Torus was honoured to welcome the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP and Liverpool City Region’s Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram to Lightbody Street, where Stanley Dock is receiving a £60million transformation into 195 new affordable homes.

As part of her first visit to the North West as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, visited Lightbody Street to see an example of how building on brownfield sites can offer communities affordable housing solutions.

Speaking about Lightbody Steet, Ms Reeves commented:

"I met Torus earlier, who specialises in social and affordable homes. The development that I saw today [Lightbody Street] was 185 apartments and 10 houses. That is affordable rather than social - 80% of market rents in what is called a rent-to-buy scheme so that you save the 20% that you're not paying in rent so that you can build up a deposit to buy a home.

"That's really an exciting, innovative model to help more families onto the housing ladder. We know, at the moment, that too often, people are renting and they're not able to build up a deposit to buy a home of their own. These below-market rent schemes are really important - as is social housing.

"We will make sure that we use the Affordable Homes Programme with the Homes Department, to make sure they're building the right mixture of housing so that families can live close to where they work, so we can start building communities. That's what was really great about what I saw today with Steve Rotheram in Liverpool.

"Not just building more properties but proper communities, in this case alongside the Leeds Liverpool canal, with heating from the water, keeping down bills, so people can keep more money in their pockets - schemes like that are what this government is really keen to support."

Working in partnership with the building contractor, Eric Wright Construction, Torus is investing over £60 million, along with £3 million from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority’s £60 million Brownfield Land Fund, to create 195 new affordable homes for Rent To Buy and Shared Ownership. The development is also supporting the local community through apprenticeships, using local sub-contractors and local suppliers.

Overlooking Everton F.C.’s new stadium at Bramley Moore Dock, the 185 apartments and 10 houses will benefit from the innovative Mersey Heat district heat network which will provide heating and hot water to the development and is expected to result in up to a 74% reduction in carbon generation, helping future residents reduce their carbon emissions and keep energy bills low.

The Government aims to build 1.5 million new homes over the next five years, and affordable housing providers like Torus are eager to work with the new government on agreeing on a clear policy and funding partnerships to make their shared ambition of increasing the supply of affordable housing possible.

Steve Coffey, Chief Executive of the Torus Group, said:

“Having the new Chancellor visit such a landmark development for Torus was a real honour and reconfirms how important it is to not just build great homes, but to grow stronger communities. Offering people genuinely affordable housing options, which are future-proofed thanks to innovative heating solutions like the Mersey Heat district heat network and close to where people work, is helping us achieve our mission.

“Torus Group have committed to delivering more projects of this scale and significance to regenerate communities and it’s thanks to funding, like Liverpool City Region Combined Authority’s Brownfield Land Fund, that these developments have been made possible.”

The first homes at Lightbody Street will be available early in 2025.