Chapter 7: City Perspective – Liverpool
Liverpool's strategy for growth

A city steeped in history, Liverpool is seeing development at pace,
winning the hearts of investors and developers alike

Image: Davos Property Developments and Beetham Group’s proposed skyscraper for King Edward Triangle

Liverpool City Council wants to see more tall buildings in Liverpool. In the right locations, tall buildings can project Liverpool’s ambitions, showcase bold new architecture and enhance our city’s globally-recognised iconic waterfront.

New tall buildings can be the landmarks of the future and enhance Liverpool’s skyline, projecting a confident, forward-looking identity, as well as creating new, more densely-built communities in more constrained sites around existing infrastructure.

Our refreshed Local Plan identifies the need for 30,000 new homes to be built on a brownfield-first approach with all the challenges that will bring. As a city, we cannot achieve that goal with taller buildings.

In September 2023, Liverpool City Council adopted a Tall Buildings Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) to provide policy certainty for developers around the location of, and design principles for, future tall building projects and how sensitivities around tall buildings can best be managed.

Peel Water’s Central Docks development

Councillor Nick Small, Liverpool City Council's cabinet member for growth and economy, talks to Tall Buildings Magazine about the city's five tall building cluster sites, major developments underway and overcoming viability challenges to attract investment.

This is crucial in a city home to 1532 listed buildings, with historic landmark buildings such as the Three Graces and the Royal Albert Dock that line the waterfront and contribute to the highly distinctive and recognisable silhouette of our city. Other key heritage buildings create highly distinct set pieces in the urban fabric, like Liverpool Town Hall and St George's Hall or prominently rise above the city, like our two cathedrals.

The SPD identified five principal city centre cluster sites for tall buildings – Liverpool Waters, King Edward Triangle/Old Hall Street/Commercial District, Leeds Street, Paddington Village and City Centre South.

In December 2025, the North Docks Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) was approved – a collaboration between the UK Government, Liverpool City Region Mayoral Combined Authority and Liverpool City Council.

The Lexington, Princes Dock © FCH Architects

It is the first MDC in the Liverpool city region. This partnership will deliver sustainable development at pace and align regeneration projects with the city’s strategic priorities to bring forward housing and commercial space to accommodate key growth sectors.

Since the SPD has been approved, Packaged Living’s Old Hall Place scheme has gained planning approval and work on Peel’s Central Docks has begun.

Inside the MDC area and one of the five tall buildings sites identified in the SPD, King Edward Triangle is a gamechanger for Liverpool, a £1bn development from KEIE, Beetham Organisation and Davos that will deliver 3000 new homes and 400 hotel rooms and, crucially, a 60-storey tower, which would become the city’s tallest building.

Lighthaus, Princes Dock © FCH Architects

Perhaps the biggest barriers to more tall buildings in Liverpool and in many other places is viability. Alongside creating as much policy certainty as we can, we want to boost investor confidence in Liverpool. That’s why we established the Imagine Liverpool board, chaired by Patrick Nolan, former Vice Chairman, HSBC Global Banking & Market. Imagine Liverpool leans into investors, developers, landowners and occupiers to reshape Liverpool’s economic landscape.

Our message to the UK Government and to investors and developers is this: Liverpool is open for businesses and we want to see development at pace. We’ve got the sites and we’ve got the ambition.

www.liverpoolcityregion-ca.gov.uk

Tall Buildings Northern Conference - March 24th

Join us in Manchester this March and discover what makes tall buildings work in the North. Don't miss this opportunity to hear success stories, navigate Gateway 2, master the golden thread, and decode the policy landscape driving developments across our northern cities. View the day’s agenda and secure your tickets below.

View full programme and speaker lineup