DELIGHTED families have told of their delight after moving into life-changing new homes that were built in days and offer ultra-low energy bills, helping them save for a mortgage.

Onward’s 13-home development in Wallasey was constructed by Wirral-based modular housebuilder Starship Group, on Brownfield Land prepared using a £195,000 grant from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.

The 3-bedroom zero-carbon houses each took just a week to construct at Starship’s Wirral factory and less than two days to erect on site.  They are designed to significantly reduce domestic energy bills for domestic heating, hot water, and lighting.

Mayor Steve Rotheram has backed the approach by creating the Future Homes LCR project, a public-private alliance which aims to accelerate the development of ultra-low-carbon housing across the Region.

Now fully occupied, Mayor Rotheram visited the development and heard 1st-hand about how the modern homes have transformed people’s lives. 

Residents say a raft of energy-saving features, including solar panels and air-source heat pumps, are already delivering lower bills, while a Rent-to-Buy scheme offered by housing association Onward charges an affordable rate of rent, so that any savings can be used to help buy their home.

Diana Fedan, who moved in 6 months ago with her partner and baby daughter, said:- “The house feels toasty, lovely and warm, especially the floor heating at the bottom, which is really good with the baby crawling around. Upstairs, there are radiators so you can still have carpets. The place is lovely and quiet, and because it’s new, everyone's kind of arrived at the same time. The neighbours are really nice, they all have kids and we all get along. It’s a good area to live for the baby. We are really happy and were buzzing with it as our 1st place to live as a family. After I had the baby, we weren't initially planning on moving, but these are quite close to my mum, and we just really liked the look of them. It seemed like a good opportunity to be able to buy a house and, because it's a rent to buy, for the 1st 5 years it's discounted rent so you can put that away to have the deposit saved, rather than having to find a big chunk of money straight away. Otherwise, it'd be quite hard with a baby to save up and buy straight away.”

Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram said:- “Owning a home is a dream for many people, but saving for a deposit can be a real financial challenge. These new homes are helping local families take that 1st important step onto the housing ladder – while benefiting from some of the lowest energy bills anywhere in the country. The government has set an ambitious target to build 1.5 homes and I’ve been clear that I want as many of those homes as possible to be built right here in the Liverpool City Region. With our local strengths in innovation, modular construction, and green technology, we’ve got the skills, the expertise, and the determination to make it happen. We stand ready to work with the government and local housebuilders to deliver that vision. This project shows exactly what’s possible when innovation and collaboration come together – creating a brighter, more sustainable, and more affordable future for everyone.”

The project at Mungo Park Way, Wallasey, took just over a year from start to finish. It was supported by £195,000 from the Liverpool City Region Brownfield Land Fund and funding through Onward’s Strategic Partnership with Homes England.

Homes built using Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) typically complete in a fraction of the time taken using traditional building techniques.

While traditional masonry could deliver a house to a watertight state in around 22 weeks, the homes at Mungo Park Way took less than two weeks to construct – one week creating the panelised system in Starship’s Wirral factory and a couple of days to assemble the panels on site.

The homes are constructed and part-assembled off site using light gauge steel frames clad with insulation and brick slips to create super insulated, airtight homes with an energy performance (EPC) A-rating. They are zero carbon in terms of operational heating and use 60% less carbon during construction than traditional building techniques.

Estimated energy costs for heating, lighting and hot water are estimated to be much lower than equivalent, traditionally built homes.

Onward offer the homes via Rent to Buy, with residents able to pay a discounted rental rate while they save for a deposit to buy.

Bronwen Rapley, Chief Executive at Onward Homes, said:- “We are committed to providing hundreds of new homes across the Liverpool City Region that are both affordable for local people to rent or buy, and truly affordable to run in the long term. As well as offering significantly lower energy bills, these modern homes are helping local people put down roots in their community, where they may otherwise have felt priced out of home ownership. We are always looking for ways to tread lighter on the environment through our development activity, and these zero carbon homes offer a fantastic blueprint for sustainable housebuilding in the future.”

Kuda Muvengwa, who moved in 7 months ago and has 2 young children, said:- “It's been really, really good, a nice quiet street, and we've settled in really well. The house is absolutely amazing – really warm. There are lots of younger people, families, everybody keeps themselves to themselves, and we like that a bit of privacy, but when we see each other, we always say hello and have a little chat. The underfloor heating absolutely amazing, especially in the morning when you wake up and it's a bit chilly in the house, which half of the time it's not. And then we've got the heat pump as well, which is really good and saves energy. We've also got solar panels, and I'm waiting for them to kick in, so it's got fantastic technology in there and we've saved quite a lot on bills compared to where we were before, which was just a normal new build. The plan is that by saving money we can eventually buy the place, so we are putting money aside for 5 years when it's time to buy. We are definitely going to buy.