More than 6,000 new homes will be built on brownfield sites, through money given to councils to transform unused land into thriving neighbourhoods.
Across the country, from Hull to Somerset, nearly 100 regeneration projects will receive £60 million from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
The investment is part of the second phase of the £180 million Brownfield Land Release Fund, with cash going directly to councils so they can release the land and get building as soon as possible.
Derelict car parks, industrial sites and town centre buildings that have fallen into disrepair will all benefit from the new funding, with the government supporting communities to bring land back into use.
Minister for Housing and Planning, Rachel Maclean MP said:
“We know we need to build more homes, but this cannot come at the expense of concreting over our precious countryside.
That is why we are doing all we can to make sure we’re making use of wasteland and unused brownfield land, so we can turn these eyesores into beautiful and thriving communities.
This is all part of our long-term plan for housing – making sure we deliver the homes we need across the country.”
Projects that will benefit from the scheme include:
- Newcastle: £1.82 million to boost wider regeneration by releasing a complex site to deliver 146 build-to-rent homes for communities in Benwell and Scotswood.
- Hull: delivering 99 new homes for affordable rent on the site of a derelict school, backed by £980,000 government funding as part of the city centre regeneration.
- Sunderland: turning a former riverside industrial site that has been unused for over 20 years into 140 low-carbon build to rent homes at Farringdon Row, with £1.8 million for Sunderland Council to kick-start the project.
This builds on the success of the first round of Brownfield Land Release Fund 2, where funding is enabling the release of land for almost 2,400 homes.
To date, the fund is supporting at least 89 local authorities, over 160 projects, and providing almost £100 million to support councils to release land for almost 8,600 homes. At the same time, the £1 billion Brownfield, Infrastructure and Land Fund will unlock up to 65,000 new homes across England.
The next round of funding through Brownfield Land Release Fund 2 will be announced later this year.
