A new zero-carbon housing development in Wallasey saw each house built in under two weeks.
The 13 new homes, called The Greenleas Development, were built by Wirral-based housebuilders Starship Group with help from a £195,000 grant from The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.
Onward Homes, a not-for-profit social housing provider based in the northwest, offered the properties on a rent-to-buy scheme which allows prospective buyers to pay a discounted rent while saving up to put down a deposit on the house in the future.
Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram said: “These new homes are helping local families take that first step onto the housing ladder, while benefitting from some of the lowest energy bills anywhere in the country.”
Solar panels and air-source heat pumps are used to keep energy costs down as well as reducing the carbon output of the project.
The homes have an A-rating for energy performance and use 60% less carbon throughout the building process compared to traditional housebuilding methods.
Mr Rotheram said: “This project shows exactly what’s possible when innovation and collaboration come together – creating a brighter, more sustainable, and more affordable future for everyone.”
Each three-bedroom home was constructed using Modern Methods of Construction, which involves building a frame for the house at a factory in approximately a week before assembling it on-site over two days.
Production took place at Wirral Waters in Birkenhead, a multi-billion-pound development owned by Peel Waters.
Bronwen Rapley, Chief Executive at Onward Homes, said: “These modern homes are helping local people put down roots in their community, where they may otherwise have felt priced out of home ownership”.
Mr Rotheram has set up Future Homes LCR, a private-public alliance, with the goal of bringing more low-carbon homes to the Liverpool area soon.
Mr Rotheram said: “The government has set an ambitious target to build 1.5m homes and I’ve been clear I want as many of those homes as possible to be built right here in the Liverpool City Region.”
