Peel L&P has appointed construction company Graham to build a catalytic and sustainable development of 500 apartments within the emerging Northbank neighbourhood at Wirral Waters.

Construction work will begin in spring of 2022 on the £130m development, currently known as Wirral Waters One, which is set to be the biggest single development at Wirral Waters to date, within one of the largest and most sustainable regeneration projects in the UK.

Peel L&P’s appointment of Graham follows an agreement signed last month between Peel L&P and Pension Insurance Corporation plc to fund the development.

The development will include 500 one and two-bedroom waterfront apartments, including 100 affordable new homes. Rents on the affordable units will be a maximum of 80% of open market value, delivering significant social impact.

The project has been designed with sustainability at its core, utilising a range of energy efficient and low carbon technologies to reduce carbon emissions.

The new homes have also been designed to be ‘resource efficient’ by reducing water and energy consumption, prioritising natural lighting, reducing wastage and using sustainable, energy efficient heating.

Landscaping and tree planting will surround the development, with parks, green spaces, dockside walkways and cycle routes already transforming the waterfront along Northbank. Residents will have access to cycling storage and electric vehicle charging points.

This development will be the catalyst for a number of waterside residential schemes due to be built in the new Northbank neighbourhood and will be adjacent to other residential schemes, including East Float, the joint venture project between Peel L&P and Urban Splash, where construction is already underway, and the Belong Care Village, which is due on site in Spring 2022.

Richard Mawdsley, Director of Development for Wirral Waters at Peel L&P, said:

“Our appointment of Graham is a major step forward to seeing more cranes and delivery activity at Wirral Waters. Graham is a leading construction business with excellent social value credentials. Working together, Peel L&P and Graham will also ensure that we bring more fantastic opportunities for the construction students at Wirral Met College throughout the 2.5 year build period of this game changing project.”

Peter Reavey, Regional Director for Graham’s Building Division, said:

“We are delighted to have been appointed as the contractor to develop these new homes for Peel L&P at Wirral Waters. At Graham, our focus is on ‘delivering lasting impact’, and this scheme, which includes 500 apartments, of which 100 are affordable new homes, will allow us to continue this proud tradition of constructing homes in the heart of the local communities where we operate.

“We have established a strong presence in the Merseyside region, and I look forward to continuing to work with the experienced local supply chain, as well as providing further opportunities for local students and young people to develop meaningful careers in the construction industry.”

James Agar, Head of Long Income at Pension Insurance Corporation commented:

“Our cornerstone investment in Wirral Waters One, the UK’s largest urban regeneration project, is funding the development of a best-in-class build-to-rent development with significant sustainability credentials and which creates high levels of social value. The development will be the catalyst for the sustainable regeneration of the wider Wirral Waters scheme, which will deliver tangible social benefit to the whole Borough over the coming decades. Graham, which shares views on the importance of sustainability and is one of the leading construction specialists in this area, is an ideal partner to realise these goals.”

Cllr Tony Jones, chair of Wirral Council's ERD committee which oversees regeneration in the borough, said:

"Wirral has considerable ambitions for regeneration across the whole LeftBank area from Bromborough, through Birkenhead and Wallasey into New Brighton. We are already seeing work getting underway and change being delivered, including major inward investment to Wirral.

“The appointment of construction company Graham at Wirral Waters is a crucial next step in the delivery of new homes, including a substantial number of affordable homes, at one of the most significant sites and helping meet our housing needs. Wirral Council has worked closely for many years with Peel L&P and partners to bring about sustainable development in the dockland area and it is great to see this going ahead and the commitment to local labour and supply chains to ensure local people are benefiting from this from the outset."