They make up part of a list of 14 sites in total across the city region which will deliver nearly 3,000 new homes from the £45m Brownfield Land Fund to support building schemes.
The St Helens Borough schemes could receive up to £8.82m in funding from phase two, on top of £2m already received from the first phase of the funding being allocated by the Liverpool Combined Authority.
Councillor Richard McCauley, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Planning, said: “This money could help us unlock more homes on brownfield land and would go towards making these sites viable for investors. The amount earmarked for our borough demonstrates the hard work we are doing to unlock land, often contaminated and an eye sore, and is the second highest amount allocated to a single borough out of the six that make up the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. As a council we are doing all that we can to make these brownfield sites a priority for development and this potential funding will help towards their future rejuvenation.”
The latest round of funding is split between eight private sector-led city region wide projects, identified following an over-subscribed open call during the summer, expected to deliver around 1,400 homes, and six local authority-led projects, expected to deliver a further 1,200 homes.
Councillor Jeanie Bell, Cabinet Member for Safer, Stronger Communities, added: “The development of brownfield sites for housing is often a costly one as a result of the need for cleaning up these derelict sites. But in doing so, in places like Moss Nook, we can help turn these anti-social behaviour hotspots into vibrant places for people to live and offer residents in our borough and those who want to move here the chance to make St Helens Borough their home of choice.”
In planning terms, any land that has been previously developed is classed as brownfield. In the Liverpool City Region, much of this land is derelict and formerly industrial so must be cleaned up before it can be redeveloped.
The Combined Authority investment will be used for site remediation and other measures required to make sites ready for development.
Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said: “For too many people across our region, the chance to own a home of their own remains out of reach. To tackle the housing crisis and help more people realise their home ownership ambitions, we need to take serious action to get more homes built across our region.
“When I was elected, I promised to prioritise brownfield sites for house building and have been working hard to make that a reality.
“Last year we spent £11m to help deliver almost 900 homes on brownfield sites. We are now looking at another £36m that should take the total to almost 4,000 new homes for people across our region.”