End of the road for Sandway Homes

Sefton Council’s in-house development company is nearing completion for its final project, which will see the fulfilment of its mission to build 141 homes on underused, local authority-owned, brownfield land in the borough.

Sandway Homes was founded in July 2019 to activate these sites and deliver housing in the borough. Its three projects comprised 30 homes at Bartons Close in Crossens, 48 residences at Meadow Lane in Ainsdale, and 63 properties at Buckley Hill Lane in Netherton. Of those 141, 49 are designated as affordable. 18 of these affordable homes are council-owned, making them the first new council homes in Sefton for decades.

Bartons Close and Meadow Lane are complete, barring a few final highways works, and construction of Buckley Hill will conclude in the spring.

No further sites have been identified for Sandway to develop.

Having fulfilled its purpose, the council will vote on Thursday to put Sandway on the backburner. The recommendation is to slim down the outfit, retaining key staff and a reduced board to oversee the completion of the highways works and any snagging issues.

Sefton Council Leader Cllr Marion Atkinson summed up Sandway’s performance.

“In addition to the 141 new homes which it has delivered, Sandway Homes and its partners have accessed £1.6 million of government funding for its Sefton developments,” she said.

“And by working with local suppliers, Sandway and its partners have also contributed more than £3 million to the local economy.

“Sandway’s three developments have also provided valuable employment and skills to Sefton residents, who make up 45% of the workforce on the Buckley Hill Lane scheme.”

Retiring Sandway does not mean Sefton has backed out of housing delivery. Instead, the local authority will devote its energy to the Sefton Homes 2030 partnership with Sovini Group. This initiative has a mission to deliver 1,000 homes in the area by 2030.

Unlike Sandway, which focused on market-led projects, Sefton Homes 2030 seeks to lead with affordable and social homes. This is to help with the borough’s growing demand for affordable housing, with more than 3,000 people currently on the social housing waiting list in the area and more than 270 households in temporary accommodation.

Partnering with Sovini also allows the council to avoid some of the risk of housebuilding, with the community benefit society taking on much of the construction risk.

While Sandway is set to be dormant for the considerable future, Sefton Council will retain its company registration. But the board will be halved – Cllr Maria Porter will be kept on as the company director alongside company secretary Sandra Coventry. Cllr Daren Veidman will be the shareholder representative.