Government invests additional £11m for 23 brownfield redevelopment schemes



The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has allocated a further £11m from the Brownfield Land Release Fund (BLRF) for 23 redevelopment schemes across 15 councils.


The funding will support the delivery of the chosen projects, which are set to provide new homes and revitalise a range of towns and cities, such as Blackpool, Plymouth, Portsmouth and Worcestershire.

The councils selected to benefit from additional capital include Hythe District Council, which will receive £2m for the regeneration of a former waste tip into 150 new homes, a new leisure centre and improved public spaces and parkland.

In Chorley, £1.1m will help bring forward the proposed redevelopment of a council-owned site on Bengal Street, demolishing existing buildings and addressing ground contamination to deliver a mixed-use scheme incorporating residential, retail and leisure space.

Meanwhile, Gloucester City Council has been allocated £2.2m to support the redevelopment of a derelict former cattle market at St Oswalds Park into 180 new homes — this is part of the regeneration work across the city supported by government, which includes a £20m investment from the Levelling Up Fund.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council will also receive funding of £700,000 to transform a former refuse destruction site on Booth Street into 118 new homes, 90% of which will be affordable housing.

This follows the allocation of £58m last month from the BLRF to 53 local councils across the country, of which up to £25m was made available to self- and custom-build projects.

The total funding allocated so far is estimated to release land for more than 6,800 homes by March 2024 and create more than 21,000 jobs in the housing and construction sectors and wider economy as part of the government’s mission to level up communities across the UK.

The government’s initiative to redeveloping brownfield land is also supported by over £1.8bn announced during the autumn Budget to renew and restore sites to unlock a further 160,000 homes.

Housing Minister Christopher Pincher said: “Our brownfield-first approach is transforming underused sites into thriving communities where people want to live, work and visit.

“The investment we are announcing today will help people onto the property ladder, create jobs, deliver new infrastructure and provide a boost to local communities as we level up across the country.”



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