England: Revamped empty homes project gains national recognition after Turner Prize win

Granby 4 StreetsA project to revamp derelict homes in Liverpool has won Britain’s leading contemporary art award, the Turner Prize.

London-based architecture collective Assemble took home the prestigious prize for Granby 4 Streets, a development of 10 empty red-brick terraced houses which brought four empty shops back to life, as part of the wider redevelopment across the four streets.

Granby 4 Streets Community Land Trust formed in 2011 after residents campaigned for years to save their neighbourhood from demolition. The CLT commissioned Assemble with the help of social investors, Steinbeck Studio.

Catherine Harrington, director of the National CLT Network, said: “Just as the win for Assemble has challenged the art world to redefine Contemporary Art, CLTs are challenging how the Government and housing work to redefine what ‘affordable’ means.

“The new Starter Home initiative where ‘affordable’ homes will be sold at 80 per cent of market value isn’t affordable for people or families on low or median incomes, particularly in house price hot spots.”

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