Thieves target Liverpool housing charity

A Toxteth housing charity is appealing for information after thieves stole building materials worth £5,000 from a construction site last Thursday evening.

Among the items taken from the Housing People, Building Communities’ site off Kingsley Road were 23 doors, 14 radiators, four cookers, four hobs, two sinks, tools and various electrical items which were due to be fitted in the houses this week.

The charity said the break-in is a major blow, as it relies on volunteer labour and donations of money, materials and gifts in kind to keep its house prices low.

Home partners who will eventually live in the homes spend 500 hours helping to build them in return for a £10,000 discount on the purchase price.

Police are investigating the theft and the charity is appealing to anyone involved in the building trade to be wary of materials being offered to them at a cut price rate.

Housing People, Building Communities is building 32 low-cost homes off Kingsley Road, in the Granby-Toxteth district of Liverpool. The homes are being built on land donated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese, with national care and housing provider Sanctuary Group providing more than £2m to develop 23 of the houses. The project has also received funding from NewHeartlands, the Housing Market Renewal Initiative on Merseyside.

The project is due to complete in the autumn.

Rev Canon Shannon Ledbetter, chairman of HPBC, said: “Our CCTV cameras show a group of men entering the site late on Thursday evening and breaking into four of the homes where the materials were being stored. It seems to have been a well-planned and swiftly executed operation.

“It’s bitterly disappointing, not least because this is a community based project that relies on so much goodwill. It’s a real loss for the charity and the items cannot be easily replaced. I hope the people responsible are ashamed of themselves.”

Constable Dave Langshaw said: “I would appeal to anyone who was in the area and noticed anything suspicious near to or outside the charity’s building on Alt Street between 5pm on Thursday 4 June and 8am on Friday 5 June to contact police. Your information will be looked at thoroughly and could really help our enquiries.

“I would also ask anyone who thinks they may have been offered anything matching the descriptions of the items to contact police on 101, quoting incident number 0515104473, or Crimestoppers, anonymously on 0800 555 111.”

• To donate to Housing People, Building Communities visit https://www.justgiving.com/lhfh/