2,000 jobs in the local construction industry.
The scheme has been widely welcomed by residents across Liverpool, with the Liverpool Daily Post saying the scheme was a 'surefire winner'. The Daily Post added: 'No other council in the country has yet dreamed up such an enterprising scheme.'
Leader of Liverpool City Council, Joe Anderson, said: 'We said we'd build new homes. We said we'd create jobs.'
'Today, we're announcing thousands of new homes, and thousands of new jobs.'
'Housing has always been my number one priority as Leader of the Council.'
'Liverpool has thousands of people desperate for a new home. But with the economy flat lining the way it is, its hard for developers and social landlords to come up with viable schemes to build new homes.'
'The whole point of our scheme is to give those social landlords the incentives they need to make these schemes viable.'
'This is an innovative project, and we're proud that it is a Labour council that is putting it in place. Today, we're keeping the promises we made to voters. We'll keep working hard, and we'll keep fighting to move Liverpool forwards.'