Consultant to develop a new Housing Strategy for the Liverpool City Region

Merseytravel invites tenders for the delivery of Liverpool City Region Housing Strategy (LCRHS). Please note that the beneficiary of the tendered services is the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Housing and Spatial Planning Board.

The following vision has been agreed for the Liverpool City Region Housing Strategy

“To improve and increase the supply of good quality homes of the right tenure and type in appropriate locations in order to support the city region’s economic growth aspirations; to regenerate vulnerable neighbourhoods; and to support wider public sector reform.”

In order to deliver this vision, it is envisaged that the Strategy will have the following themes and objectives, grouped around:

Housing Growth

• Increasing supply of housing by 25,000 units over the next five years in a sustainable manner in order to support economic and household growth aspirations for the city region recognising the current position, the changes to funding and financing, and recognising also what Government housing policy is trying to achieve; and
• An assessment of where people want to live and consider how the implications of this can be reconciled;

Meeting Housing needs

• Identifying the best tenure mix of housing to meet housing needs across the LCR;
• Meeting the housing needs of the most vulnerable groups, particularly where this links with health and social care needs; and
• Responding to long‐term demographic changes ‐ A significant increase in older populations often with more complex needs.

Improving existing neighbourhoods

• Improving the quality of the private rented sector;
• Regenerating the city region’s vulnerable neighbourhoods in order to ensure they make a full contribution to, and benefit from, economic growth; and
• addressing the issue of the city region’s ageing and poor quality housing stock which will improve socio-economic conditions in the city region (for example health, fuel poverty).

Public Sector service reform

• Support wider public sector reform, for example, around health and welfare reform;
• Providing more effective housing related support and advice services;
• Providing improved access to affordable housing, e.g. through improvements to Choice Based Letting services/schemes; and
• Tackling all forms of homelessness including: Statutory homelessness, street homelessness and hidden homelessness