Completion for first phase of £34m St Helens affordable scheme

Torus’s 164-home Park Grange project will provide two-, three-, and four-bedroom properties available for shared ownership, rent-to-buy, and affordable rent.

Vistry has completed construction of the first phase of the 12 homes within the £34m St Helens development and handed the project over to the housing association.

Of the homes, 83 are for shared ownership, 41 are being offered on a rent-to-buy basis, and 40 will be rented out at affordable rates.

They are located on a 12.6-acre site between Thatto Heath Road and Elm Road.

Torus Group chief executive, Steve Coffey, said: “St Helens is an area we have been operating in for many years and it is a great moment to be able to welcome new residents to Park Grange.

“One of our key ambitions is to provide affordable, future-fit homes to help ease the ongoing housing crisis.

“With funding support from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and Homes England it will have a positive impact on the people of St Helens helping to ease pressure on local housing waiting lists and let more people take a step on the property ladder.”

The scheme was supported by around £9m from Homes England and £770,000 from Liverpool City Region Combined Authority’s Brownfield Land Fund.

Mayor of Liverpool City Region, Steve Rotheram, said: “Everyone deserves the right to a safe, secure and affordable place to call home – but for too many families, that’s becoming increasingly out of reach.

“Developments like Park Grange show the difference we can make when we invest in our communities: transforming unused brownfield land into high-quality, energy-efficient homes that people can actually afford.”