Wirral Regeneration & Investment Briefing

Funding, places and delivery. A briefing for the organisations bringing forward homes and regeneration across Wirral, from the Birkenhead waterfront to New Ferry.

Dates and decisions to watch

Figures in this briefing cover different programmes, geographies and periods. They should not be added into a single borough investment total.

The funding landscape

Up to £46 billion over ten years

Homes England and its subsidiary, the National Housing Bank, have up to £46 billion to deploy across England to 2036. These are the principal streams. [1]

The joint Investment Prospectus, published on 31 March 2026 ahead of the Bank's opening on 1 April, brings grant, land and finance into one framework. The Bank aims to attract more than £50 billion of additional private capital over the decade.

*The prospectus describes the agency's share as £3.1bn, subject to final confirmation. These are programme envelopes, not a ring-fenced allocation to Wirral.

Programme milestones

Grant, land and finance (products and routes)

Which support fits a scheme depends less on its size than on what is holding it up: a funding gap, a difficult site, or the tenure of the homes to be delivered. [1]

Two grant routes in Liverpool City Region. Land, remediation and infrastructure grant is normally expected to come first through LCRCA's Brownfield Land Fund and integrated settlement. Social and Affordable Homes Programme grant remains administered by Homes England, shaped by LCRCA's published strategic priorities. The National Housing Bank makes its own finance decisions while working alongside the agency. [region file, section 2]

Regional routes: see regions/liverpool-city-region.md

Wirral sits within the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA), an established mayoral strategic authority with an integrated settlement from 1 April 2026. For the full regional picture — the Brownfield Land Fund, the LCR Housing Pipeline and Housing Investment Fund, SAHP strategic priorities, the SAHP first-wave regional estimate (MHCLG's published £380m / c.3,100 homes), the Spatial Development Strategy and the Liverpool North Docks Mayoral Development Corporation — see the regional page. [region file]

Local routes for a Wirral scheme

Wirral's own routes sit underneath these: the council's Left Bank framework, the Woodside and Hind Street masterplans, and its Housing Strategy 2026–2031 set the local priorities that a scheme promoter needs to match against the regional and national routes above.

Who decides what (decisions and public contacts)

1. Homes England / National Housing Bank — Final SAHP funding and contractual decisions; the Bank assesses its finance investments. [1,25]
2. Liverpool City Region Combined Authority — Brownfield Land Fund, Housing Investment Fund, integrated settlement, Spatial Development Strategy, and (jointly with Homes England) the Strategic Place Partnership that names Wirral Waters and Birkenhead as priority places. [region file]
3. Wirral Council — Local housing need and planning authority for all sites in this briefing; Left Bank framework; accountable body for Pride in Place across Central Birkenhead, Seacombe and Woodchurch. [26,30,31]
4. Wirral Growth Company — Council/Muse joint venture acting as master developer for parts of the Birkenhead waterfront and town-centre regeneration programme. [27]
5. Peel Waters / Wirral Waters — Private master developer of the c.500-acre Wirral Waters dockland site, working with joint-venture partners (e.g. Qualis Developments, Forshaw Group) on individual phases. [13,14]
6. Three Pride in Place Neighbourhood Boards — Independent chairs Liam Kelly (Central Birkenhead), Nicola Fenton (Seacombe) and Jennifer Allinson (Woodchurch); council accountability and national programme rules still apply. [30,31]
7. Scheme owner and delivery team — The RP, council, Wirral Growth Company or Peel Waters assembles the scheme and manages delivery. Establish the actual commissioning organisation.

Public routes for the next conversation

A useful first enquiry names the site, landowner, proposed use, delivery lead, funding gap and next decision.

Accessing programme grant: a route for smaller providers

• Continuous Market Engagement — Open for individual schemes and portfolios while funding remains available. Designed to accommodate smaller partners, new entrants and complex projects. [region file §3]
• Strategic partnerships — Programme-level allocations. The initial bidding round closed on 15 April 2026; future rounds will be announced. Strategic partners with a substantial Liverpool City Region presence include Torus62, Onward Homes, Great Places, Places for People, Sanctuary, Vistry Homes and Sage Homes; partner status is national and does not by itself commit grant to a Wirral scheme. [region file §3]

Before a grant application

Organisations need Homes England Investment Partner qualification to receive grant. LCRCA's published strategic priorities seek at least 60% Social Rent through SAHP, with up to 20% Affordable Rent, up to 20% Shared Ownership and up to 15% Rent to Buy. [region file §3] Wirral's own brownfield-only Local Plan requires a minimum of 10% affordable housing across most regeneration areas, rising to 20% in some. [12]

Places and programmes: four largest live schemes

Wirral Waters — c.500 acres, Redbridge Quay phase two under way

Peel Waters' regeneration of Birkenhead dockland around the Great Float, promoted since outline consent in 2012. Named directly in LCRCA's SAHP strategic priorities as one of the region's 13 priority places, and in the Brownfield Land Fund investment criteria as a location for higher-density family accommodation. [region file §3, §2]

Live activity verified for 2025/26: construction under way on Redbridge Quay phase two, 90 waterside homes (84 one-bed, 6 three-bed apartments across six blocks) on Dock Road in the Northbank neighbourhood, a joint venture between Peel Waters, Qualis Developments and Forshaw Group, following completion of the award-winning Miller's Quay development. [13,14] Refurbishment of the former Mobil oil-storage building into commercial/industrial use was due to start spring 2026. [14] A new Sainsbury's Local opened July 2026 following construction start in February 2026. [wirralwaters.co.uk] The wider masterplan's total homes and jobs figures are published on the Wirral Waters website but were not independently re-verified for this edition; treat any borough-wide "thousands of homes" figure for Wirral Waters as not verified against a current planning document.

The October 2024 commitment of £51m by LCRCA and Homes England to the former gasworks site at Birkenhead is now confirmed from the GOV.UK release of 8 October 2024 to be the Hind Street award described below — £29m Homes England plus £22m LCRCA — and not a separate award. [42]

Hind Street Urban Garden Village, Birkenhead — c.1,500+ homes, first 633 unlocked

A former gasworks site in Birkenhead town centre being brought forward by Wirral Council with developer partner Ion Property Developments, under a signed Master Development Agreement, with masterplanner BDP. [15,16,47]

Two different site sizes and three different homes numbers are in circulation. Ion's own project page describes "a substantial brownfield site of approximately 12 hectares" (about 30 acres) delivering "1,400 new homes" over a phased development spanning a decade. The GOV.UK release of 8 October 2024 says "over 1,500 homes"; trade press says around 1,600. The "65 acres" previously carried in this brief is not supported by the developer's own page and should be treated as not verified; use Ion's c.12 hectares, and the GOV.UK "over 1,500 homes" for the funded scheme, noting Ion's own 1,400. [15,16,42,47] Funding, confirmed by the GOV.UK release of 8 October 2024: £29m from Homes England alongside a £22m commitment from the Combined Authority, together £51m, to fund infrastructure that unlocks "the first 633 homes" of a scheme of "over 1,500 homes", plus 600,000 sq ft of commercial space, a park and transport improvements. [42] Trade press gives the more precise figures as £29.8m and £22.4m, just over £52m, and around 1,600 homes in total; the GOV.UK rounded figures are used here. [15,16] Planning approval secured; key funding agreements signed February 2026; phase one construction was targeted to start in 2025 and complete in 2027, though public reporting in February 2026 describes the scheme as only then "moving forward," so the 2025 start date should be treated as not verified as achieved. [15,16] Full build-out is expected over 10–15 years.

Woodside Masterplan — 1,700 homes envisaged, ferry terminal revamp largely complete

A £23m masterplan for the area around Woodside Ferry Terminal — funded from the Levelling Up and Town Deal Funds, not Levelling Up alone — adopted following the Economy, Regeneration and Housing Committee's resolution of 4 December 2024. The masterplan covers the area from Shore Road to Church Street. [17,18,44]

Read the 1,700 carefully. The council's own consultation material states 1,700 homes within the masterplan redline and approximately 2,560 in total including the areas outside the redline that were masterplanned. The 1,700 is the figure to use for the adopted masterplan area; the 2,560 is the wider masterplanned envelope and the two should not be added or used interchangeably. [44]

Alongside the homes, the adopted vision is for two new hotels (with potential for expansion), 11,300 sq m of active ground-floor uses — workspace, food and beverage, leisure and health — two multi-storey car parks, a major cultural attraction and outdoor event space wrapping the terminal building, plus improved walking and cycling links from the Argyle Street/Conway Street roundabout down to the waterfront and better connections into Central Birkenhead. [17,18,44] No homes have been reported as started under the masterplan itself; this is a framework document, not a consented scheme, and should not be read as a live homes pipeline. [17]

Separately, the Woodside Ferry Terminal itself has been substantially rebuilt (new landing stage and linkspan bridge, modern passenger facilities) at a reported cost of £9m+, funded through the wider £23m plan; completion of the landing stage/linkspan was targeted for summer 2025, and the new £26m Mersey Ferry (funded and delivered separately by Merseytravel/LCRCA) was due to launch summer 2026 to use the upgraded terminal. [18,19]

New Ferry regeneration — phase one complete, phase two starting 2026

Wirral Council and Regenda Group's redevelopment of sites cleared after the 2017 gas explosion. Phase one complete: 34 affordable homes — 20 Rent to Buy apartments at Sorrel Place, Boundary Road, and 14 Affordable Rent homes on Bebington Road. [20,21] Phase two: construction beginning in 2026, delivering 43 further homes (2, 3 and 4-bedroom). [21] A separate highways and public realm scheme for the pedestrianised section of Bebington Road — distinct from the housing phases — went to the Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport Committee on 8 July 2026, and the outcome is now confirmed from the minutes. The approved capital budget is £5.5m, primarily from the Local Regeneration Fund; the "£5.2m" in secondary press coverage is the same scheme reported differently, not a second pot. [45,46]

Pride in Place: three neighbourhood boards

Wirral's three Pride in Place neighbourhoods are named in the MHCLG phase 2 place list as Birkenhead Central, Seacombe and Woodchurch (the council and local press use "Central Birkenhead" for the first), each carrying up to £20m over ten years, split 63% capital / 37% revenue for phase 2 places [39,41] — a combined £60m headline for the borough. Wirral Council is the accountable body across all three. [30,31]

Programme timeline (all three neighbourhoods). Spring 2026: boards convened. Summer 2026: boards confirm finalised membership and submit any proposed boundary changes. Winter 2026 to early 2027: each board submits a ten-year regeneration ("Pride in Place") plan to government for assessment. Spring 2027: government approval expected and initial funding released. [30,31] The national deadline is now confirmed from the MHCLG delivery guidance: the 160 phase 2 Neighbourhood Boards — the group that includes Wirral's three, which appear in the original phase 2 place list rather than among the 40 places named on 20 March 2026 — "submit their Pride in Place Plans to MHCLG for assessment and approval by 30 November 2026". Boundary changes were due by 17 July 2026. Once the plan is approved, a payment of £1.36m is released in financial year 2027/28, with annual payments thereafter. The council's own pages say only "winter 2026"; the 30 November date is the one that binds. [39,41]

Bring a project that can be delivered

• Need, ownership and consent — Who benefits, land control, delivery lead, consents and dependencies.
• Capital and continuing costs — Works, contingency, asset owner, operating budget and maintenance.

National guidance sets boards to have at least eight members, with at least 51% living or working locally. [region file / national guidance]

Pride in Place Impact Fund — Wirral not found in either determination round

The national Impact Fund is worth £1.5m per area (£750,000 in 2025/26, £750,000 in 2026/27) across a fixed list of areas. Both determination rounds have now been checked directly: Wirral is named in neither the 2025–26 determination (signed 29 September 2025) nor the 2026–27 determination (signed 8 April 2026). Of the six Liverpool City Region councils, only Liverpool, Knowsley, St Helens and Halton appear, at £750,000 in each year. Wirral's three Pride in Place neighbourhoods therefore hold no Impact Fund award; the £20m-per-neighbourhood Pride in Place allocation is unaffected. [32,40]

Local investment and project calls: different pots, different decisions

Brownfield Land Fund and Left Bank

Wirral sites are eligible for LCRCA's regional Brownfield Land Fund (see regional page); the June 2021 open call specifically named Wirral Left Bank as a priority area for higher-density family accommodation. [region file §2] Wirral's own Left Bank framework — the council's 20-year masterplan for the Mersey waterfront from Bromborough to New Brighton — carries an ambition of up to 10,000 homes between 2022 and 2040, at least 1,000 of them affordable, with Birkenhead alone described as a "£1bn opportunity with capacity for 21,000 new homes" in council-linked reporting; the two figures (10,000 for Left Bank overall, 21,000 for Birkenhead) are not reconciled in the sources found and should not be added together. [11,23,27]

Homes, partners and local need

Two different numbers circulate for Wirral, and they answer different questions. The adopted plan target is the one that binds.

Wirral's Housing Strategy 2026–2031 was approved by the council in January 2026, with an Implementation Plan considered by the Economy, Regeneration and Housing Committee on 16 June 2026. [23,24] Wirral operates a brownfield-only Local Plan, focusing new homes and town-centre growth on Birkenhead, New Ferry and Liscard; most regeneration areas require a minimum of 10% affordable housing, rising to 20% in some areas. [12,27]

The early-review clause matters for anyone promoting a site. The Inspectors required an early review of the Local Plan under Policy WS 12, because although the Plan has the potential to enable up to 14,425 net new homes, the Council could only demonstrate the ability to deliver up to 11,800 over the Plan period. A promoter arguing supply, or arguing for a site outside the adopted allocations, is arguing into that gap. The examination also deleted Policy RA2 for the Scott's Quay Regeneration Area over housing-delivery suitability concerns, and added a new viability policy at WS 2. [43]

These are examples of local activity, not a complete provider list or evidence of a new SAHP award specifically for Wirral.

Delivery and the supply chain

Finding the actual route to work

Wirral Council uses The Chest (https://www.the-chest.org.uk), the shared North West procurement portal — hosted on the Proactis ProContract platform (https://procontract.due-north.com) — used by five of the six Liverpool City Region councils, LCRCA and Merseytravel; Liverpool City Council directs suppliers to ProContract rather than to the Chest portal. Registration is free and suppliers receive alerts on published opportunities. [region file §7] Above-threshold notices also appear on Find a Tender; live notices found for Hind Street infrastructure works confirm the site is being procured through Find a Tender as well as The Chest. [16,35,36] A dedicated Wirral-only contracts register or forward procurement pipeline was not found in this edition; committee papers on democracy.wirral.gov.uk are the most reliable source for individual scheme decisions (e.g. the Levelling Up Fund decision record, the Woodside Masterplan committee resolution, and the Housing Strategy 2026–2031 Implementation Plan). [26,17,24]

A funding announcement does not itself create an open invitation to tender; Wirral Growth Company and Peel Waters run their own developer/contractor procurement for schemes they master-develop.

Skills and delivery capacity

Wirral Metropolitan College (Wirral Met) is the borough's main construction training provider, delivering from its dedicated Wirral Waters Campus in Birkenhead (opened September 2015) for Construction and the Built Environment, alongside its main campuses. Courses and apprenticeships cover bricklaying, carpentry, and routes into architecture, building services/surveying, civil engineering, quantity surveying and site management. Wirral Met partners with contractors including Morgan Sindall on apprenticeship showcases. [37,38]

The regional North-West Construction Technical Excellence College (CTEC) — one of ten in England, backed by £100m nationally with a target of 40,000 skilled workers trained by 2029 — is hosted by Wigan & Leigh College, with delivery partners Blackpool & The Fylde College and the East Lancashire Learning Group, covering Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Liverpool, Cumbria and Cheshire through three regional hubs. Wirral employers sit within its footprint even though the host college is in Greater Manchester. Enquiries: CTECenquiries@wigan-leigh.ac.uk. [region file §6]

Liverpool City Region's devolved skills routes — the Construction Skills Service (with Jobcentre Plus), Skills Bootcamps, and the LCR Careers Hub — are available to Wirral employers and sit alongside Wirral Met's own provision. [region file §6]

Sources

Research checked on 19 September 2026.

1. Homes England / NHB, Investment Prospectus, 31 March 2026. · source

2. MHCLG, first-wave SAHP announcement, 25 August 2026 · source

3. GMCA-equivalent/LCRCA, Brownfield Land Fund investment criteria — see regions/liverpool-city-region.md §2, citing LCRCA housing investment strategy. · source

4. Wirral Council, brownfield-only Local Plan and regeneration areas · source

5. Wirral View, "Work starts on 90 new waterside homes at Wirral Waters" · source

6. Birkenhead News, "Green light for more waterside homes at Wirral Waters" · source ; Wirral Waters, homepage · source

7. Place North West, "Homes England pledges £29m for Birkenhead's Hind Street" · source

8. LCRCA, "Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and Homes England invest £51 million in Birkenhead regeneration project" · source ; YM Liverpool, "Birkenhead's Hind Street Urban Garden Village moves step closer" · source

9. Wirral Council, Woodside Masterplan consultation and adoption · source ; Wirral Council, adopted masterplans and neighbourhood frameworks · source

10. Place North West, "Woodside Ferry Terminal in line for refresh" · source ; LCRCA, "Big changes on Wirral waterfront as major Woodside Ferry Terminal revamp begins" · source

11. Merseytravel, "Piling, demolition and welding – full speed ahead for Woodside Ferry Terminal revamp!" · source

12. Wirral View, "First phase of New Ferry regeneration project now complete" · source

13. YM Liverpool, "Regenda and Wirral Council deliver 'landmark regeneration' as first homes complete in New Ferry" · source

14. Wirral View, "New Ferry public realm proposals to be considered by committee" · source ; Streamlinefeed, "Wirral Council shakes New Ferry over £5.2m tarmac decision" (secondary source) · source

15. Place North West, "Wirral to adopt 2026-2031 housing strategy" · source

16. Wirral Council, Housing Strategy 2026–2031 Implementation Plan, Appendix 1 · source

17. Homes England, SAHP 2026–2036 eligibility and routes; Strategic Partnership guidance. · source

18. Wirral Council, Levelling Up Fund decision record · source

19. Place North West, "The Future is Birkenhead" · source

20. Wirral Council, contact us · source

21. Wirral Council, Economy Regeneration & Housing Committee, contact details · source

22. Wirral View, "Next phase of Pride in Place begins with Wirral Board appointments" · source

23. Wirral Council, Pride in Place · source

24. MHCLG, Pride in Place Impact Fund: grant determinations 2026 to 2027 · source

25. Magenta Living, corporate/development information · source

26. Birkenhead News, "Magenta Living secures £40m financing for new homes" · source

27. Find a Tender, Hind Street notice · source

28. Find a Tender, Hind Street notice · source

29. Wirral Met College, construction courses and Wirral Waters Campus · source · source

30. Morgan Sindall Construction, "Wirral Met College Students take part in Apprenticeship showcase" · source

31. MHCLG, Pride in Place programme delivery guidance (updated 17 September 2026; phase 2 plan deadline 30 November 2026, boundary changes 17 July 2026, £1.36m on approval in FY 2027/28) · source

32. MHCLG, Pride in Place Impact Fund: grant determinations 2025 to 2026 (Wirral not listed) · source

33. MHCLG, Pride in Place Programme: phase 2 place selection methodology note (Wirral 3 neighbourhoods — Birkenhead Central, Seacombe, Woodchurch) · source

34. GOV.UK (Homes England / LCRCA), "Liverpool City Region and Homes England invest £51 million in Birkenhead regeneration project", 8 October 2024 · source

35. Wirral Council, "Adoption of Wirral Local Plan 2022 to 2040", report to Council, 31 March 2025 · source

36. Wirral Council, Woodside Masterplan consultation page, Have Your Say Wirral (1,700 homes within the masterplan redline, c.2,560 including areas outside it; two hotels; 11,300 sq m of active ground-floor uses; two multi-storey car parks; £23m from the Levelling Up and Town Deal Funds) · source

37. Wirral Council, Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport Committee, 8 July 2026, minutes and reports pack, item 20 "New Ferry Highways and Public Realm Scheme" · source · source

38. Wirral View, "New Ferry public realm proposals to be considered by committee" (approved capital budget £5.5m, primarily Local Regeneration Fund; three options) · source

39. Ion Development, Hind Street Urban Village project page (approximately 12 hectares; 1,400 new homes; phased over a decade; Master Development Agreement with Wirral Council) · source

40. MHCLG, "Historic council housebuilding comeback to help families into secure homes", 24 August 2026 — regional funding breakdown of estimated first-wave SAHP Strategic Partnership spend and homes by established mayoral strategic authority: Greater Manchester £529m / c.4,400 homes; West Midlands £409m / c.3,200 homes; North East £445m / c.3,400 homes; West Yorkshire £441m / c.4,000 homes; Liverpool City Region £380m / c.3,100 homes; South Yorkshire £249m / c.2,200 homes · source

region file = regions/liverpool-city-region.md, as read for this briefing (19 September 2026).

Research notes

Verified from primary or named-organisation sources:

• Wirral's three Pride in Place neighbourhoods (Birkenhead Central, Seacombe, Woodchurch), £20m per neighbourhood, three independent chairs and the spring 2026–spring 2027 programme timeline, from the council's own Pride in Place page and Wirral View. [30,31]
• Hind Street funding split (£29m Homes England + £22m LCRCA = £51m) and the 633-home first phase, from LCRCA's own press release and Place North West. [15,16]
• Woodside Masterplan adoption via Economy, Regeneration and Housing Committee resolution of 4 December 2024, and the 1,700-home vision, from council consultation pages. [17]
• New Ferry phase one (34 homes, complete) and phase two (43 homes, starting 2026), from Wirral View and YM Liverpool. [20,21]
• Wirral Housing Strategy 2026–2031 approval (January 2026) and the 687 affordable-homes-a-year figure, from Place North West and the council's own Implementation Plan appendix. [23,24]
• Levelling Up Fund awards of £19,648,873 (direct) and £9,700,900 (via LCRCA), from the council's own decision record. [26]
• Wirral Waters Redbridge Quay phase two (90 homes) under construction, from Wirral View and Birkenhead News. [13,14]

Not verified / open, flagged inline above:

• Whether Hind Street's phase-one construction in fact started in 2025 as originally targeted. Ion's own page still describes the scheme in future terms; local reporting has said building work "could start as early as 2026" and that officers were "two years away from starting on site for housing". Searched again 19 September 2026.
• The Hind Street site area: Ion gives approximately 12 hectares; the "65 acres" previously carried here has no supporting primary source.
• Reconciliation between the Left Bank ambition of "up to 10,000 homes" (2022–2040) and the separately reported Birkenhead-alone figure of "21,000 new homes" capacity.
• Wirral Waters' overall (not phase-by-phase) total homes and jobs figures. The wirralwaters.co.uk home page was fetched on 19 September 2026: it carries the labels "new homes consented", "permanent jobs" and "acres of brownfield land and water at the Great Floats" but the numerals sit in a script-rendered counter and did not return. Still not verified.

Confirmed absent: Wirral appears in neither published Pride in Place Impact Fund grant determination — not the 2025–26 list (signed 29 September 2025) nor the 2026–27 list (signed 8 April 2026). Both were checked directly on 19 September 2026. Of the six Liverpool City Region councils only Liverpool, Knowsley, St Helens and Halton are named, at £750,000 in each year. [32,40]

Blocked URLs: liverpoolcityregion-ca.gov.uk press release on the £51m Birkenhead investment returned HTTP 403 to a direct fetch; the figures above are instead drawn from Place North West's and YM Liverpool's reporting of the same announcement, cross-checked against the LCRCA URL cited at [16].

Verification 19 Sep 2026

• SAHP national figure corrected: "£9.996bn to 33 strategic partners, 84,197 homes" replaced. The release states only that 33 partners will receive grant funding outside London; the partner table sums to £9,584.1m and 73,617 homes. [2]
• Hind Street citation upgraded from press to primary and the £51m question resolved: the GOV.UK release of 8 October 2024 confirms £29m Homes England plus a £22m Combined Authority commitment, unlocking "the first 633 homes" of a scheme of "over 1,500 homes". The October 2024 "former gasworks site" £51m and the Hind Street £51m are the same award, not two. Trade press's more precise £29.8m / £22.4m / just over £52m / c.1,600 homes is noted alongside. Previously not verified; now resolved. [42]
• Pride in Place plan deadline resolved from "not verified to the day": the MHCLG delivery guidance puts the 160 phase 2 Neighbourhood Boards — including Wirral's three, which sit in the original phase 2 place list rather than the 40 named on 20 March 2026 — under a deadline of 30 November 2026, with boundary changes due 17 July 2026 and £1.36m released on approval in FY 2027/28. The council's "winter 2026" wording does not override it. [39,41]
• Impact Fund absence resolved: both determination rounds now checked, not just 2026/27. Wirral is in neither. Previously a half-checked finding. [32,40]
• Neighbourhood name corrected: MHCLG's phase 2 list names the first neighbourhood Birkenhead Central, not "Central Birkenhead" as the council and local press style it. Both are now given. [41]
• Procurement corrected: the "all six LCR councils" line is wrong — five use The Chest; Liverpool City Council directs suppliers to Proactis ProContract, the platform The Chest is hosted on. Wirral's own use of The Chest is unchanged.
• Remaining open items are unchanged: the Hind Street 2025 start, the New Ferry £5.5m / £5.2m reconciliation, the Left Bank 10,000 vs Birkenhead 21,000 homes figures, Wirral Waters' overall totals, and the 8 July 2026 committee outcome.

Verification pass 2, 19 Sep 2026

• The adopted Local Plan requirement added — the brief previously carried no plan housing number at all. The Wirral Local Plan 2022 to 2040 was adopted by Council on 31 March 2025: a minimum of 14,400 net new dwellings plus 1,149 residential care places under Policy WS 1, on a stepped trajectory of 500 homes a year to 2027/28, 850 to 2032/33 and 1,025 to 2039/40. Policy WS 12 requires an early review, because only about 11,800 of a potential 14,425 homes could be shown deliverable; Policy RA2 (Scott's Quay) was deleted at examination and a new viability policy inserted at WS 2. [43]
• The 687 figure placed. It is an assessed need figure in the Housing Strategy 2026–2031 — 240 affordable rent, 240 social rent and 207 affordable home ownership a year — not an adopted target and not comparable with the Local Plan requirement. The two are now shown side by side with their status stated. The Implementation Plan date is fixed at 16 June 2026. [23,24,43]
• New Ferry resolved from the committee minutes. The Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport Committee of 8 July 2026 approved Option 2; an amendment to proceed with Option 1 was moved by Cllr Jo Bird, seconded by Cllr Allan Brame, and lost 3:8. The Committee authorised a Task Order (NEC Option A) with Cambrianway Limited under the existing Civil and Highway Engineering Term Service Contract. Previously not verified. [45]
• The £5.5m / £5.2m question resolved: one scheme, not two. The approved capital budget is £5.5m, primarily from the Local Regeneration Fund, confirmed by the council's own pre-committee release and the minutes. The £5.2m figure in secondary coverage is the same scheme. Previously not verified. [45,46]
• Woodside 1,700 qualified from the council's own material. The figure is 1,700 homes within the masterplan redline, with approximately 2,560 in total including areas outside the redline. Also added from the same source: two hotels, 11,300 sq m of active ground-floor uses and two multi-storey car parks; and the £23m is corrected to come from the Levelling Up and Town Deal Funds, not Levelling Up alone. [44]
• Hind Street site area corrected and the homes range set out. Ion Development's own project page gives approximately 12 hectares and 1,400 homes under a signed Master Development Agreement with the council; the "65-acre" figure previously carried here is unsupported and is now marked not verified. The funded first phase of 633 homes and the GOV.UK "over 1,500 homes" are unchanged. [47]
• Re-confirmed unchanged: the three Pride in Place chairs (Liam Kelly, Nicola Fenton, Jennifer Allinson) and the 30 November 2026 plan deadline; Wirral's absence from both Impact Fund determinations; the New Ferry housing phases (34 complete, 43 starting 2026); Redbridge Quay phase two at 90 homes.
• Still open: Wirral Waters' overall homes and jobs totals; the Left Bank 10,000 vs Birkenhead 21,000 figures; whether Hind Street phase one has started.
• SAHP first-wave regional estimate added. MHCLG's release of 24 August 2026, "Historic council housebuilding comeback to help families into secure homes," publishes a regional funding breakdown giving Liverpool City Region an estimated £380m and around 3,100 homes for first-wave Strategic Partnership spend — MHCLG's own regional estimate, not press-sourced, and not a Wirral award. [48]

Business directory not compiled for this edition, per instructions.

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