Thousands of New Homes to be Built on Underused & Derelict Land

Thousands of new homes will be built on underused and derelict land to regenerate local areas and help people onto the property ladder, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has announced.

Almost £58 million from the £75 million Brownfield Land Release Fund (BLRF) has been allocated to 53 councils.

The funding will boost local areas by transforming unloved and disused sites into vibrant communities for people to live and work, with the demolition of unsightly derelict buildings and disused car parks and garages.

This will help to protect countryside and green spaces while an extra 5,600 homes are built on these sites, supporting young people and families across the country into home ownership.

The funding could also support up to 17,000 jobs across the housing and construction sector and the wider economy.

Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Michael Gove MP said:

“We are levelling up and backing home ownership in every corner of the country, delivering new high-quality, affordable homes and creating thriving places where people want to live, work and visit.

Making the most of previously developed land is a government priority and it will help protect our cherished countryside and green spaces.”

The allocations include £5 million for self and custom build projects.

A further £20 million from the BLRF has also been designated to help accelerate the self and custom build sector, with councils now able to bid for the remaining funding – giving local people the opportunity to build and design their own homes.

Cabinet Office Minister, Lord Agnew said:

“This support being provided to local authorities is another clear demonstration of this government’s commitment to levelling up the country.

The latest projects to benefit from this support, through Brownfield Land Release funding, will not only help unlock under-used public sector sites for homes but also help deliver jobs and save taxpayers’ money.”

Cllr James Jamieson, Local Government Association Chairman, said:

“One Public Estate and Brownfield Land Release funding play a crucial role in supporting the recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, and supporting councils to transform their assets, create better services, and release land for much-needed new homes and regeneration across the country.

This latest news is more proof that this programme works.

Councils recognise how valuable this support is, and are being ever more ambitious in their ideas to use this funding to kick-start transformation, regeneration, and new development in their communities.”

Boosting housing supply is central to the levelling up agenda.

Last year 244,000 homes were delivered – the highest number of new homes for over 30 years.

The government aims to build up to 300,000 new homes a year by the mid-2020s to put home ownership within reach for more people across the country, making it a more mainstream, realistic and affordable option for people across the country.

The government last year announced the £400 million Brownfield Fund for 7 mayoral combined authorities which will also deliver much-needed new homes on brownfield land – unlocking 26,000 high-quality homes.

The £150 million backed Help to Build scheme was announced in April.

It will allow access to low deposit mortgages and improve affordability of home ownership for people who want to build their own homes in a similar way to the Help to Buy scheme.

In addition, the review by Richard Bacon MP, which recommended a major scaling up of the self and custom build sector, has been warmly welcomed by the government with a response to the findings to be published in due course.

Comment from Ross Counsell, chartered surveyor and director at GoodMove, on The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) £58m funding to build new homes on derelict UK land:

“The government have this week pledged over £58m to councils to build new homes on brownfield land, with the aim to create “much needed new homes and regeneration across the country.

Average UK house prices reached a record £267,687 according to October’s Halifax HPI.

Therefore, the funding sees the government take a step in the right direction to create an equilibrium between housing supply that fails to keep up with demand.

Previous government schemes such as the First Time Buyers scheme optimistically aimed to help buyers get a footing on the property ladder.

However, they instead further upset the supply and demand balance. This saw many of the first-time buyers and lockdown savers unable to compete with rising house deposits.

However, when looking deeper into the fine print, around three-quarters of the DLUHC’s money is pledged to councils in London and the South of England.

This seems unfounded, considering house prices have slowed in these areas, yet have increased dramatically in northern areas such as Yorkshire and the Humber.

Despite this, the scheme is promising in its hope to regenerate some of the UK’s derelict areas and solve the housing supply issue across the country.

Hopefully, if the government can fulfil the 5,700 new homes pledged, we could see house prices begin to stabilize in the future.”

£57.8 million from the £75 million Brownfield Land Release Fund (BLRF) is being allocated, of which £25 million was made available to self and custom build projects.

£5 million from the self and custom build pot has been allocated and now local councils are being encouraged to bid for the remaining share of £20 million to deliver further self and custom build projects on Brownfield Land.

The BLRF is delivered by the One Public Estate programme which is a collaboration between DLUHC, the Local Government Association and the Cabinet Office.

A further £6 million is available to local councils in England through the One Public Estate programme, which aims to help local public services collaborate, redesign how services are located, and release land for housing.