Rent for a one-bedroom flat in proposed building could be almost £200 a month higher than the ‘affordable’ rate.

Developers of proposed apartment block, 68K Finance, which would form part of the Pumpfields Regeneration Zone say they “cannot afford any level of affordable housing” because it is financially “unviable”.

Liverpool City Council’s guidelines for new apartment blocks sets out that at least 20% of homes within a new block should be priced at the ‘affordable’ rate, but The Printing Press may not offer any.

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In The Printing Press, which could be built just outside the city centre, a one- bedroom flat could cost £950 a month, almost £200 a month more than the ‘affordable’ rate of £760 a month. Similarly, a two-bedroom apartment in the newdevelopment could cost £1,200 a month.

Liverpool City Council sets out that an ‘affordable’ two-bedroom apartment should cost no more than £960 a month.

In a statement, developers said: “The proposed development produces a negative residual land, and it does not reach the benchmark land value of £280,000. As the scheme is unviable, this confirms that the proposed scheme cannot afford any level of affordable housing.”

If approved, The Printing Press would be built on Gascoyne Street, Vauxhall, and contain 100 one and two-bedroom apartments, as well as two commercial units on the ground floor. Developers could make almost £4 million profit, should the project go ahead.

Developers of the proposed 14-storey apartment block aim to “create high quality residential accommodation, improve connections to the city centre, and provide views across the city and beyond.”

Each apartment would come with a balcony, and the building would be able to accommodate 108 bicycles. The proposed site for The Printing Press is currently a disused, derelict factory, just off Leeds Street and a short walk from Pier Head and the city centre.

The proposal comes at a time when house prices in Liverpool are continuing to increase at a greater rate than the national average. Between 2019 and 2023, the median house price in Liverpool increased by 26%, whilst the national average increased by just 19.8%.

In that time, median annual earnings in Liverpool increased by just 13.7% compared with the national average of 14.3%, meaning housing in Liverpool is becoming increasingly unaffordable at a faster rate than the national average.

House prices are continuing to grow quicker than earnings nation-wide, but the rapid increase in house prices in Liverpool means people here are hit harder.

The Liverpool Echo reached out to 68K Finance’s representatives, who have not yet commented. The application for The Printing Press is currently under consultation by Liverpool City Council.