Liverpool’s ambitious waterfront regeneration plans have taken a significant step forward after the city council approved legal agreements with Urban Splash and igloo, paving the way for the transformation of the former International Garden Festival site into a major new residential neighbourhood.
The development partnership is progressing plans to deliver approximately 800 homes across the 27-acre Festival Gardens site, with around 440 properties proposed for the first phase of construction.
The agreement represents a major milestone for one of Liverpool’s most prominent regeneration opportunities, bringing the prospect of residential development closer following years of challenges surrounding the site’s redevelopment.
Urban Splash and igloo were selected as preferred development partners in August 2025, securing the opportunity ahead of competing proposals from Muse, Vistry and CERT Property.
With the legal agreements now approved, the developers will advance detailed design work and community consultation ahead of submitting a planning application by the end of 2027.
The proposals will seek to establish a diverse residential community, offering a broad range of housing types and tenures designed to accommodate different household requirements and stages of life.
More than 30 house types are being considered, including social rented accommodation, traditional family housing, retirement living and opportunities for self-build homes.
This mixed-tenure approach is intended to create a varied residential environment rather than a conventional single-format housing development, reflecting the growing emphasis on inclusive neighbourhood planning and long-term community development.
A consortium of delivery partners will support the regeneration, with Urban Splash and igloo undertaking elements of the construction programme themselves alongside housing and development organisations including Alpha Living, Regenda Homes, TOWN and Starship.
Six architectural practices are involved in shaping the proposals, bringing together different design approaches to establish a distinctive new neighbourhood within the waterfront setting.
The development will follow a substantial programme of site preparation and environmental remediation, which has already addressed one of the principal barriers to bringing Festival Gardens back into productive use.
Vinci previously undertook a £53 million remediation programme to tackle contamination across the former International Garden Festival site, preparing the land for future redevelopment.
The extensive clean-up was an essential enabling stage, overcoming environmental constraints that had complicated earlier proposals and delayed progress on the site.
Liverpool City Council originally acquired Festival Gardens for £6 million in 2015, with the intention of securing its long-term regeneration.
Previous development ambitions had envisaged the construction of up to 1,500 homes, although the scale of the proposals has subsequently been reduced to approximately 800 properties under the current development strategy.
The revised approach places greater emphasis on a varied residential offer, with different housing types and development partners contributing to the overall scheme.
Jonathan Falkingham, Co-founder of Urban Splash, welcomed the latest milestone and highlighted the combined experience of the two development organisations.
“With Urban Splash and igloo working in partnership, we’re combining decades of experience to turn this large-scale regeneration project into a community Liverpool can be proud of,” he said.
The Festival Gardens project represents another important opportunity for Liverpool to unlock previously developed land for new housing while strengthening the relationship between the city’s residential neighbourhoods and its waterfront.
For the construction and development sectors, the scheme also demonstrates the importance of major remediation investment, coordinated masterplanning and partnerships between local authorities, private developers and housing providers in bringing complex regeneration sites forward.
The involvement of multiple architects and delivery partners is expected to contribute to the development of a varied housing offer, while the phased construction strategy will allow the neighbourhood to emerge progressively as individual elements receive approval.
The next stage will see Urban Splash and igloo intensify design development and consultation, working towards the submission of a formal planning application before the end of 2027.
Subject to securing the necessary consents, construction will then proceed in phases, beginning the transformation of the former festival site into a new residential destination.
With legal agreements now approved and the major remediation works completed, Festival Gardens is moving closer to realising its potential as one of Liverpool’s significant new housing and waterfront regeneration schemes, bringing hundreds of homes to a site that has remained a longstanding development opportunity for the city.
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