The Granby Streets area is among the oldest multicultural neighbourhoods in the country, due to immigration following Britain's post-war period.

[1] Built in the 1870s,[2] each street features its own unique architectural design, while sizes vary from two-up two-down houses, to double-fronted homes with between 6 and 8 bedrooms.

[11] A map from 1846–1848, prior to the housing estate construction, shows an area clear of any significant dwellings, with a collection of roperies located immediately to the east of what would become the Granby Streets.

[3] After World War II, Toxteth became a popular destination for commonwealth immigration and the Granby Streets region became one of the country's earliest multicultural neighbourhoods.

"[18]One particular ethnic group in the area were the Malays, who in 1963 purchased number 7 Jermyn Street as the new home for their social club, following a failure to complete construction of a new nearby mosque due to lack of funds.

A team of writers from the Liverpool Echo spent the weekend of 13–14 January in the Granby Ward to report on decaying houses, violence and vandalism in the area.

[25] Shelter received approval from local government to acquire 600 properties and secured a £100,000 grant (equivalent to £2,078,947 in 2023) to invest over three years in the Granby area.

[27] Throughout much of the 1970s, the area was relatively stable,[14] although an Ordnance Survey map from the late 1970s shows that much of the northern region of the Granby Streets had been demolished[28] and redeveloped into new housing by the end of the 1980s.

The area became notorious for fly-tipping, including on routes that local schoolchildren would use to travel to and from school,[13] while the council ceased collecting bins and cleaning the streets.

[15] Throughout 2003–2004, the majority of the properties were bought by Liverpool City Council and boarded up,[10] while a smaller number were purchased by the Housing Market Renewal Initiative.

[32] English Partnerships funded the council's acquisitions at a cost of £1,020,750 (£9,000 on average per property), although some were not acquired due to higher asking prices as a result of their superior condition.

[34] The sudden withdrawal of funding left many schemes half–finished and some neighbourhoods only partially demolished, while in others, such as the remaining four streets in the Granby Triangle area, demolition had not begun.

Liverpool City Council subsequently acquired many of the houses and left them to fall into further disrepair, with the worst cases seeing frontages collapse.

Renovation started on Beaconsfield Street in 2012, with the reconstruction of 32 properties[36] involving refurbishment to the facades,[37] new kitchen extensions to the rear and the conversion of attics into additional bedroom space.

[36] In November 2011, residents formed a new campaign group titled the Granby Four Streets CLT (Community Land Trust) with its own board of trustees.

Councillor Frank Holt, who was a member on the housing committee, said "the area is literally being reborn", thanking partners and the local community for formulating a plan following years of false dawns.

[41] The residents' Community Land Trust purchased 13 properties on Cairns Street for £1 each as part of the council scheme and proceeded to invest hundreds of thousands of pounds to make them habitable.

Various partners have worked on the project, including HMS Housing Solutions, Plus Dane and Liverpool Mutual Homes among others, plus private individuals.

[42] In September 2018, then–Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn hailed the community as a "blueprint for what the rest of the UK could look like under a Labour Government", praising the success of campaigners and residents in regenerating the streets.

Erika Rushton, Chair of Granby Four Streets Community Land Trust, noted that “Assemble are the only ones who have ever sat and listened to the residents, and then translated their vision into drawings and models, and now into reality.

[31] The win was significant as it was the first time a group or collective had ever won the art award, despite Assemble having previously not considered themselves as artists.

Rental of properties is competitively priced, at around half the amount tenants are expected to pay in nearby renovated Welsh Streets.