Magenta Living starts £7m social rent scheme on former school site in Oxton Village

Magenta Living has started construction of The Parchments, a £7m scheme of 30 apartments for social rent on a former school site in Oxton Village, Wirral, with completion due in January 2028.

Wirral Council, which published the announcement, said the development will be the first social housing built in Oxton Village for at least ten years. It comprises 18 two-bedroom and 12 one-bedroom apartments.

Homes England is contributing £3.57m of grant funding. The Casey Group, a contractor founded in 1968 by its chairman Peter Casey, is building the scheme.

Paul McGrady, Magenta Living's Chief Financial Officer, said: "We are very proud to be able to move forward now with this development, respecting the unique character of Oxton Village, and giving more people a chance to join this special corner of Wirral."

The site

The scheme sits within the Oxton Village conservation area. Wirral Council describes the village as an early rural hamlet that later expanded as a Victorian commuter settlement, with many houses set in spacious gardens among mature trees.

The council said Magenta Living worked with its planners on a design and palette of materials intended to be sensitive to the history of the site. The name The Parchments refers to the reading and writing materials once used at the old school.

Cllr Paula Basnett, Leader of Wirral Council, said the scheme had been designed with sensitivity to the conservation area while helping to meet housing need and protect the character of the neighbourhood.

Shahi Islam, Director of Affordable Housing Grants at Homes England, said: "It's great to see work begin at The Parchments development in Oxton Village. This is a prime example of how we work collaboratively with partners like Magenta Living".

A growing programme

The Parchments is one of a run of announcements from Magenta Living this year as it scales up its development pipeline.

In May 2026 the association refreshed its Road to 2030 strategic plan and raised its new-homes commitment from 1,000 to 1,300 by 2030. Magenta Living said the higher target reflected growing local housing need, and that the shortage of affordable homes across Wirral and the wider region remained a serious challenge.

Wirral Council's announcement describes the target as 1,300 homes on the Wirral. Magenta Living's own funding announcement in July put the figure differently, saying about 84% of the 1,300 homes would be delivered on the Wirral with the remainder across the wider Liverpool City Region.

That July announcement confirmed £40m of funding from Santander, which Magenta Living said would help it move quickly on affordable housing delivery across the city region. The £40m is the first part of a wider £77m package covering new homes, improvements to existing properties and green initiatives.

In June, Magenta Living said its Sandbank Point scheme in West Kirby had become the first in the country to draw down funding from Homes England's new Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP). That scheme will deliver 14 homes, including what Magenta Living described as the first new social rent homes in the area for ten years.

Scheme	Homes
The Parchments, Oxton Village	30
Sandbank Point, West Kirby	14

Homes England opened bidding for the SAHP on 24 February 2026. The agency said at least £27bn of its funding forms part of a £39bn government investment, and that partners must deliver at least 60% of homes for social rent. Wirral Council's announcement does not say which Homes England programme is funding The Parchments.

Cllr Graham Morgan, Liverpool City Region Deputy Mayor for Housing and leader of Knowsley Council, said housing providers such as Magenta Living were helping to create new communities across the city region.

James Reeveley, Operations Director of The Casey Group, said the contractor was pleased to be working in partnership with Magenta Living on the scheme.

The Parchments is due to complete in January 2028.