Everton have taken significant steps towards building a new stadium on Liverpool’s waterfront after agreeing a deal for Bramley Moore dock and receiving backing from the city council to act as guarantors for the £300m-plus loans required.

The arrangement to acquire land from Peel Holdings clears the first hurdle in Everton’s efforts to relocate to the banks of the Mersey. However, that is only the first step in a complex process that will involve Liverpool council helping the Premier League club secure the financial package to move from their Goodison Park home of 125 years.

Everton have a billionaire major shareholder in Farhad Moshiri but it is believed he will not be contributing to the costs of the stadium and that the club intend to raise the capital from a consortium of commercial lenders.

It is likely to be at least three months before they will be able to secure the finance and prepare the planning application. Consent is not expected until early next year and Everton will acquire the land from Peel only once that is in place.

The three-month delay is the time it is likely to take to set up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) company which is integral to the process. Under a proposal to be put before the council’s cabinet on Friday next week the local authority intends to create an SPV with Everton. If agreed, the SPV would secure the funds for the stadium. The lenders would acquire a 200-year head-lease of the land from Peel and lease the stadium to the SPV, which would in turn sub-lease it to Everton for 40 years. All the repayments would be made by Everton who, once the loans were paid off, would have the option to acquire the head-lease for the remaining 160 years from the funder.

The council’s proposal follows independent legal and financial advice and what it describes as a review of Everton’s “robust business case”.

The deal is seen as a win-win for the council, which will not pay any money into the SPV and will receive an annual fixed security fee from Everton for acting as guarantor. That may be in the region of£4m per year. The council would also benefit from Everton’s relocation to Bramley Moore as it would help regenerate an area that under Peel’s proposed £5.5bn Liverpool Waters scheme, may not be redeveloped for another 30 years.

Joe Anderson, the mayor of Liverpool who has been instrumental in the deal between Everton and Peel, said: “I understand that creating this financial arrangement is a small step in a long journey for the club, but it is the first step and for that reason it is a special moment in the city’s – and Everton’s – long illustrious history.

“The proposed new stadium will be a landmark for the city’s spectacular north Liverpool waterfront and a powerful statement of intent for the club and the city of Liverpool that will resonate globally. From the city’s perspective, the stadium would complement and accelerate the regeneration plans already in place for north Liverpool, much like the way our partnership with Liverpool FC in the Anfield project did for their stadium expansion which has benefitted the wider Anfield community.”

Despite being a cash-strapped local authority, the council’s assets mean it has a higher credit rating than a private company and its involvement in the SPV should help Everton secure loans at more favourable interest rates. As well as paying off loans through the SPV and its annual security fee to the council, Everton will also pay into a security package to be accessed in the event of non-payment of rent. That would most likely be in the event of relegation. In that scenario the council would have to pay off the debt but would become sole owner of the SPV, the stadium and the land.

Everton’s chief executive, Robert Elstone, gave a cautious welcome to the announcement. He said: “We can now move forward into the next phase of work with much greater confidence. Clearly, it is vital we have clarity on cost and we have to recognise that the stadium will be significantly more expensive at Bramley Moore dock. To get that certainty, and ensure the stadium is affordable, we need to confirm stadium design, capacity and configuration.

“We’re keen to stress not only the scale of the work ahead but also the remaining risks and uncertainties. We’re delighted we’ve secured the site and we’re equally delighted the mayor is continuing to support our financing model, but significant hurdles remain, not least the preparation and submission of a detailed planning application. Receipt of a successful planning approval at some point early next year will be the most significant step towards bringing the stadium to life.”

Everton could preserve parts of Goodison for a “vital legacy project”, according to a report that the council’s cabinet will discuss next week. The mayoral recommendation, which suggests Everton could move to a 50,000-seat stadium at Bramley Moore around 2020, states: “EFC intend to use the stadium move to facilitate a vital legacy project at Goodison Park, delivering health, education, affordable housing and public spaces for the local community which is likely to stimulate further investment in the L4 area and will create social, environmental and economic benefits. Details of this will emerge from EFC in due course.”

Anderson added: “What we’re not going to do is just pull out of that particular area of County Road around the stadium and just leave it. We’ll be working with Everton to find solutions about what we can do.”

