Unanimous approval for 401-home Metalworks in Liverpool
The decision will allow Jarron Developments to build the 16-storey scheme on the corner of Vauxhall Road and Leeds Street.
Liverpool City Council’s planning committee passed the application unanimously, with the only pushback due to concerns about the lack of light in some of the courtyard-facing apartments.
Known as Metalworks, the H-shaped building designed by Falconer Chester Hall will host a total of 401 homes, offering in a mix of 396 flats and five townhouses on a plot slightly larger than a half-acre.
Cllr Joe Hanson, chair of the neighbourhoods select committee, said: “This area is crying out for development”, and that “refusal would send the wrong message to developers looking at Liverpool as an area to invest”.
Cllr Tricia O’Brien, added: “A development like this is going to fill a need within the market for people who only want to rent in the interim.
“We really do need to see Liverpool come alive again, especially near the waterfront.”
The scheme will rise 16 storeys to meet the height of nearby project The Gateway. Credit: FCH
Before construction can commence, a former public house will be demolished.
The Pumpfields development will provide 177 one-bed, 218 two-bed, and six three-bed homes, and will match the height of Legacie’s The Gateway scheme, which sits alongside the site.
The top floor of the development will sport a Layer.studio-designed rooftop garden, encircled by a running track, a first for Liverpool.
Plans also include a 1,300 sq ft resident’s gym in the east wing block and a cinema room, workspace, and lounge.
The west wing would host a 2,500 sq ft ground floor commercial unit with an internal mezzanine for use as either a retail or an F&B offer.
Parking spaces for 53 vehicles will be provided. All apartments will benefit from Juliet balconies.
The build-to-rent scheme is expected to lead to £110m of inward investment into Liverpool, according to the applicant.
Will Clarke, development director at Jarron Developments, said: “This location is the perfect setting for the Metalworks development, which will be a landmark project for the city. It will provide exceptional living standards, with unmatched access to work, leisure, and transport options.
“We are excited to see the scheme move forward and contribute to the ongoing success and growth of Liverpool.”
Martin Haymes, associate director at Falconer Chester Hall, added: “This scheme will play a key role in the transformation of Pumpfields, providing much-needed homes and high-quality public spaces while respecting the area’s industrial past.
“We look forward to bringing this exciting project to life.”
The ground floor will have a commercial unit and a mezzanine floor. Credit: FCH
The Metalworks scheme was acquired by Gladstone Street, an SPV of Jarron, in 2023 when it had a £1.7m bid for the plot accepted from the previous developer, Pumpfields Regeneration Company after it fell into administration in 2021.
On the project team are Edge Consulting, ALT, Curtins, Proximity, E3P, and GIA. Turley was the planning consultant.
To view the application, use the reference number 24F/0059 on Liverpool City Council’s planning portal.
The roof space looks fantastic-I do really hope this gets built-lots of great ideas.
By Adam Ash
More green roofs like this!
By John
Well said Councillor O’Brien who can see the wider picture in getting Liverpool repopulated again. Ok these flats are for rent but renting a home fulfills a demand for people who don’t want a mortgage in a similar way that some people lease a car because they don’t want the burdens of taxing, servicing, etc.
This part of Vauxhall could be unrecognisable in 5 years time with a bustling population that will benefit from a new Merseyrail station.
By Anonymous
Great news, this will greatly improve Leeds Street. That main photo shows the need to re-densify the area and reinstate lost/blocked off streets to help expand the city centre.
By GetItBuilt!
Superb looking development this.
By Anonymous
Finally, common sense is starting to prevail. Mr Hanson let’s push the boat out and invite the investors to build big and bold in order to get this City moving in the right direction. Time waits for nobody.
By Stephen Hart
Great news!
By Anonymous
Has the penny finally dropped 30 years in
By Anonymous
Well done to those councilors who want growth. Just need the planning department to realise its a major city not a village.
By Lee
This design would also look fantastic on the waterfront (closer to the old mills / warehouses).
By Anonymous
So many councillors falling for bad faith arguments on this one.
– you can develop this area while still guaranteeing the occupants basic, human levels of light. The developer just doesn’t want to.
– you can develop this area while still meeting basic affordable housing quotas.
– you can develop this area without doing build to rent.
– most young professionals don’t want to rent 1 bed flats.
We all want development here. Only some want decent housing. This is a future slum.
By Nonnster
It would be great to see all the consultants on such a prominent scheme creating new jobs in the Liverpool City Region. Pigs might fly
By Oliver Reckitt
Nonnster – it’s easy to say that, but where are the developers willing to deliver what you say? In the real world, delivery matters.
By Anonymous
Can PNW Please address the Government’s “Gate Way 2” process and how it is holding up 100’s of schemes like this across the UK?
Thank you.
By Liverpool4Progress
Hi Liverpool4Progress. We wrote this last year about that very issue. https://www.placenorthwest.co.uk/in-focus-the-building-safety-act-threatens-to-undermine-labours-housing-ambitions/ Best wishes, Dan
By Dan Whelan
@ Nonnster, the fact is the majority of these homes are 2 bed, as regards affordability just like anything in life if you can`t afford it you shop elsewhere.
By Anonymous
Some parking in the area would be nice. Especially with the newly imposed rescrictions.
By Anon
Thank you Dan.
By Liverpool4Progress
@Nonnster talking nonsense!
By Anonymous
The developers who can deliver in the way I’ve said are in every other city whether that’s Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham or London. It’s a really weird Liverpool thing where certain developers have convinced the local population that no one wants to build in Liverpool unless you remove every policy requirement. Amazing that people fall for it.
I’m just glad we’ve had one developer (ahem, I mean poster) confirm he doesn’t believe in the principle of affordable housing. Not sure the governing party would agree but good on you for taking the mask off.
By Nonnster
@Nonnster couldn’t agree more. This scheme is a disgrace. 401 homes and ZERO are affordable. ZERO. You might as well give up having any affordable homes in new builds in Liverpool under this Labour council.
By Paul Corrigan
So Nonnster the developers exist in Leeds, Brum, Manc and London who can deliver schemes according to your wishes, so therefore what is stopping them coming to Liverpool and make money, please tell us.
By Anonymous
Not a sniff of affordability. And yet here we all were thinking that this wasn’t what Liverpool was about.
By You don't fool us
@ Paul Corrigan, I see you have complaints too about the 26 storey tower on the King Edward site. My reading is that you don’t like developers or investors making money , because if that’s the case we’d get mostly no buildings at all.
Affordable housing should provided by the social housing sector via the various schemes available to them.
You don’t seem to have anything positive to say about the developers, the investors, or the pension schemes, who risk money backing these schemes and without which would not happen. As regards affordability just what is it, because there will be always someone who misses out because they haven’t got the finances that those who may have qualified for a particular subsidised home so in the end do we give homes away for free.
By Anonymous
Oh sorry Anonymous, I forgot Liverpool was a totally unique case where huge developments all of a sudden become unviable when you enter the city boundaries.
Know how ridiculous you sound. The Councillors might fall for your alternative truth, those who know how this industry works don’t.
As others have said, not a single affordable unit.
By Nonnster
Somebody spare a thought for the poor developers who don’t make no money! These Metalworks developers are doing nothing for Liverpool other than extracting rent.
I’ve got plenty positive to say about the developers who don’t game the system to get out of their legal obligations to provide affordable housing, but negative things to say about those who do game the system and the councils that let them.
By Paul Corrigan
Property developers should not be expected to subsidise housing for people who can’t afford it. I’m glad we have a council in Liverpool that recognises this.
By Anonymous
The so called “human levels of light” issue raised here is just a nonsense, the conversion of the historic, multi-storey dock warehouses on the waterfront at Marseille resulted in a hollowing out of their central cores but that hasn’t stopped people flocking to live in this vibrant area.
By Anonymous