Liverpool enters into contract with Festival Gardens developers
Urban Splash and Igloo have formalised their involvement in the long-awaited regeneration project and are hoping to submit a planning application for the 800-home scheme by the end of 2027.
Liverpool City Council selected Urban Splash and Igloo for the 27-acre Festival Gardens project in August 2025. The JV prevailed over underbidders Muse, Vistry, and CERT Property.
The legal agreements required to progress the project, seen as among the city’s higher profile developments, have now been agreed.
Cllr Nick Small, Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet Member for Economy and Growth, said: “Festival Gardens is one of Liverpool’s most iconic regeneration opportunities, and this decision represents another major step towards bringing the site back into use.
“The agreement allows us to move forward with plans that will deliver hundreds of much-needed new homes, attract investment and create a thriving new neighbourhood on our waterfront.”
Liverpool City Council acquired the site for £6m in 2015. At one point, it was appraised as being capable of hosting up to 1,500 homes.
The current ambitions are for around 800 homes with 440 coming forward in the first phase.
Situated three miles south of Liverpool city centre, Festival Gardens was the subject of a £53m remediation effort, funded by the city council, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, and Homes England. VINCI carried out the remediation.
As part of that programme of works, the Southern Grasslands public park was completed. This sits next to the 27-acre development site that Urban Splash and Igloo will be focussed on.
The site once formed part of the International Garden Festival celebrations launched by Queen Elizabeth II in 1984. The new neighbourhood “draws on the legacy” of the festival “bringing together nature, great design, and an inclusive mix of homes to create a community with a distinctive quality”, the city council said.
Urban Splash and Igloo plan to deliver upwards of 30 different house types at the site, offering a range of different tenures; co-housing, social rent, mixed tenure family homes, retirement living, and self-build are all planned.
As well as delivering homes themselves, the JV will work with a coalition of developers to bring the scheme forward including Alpha Living, Regenda Homes, TOWN, and Starship.
Six different architects are being utilised to create the development.
Joe Broadley, development director at igloo, said: “This latest milestone signifies an important moment for the new neighbourhood at Festival Gardens
“The iconic waterfront site will be a major catalyst for the growth of the city region, unlocking opportunity for collaboration across the various programmes of delivery. We’re now looking forward to working closely with the community, Urban Splash and our partners to co-create something special over the coming months and years.”
Jonathan Falkingham, co-founder of Urban Splash, added: “This is huge progress for Festival Gardens and Liverpool as a whole. It’s a major new development that will not only create a vibrant, inclusive neighbourhood but also provide local employment opportunities on this long-standing site.
“With Urban Splash and igloo working in partnership, we’re combining decades of experience to turn this large-scale regeneration project into a community Liverpool can be proud of. We’re excited to bring this landmark project to life.”
