From todays Oldham Echo.
LIVERPOOL city bosses plan to demolish houses left derelict by Liverpool Football Club in order to speed up the regeneration of the Anfield area.
The ECHO has learned that council chiefs are hoping to get the properties the club owns in Lothair Road for free, rather than have to spend upwards of £1m to buy them.
The club would not indicate to the ECHO whether it intended to sell the properties to the council or hand them over.
Plans seen by the ECHO suggest that the land will be grassed over as part of the wider regeneration of the Rockfield residential area which will cost around £6m and create around 3,000 ‘construction weeks’ of work for local labourers.
The council is intending to press ahead with the refurbishment or demolition of around 250 properties in the area – more than half of which are empty. Loans of up to £40,000 will be available to homeowners to revamp their homes.
City housing cabinet member Cllr Ann O’Byrne said the regeneration would go ahead whether LFC stayed or went.
Cllr O’Byrne added: “We have stated that Anfield is our number one priority.
“The club is one of the key stakeholders in the area and we are confident that they will work with us.”
Residents who live in refurbished properties in nearby Tancred Road said they were pleased something would be done to improve the area.
They said their homes had lost up to £50,000 in value because of the dereliction they lived amongst.
John Nolan, chair of the Rockfield Residents Association, said: “We are happy they’re going to make progress.
“The state of the area has not only been depressing house prices but people’s lives as well.”
An LFC spokesman said: “We have been consulted on the regeneration plans by Liverpool council.
“As always we remain collaborative and supportive of any initiatives to improve our local area, but discussions at this stage would be far too preliminary to comment further.
“We remain committed to supporting our local community in all areas.”
Liverpool council’s £750,000 debt because of fall in Anfield land values
LIVERPOOL council must pay around £750,000 to an Anfield developer because of a slump in the value of land in the area.
The Keepmoat Group bought land from the council for £1,246,000 in order to build new homes.
But its worth has now plummeted to £494,829.
City bosses have negotiated an agreement with Keepmoat so that in future the council will not have to make up the difference if land values fall further.
A council memo obtained by the ECHO states “this is of significant benefit to the council because current low land values will be a risk to the developer from now on”.
Housing committee chairman Cllr Steve Radford said the slow pace of the HMRI scheme was to blame adding: “It proves it has been one of the most expensive programmes for the taxpayer with the least proven value.”
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http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2012/04/18/liverpool-council-plans-to-demolish-derelict-homes-in-anfield-owned-by-liverpool-fc-100252-30782014/#ixzz1sONpIKtO