Brownfield housing boost

Derelict land and brownfield sites to be transformed into new homes in boost for local regeneration.

Thousands of new homes will be built on brownfield land to create thriving communities and help level up the country, as £35M in funding is released by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

The funding will kickstart 59 regeneration projects across the country, helping 41 councils transform unused sites into high-quality, new homes.

The monies, from the Brownfield Land Release Fund 2, form the first phase of £180M Brownfield Land Release Fund which will continue to be rolled out over next two years

Some 59 regeneration projects will develop 2,200 homes – including over 800 affordable homes – built for local communities. This will help more young people and families onto the housing ladder and generate up to 7,000 new jobs in housing and construction.

The new fund forms part of the government’s plan to level up the country – ensuring local areas can achieve their full potential, while also protecting the country’s green spaces.

Minister for Housing Rt Hon Lucy Frazer said: “We are helping local communities transform unwanted, urban eyesores into thriving places that people are proud to call home.

“Regeneration is at the heart of our levelling up mission and this new brownfield first fund will help communities across the country unlock disused, council-owned sites to build more of the right homes in the right places”

Cabinet Office Minister Alex Burghart said: “This funding is absolutely crucial for stimulating growth and forms part of a push across the whole of government to get the UK economy moving.

“Unused land such as this is ripe for investment and I’m thrilled we’re opening the door for more than 2,200 new property owners to potentially take their first step onto the property ladder.

“This funding is great news for businesses, it’s great news for industry and it’s even better news for local people in these communities who are seeing housing and jobs moving to their area.”

The funding can be used by councils to provide infrastructure and remediation work to previously developed, council-owned sites, to allow the construction of new homes.

Increasing housing supply is central to the levelling up agenda and supports the government’s ongoing target to deliver 300,000 new homes a year. Just before the pandemic in 2019/20 over 242,000 homes were delivered – the highest number for over 30 years.

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