The Granby Four Streets: Building a Blueprint for Community Empowerment

When residents refuse to let their community die, extraordinary things can happen.

Jun 17, 2025

In 2010, the majority of the 200 terraced houses in the Granby Four Streets area of Toxteth were empty and in serious disrepair. The streets that had once been "a haven of joviality, music, liveliness, nice people" were destined for demolition - another casualty of Liverpool's post-industrial decline. But the residents had other plans.

Today, these same streets stand as one of the most remarkable examples of community-led regeneration in Britain. The Granby Four Streets Community Land Trust hasn't just saved homes. They've created a new model for how communities can take control of their own destiny.

From Vibrancy to Void

The Granby area in Toxteth, Liverpool, was originally a large neighbourhood with wide Victorian streets, and a collection of houses with varying sizes. It is among the oldest multicultural neighbourhoods in the country, with some evidence suggesting that a black community has lived in the area for over 400 years. This heritage was further expanded in the years following the Second World War, with many immigrants from the Commonwealth settling in Granby. In the post-war boom, the area was home to many thriving businesses such as shops, butchers, small scale manufacturing, and even a cinema.

But economic decline hit during the 1970s, with high levels of unemployment and poverty. The 1981 Toxteth riots accelerated the downfall of this once prosperous area, and in the years following the riots, life in Granby became extremely difficult. Poverty and unemployment levels became worse, more shops went out of business and empty houses began to appear due to negative perceptions of the area. Liverpool City Council's response was controversial within the local community. It acquired hundreds of houses in the area for demolition, leaving just four of the original 14 streets standing. These four streets remained only thanks to the Granby Residents Association, which lobbied the local council to halt the demolition of the entire area.

The Housing Market Renewal Initiative, introduced in 2002, threatened to finish what the decline had started. The initiative was designed to bring the "middle classes into areas of low market demand", leading to public criticism and accusations of social cleansing, in effect pricing local residents out of the neighbourhood.

The Fight Back

When the Granby Residents Association - who were instrumental in saving the remaining streets - disbanded in 2010, it might have seemed like the end of the story. At the same time, however, the Housing Market Renewal Initiative was hit by the new coalition government’s austerity measures, leading to them halting plans to regenerate Granby.

In the uncertainty that followed around the future of these four streets, the residents took the initiative to shape the neighbourhood. They took it upon themselves to plant flowers and trees at the front of the tinned up houses, and repainted the walls and boarded up windows. And at the end of 2011, the residents formally constituted themselves as the Granby Four Street Community Land Trust (CLT), with the aim of bringing these empty homes back into use as affordable housing.

Building Something New

What happened next defied all expectations. In 2011, the Trust successfully attracted funding from a social investment company, Steinbeck Studios. With this investment, they were able to commission London-based architecture collective, Assemble, to set out plans for the area. Assemble worked with Steinbeck Studios and local residents to design a sustainable and incremental vision for the area that built on the hard work already done by the CLT. It means the refurbishment of houses and public spaces, and the provision of new work and enterprise opportunities.

They renovated more than twenty-five empty properties. But this wasn't standard renovation - Assemble approached it by celebrating the area’s architectural and cultural heritage. The result was extraordinary, and included the complete transformation of 10 derelict houses on Cairns Street into affordable and unique homes; Granby Winter Garden, a shared garden that used to be two derelict homes on Cairns Street, freely accessible to local residents; and the Granby Workshop, which now manufactures ceramics that were used in the regeneration of the Granby Four houses, and are now distributors of unique ceramics globally.

The work continues today, with a project underway to redevelop the corner of Cairns Street and Granby Street into a new hub for the community, with the potential for shops and a community hub to be developed on the site.

A Model for the Future

The Granby Four Streets has changed the City Council’s thinking towards housing regeneration and how the council engages with local residents. This was evidenced in 2016, when the Council handed a large derelict area that would usually be a prime target for demolition to developers instead.

The success of the Granby Four Streets also goes far beyond Liverpool. The project was awarded a Tuner Prize in 2015 with their architects Assemble. It also won a European urbaMonde Community-Led Housing Award in 2016. One of the four streets, Cairns Street, was a finalist in the 2015 Academy of Urbanisms UK Street of the Year. Beyond this, they have been highlighted in multiple media outlets, including the BBC, the Guardian, and the Independent.

But perhaps the most important recognition comes from the residents themselves. As one Community Land Trust trustee put it: "What's happening in Granby is an important prototype for northern councils, who've been so badly hit by the cuts. Two years ago, the whole area was nearly signed over to a private developer, but now the people who live here have finally got a formal stake in the place. It's an extraordinary achievement - and now it's extraordinary forever".

Lessons for London

The Granby Four Streets story offers important lessons for communities across South London. The initiative has shown the power that communities can have in transforming the places that we live into thriving areas where people are put before profit. In Brixton, we already know that community pressure groups have been able to put significant pressure on Lambeth Council, with the recent High Court decision that ruled the planning permission for the Brockwell Park festivals this summer were obtained unlawfully.

The purpose of LAGORA is to give people the opportunity to rediscover the beauty of their local area. For too long, people in London have felt disengaged from their local community, not really knowing what’s happening or how to get involved. We want to change this by giving people useful information about the things they can do in their local area, the people that are making a difference, and the places that are worth visiting. By doing this, we can nurture the spirit of those in the Granby Four Street Community Land Trust to make our community a better, stronger, and more vibrant place to live.

The Granby Four Streets Community Land Trust proves that when communities are given genuine power and support, they thrive. In an era of housing crisis and social isolation, their example offers something rare: hope that another way is possible.