IN Brief:
- Breck Homes has started work on 34 social-rent homes for Torus at Pilch Lane in Roby.
- Every property is specified with an air source heat pump and an electric vehicle charging point.
- The previously consented brownfield scheme is scheduled for completion in late spring 2028.
Breck Homes has started work on 34 social-rent homes at the former Boundary public house site on Pilch Lane in Roby, Merseyside, for housing association Torus. The development will provide one, two and three-bedroom homes, with air source heat pumps and an electric vehicle charging point specified for each property. Completion is expected in late spring 2028. Physical construction is now under way on a site where previous residential proposals had not been implemented.
The pub was demolished in 2011, leaving the land vacant through several unsuccessful planning applications. Breck acquired the plot without conditions in 2025 and secured permission from Knowsley Council in March 2026. Liverpool West Derby MP Ian Byrne visited on 16 October with representatives of Breck and Torus to mark the start of work. The October construction activity is a separate milestone from the March planning consent and from an earlier procurement notice.
All 34 homes are intended for social rent, making long-term maintenance and energy costs central to the building specification. Torus is the housing partner, while Breck is delivering the works. Although the developer describes the homes as energy efficient, it has not provided calculated heating demand, insulation performance, completed energy assessments or annual operating costs for the scheme. The heat-pump and charging specifications are confirmed; the eventual building performance will depend on the constructed fabric and commissioned services.
An air source heat pump transfers heat from outside air through a refrigerant circuit to a home’s space-heating and hot-water systems. Its electrical consumption is influenced by the temperature difference between the outside source and the heat required indoors. Appropriately sized emitters, low water temperatures and coordinated controls can improve efficiency, but these must be considered alongside insulation and air leakage. Breck has not identified the heat-pump manufacturer, emitter arrangements or seasonal efficiency target at Pilch Lane.
Equipment coordination will continue beyond the heating installation. External units need suitable positioning for airflow, noise and maintenance access, while pipework, electrical cabling and drainage have to be accommodated without compromising the building envelope. An electric vehicle charging point at every home adds another electrical load that must be considered with heating, hot-water preparation and normal domestic demand. The announcement does not specify charger ratings, incoming capacity or any managed-charging arrangement, so no particular grid or connection solution can yet be attributed to the site.
The construction contract also has a specific land and procurement background. A July transparency notice from Torus62 Developments described an intended direct award to Breck under a JCT design-and-build contract, structured as an interdependent land-and-works transaction. The notice stated that Breck owned the land and that the plot transfer and construction could not reasonably be separated. It did not represent a new competitive contract award in October. With work now started, the scheme has moved into the delivery stage of a development consented earlier in the year.
The long-vacant brownfield setting requires the building programme to accommodate whatever ground and buried-service conditions the approved investigations establish. Previous demolition alone cannot demonstrate the absence of obstructions, contamination or foundation constraints. Site-specific investigation findings and the selected foundation solution have not been released. The confirmed development consists of 34 homes on the former pub plot; any account of remediation, ground improvement or particular structural systems would need additional project evidence.
The range of bedroom sizes will also produce differing room layouts, heating loads and service routes across the scheme. A common commitment to heat pumps and EV charging does not mean that every dwelling will require identical capacity or controls. Design coordination has to consider where equipment can be accessed, how services pass through walls and floors, and how the homes can be maintained once occupied. Breck has not published a property-by-property accommodation schedule or its principal construction system.
Breck says Pilch Lane forms part of a seven-development Merseyside pipeline, and that it had 12 live North West sites when the October visit took place. The developer has not provided comparative construction costs or productivity figures for Pilch Lane. The business expects 14 active regional sites by the end of 2026, but has not connected that expansion target to a revised construction programme or accelerated handovers at Pilch Lane. The stated overall completion target remains late spring 2028, without an announced phased handover or first-occupation date. Building-envelope completion, installation and testing of the heating and charging systems, and handover to Torus will be the next measurable delivery stages.
