New research from the Northern Housing Consortium (NHC) has found there is capacity for up to 177,000 new homes on brownfield land in the North West.
This would help the government deliver 1.5 million new homes over the next five years and play a part in finding homes for the 190,000 people currently on the region’s housing waiting lists.
The NHC is calling for a £4.2 billion funding package from government over ten years to prepare the brownfield land in the North for new homes.
The current Brownfield Housing Fund is set to support 24,000 new homes. However, NHC research has found Whitehall red tape is stifling the effectiveness of this fund and some of the North’s brownfield sites are not eligible for funding.
Delivering homes
To deliver as many homes as possible on Brownfield land over ten years Government funding must be:
- Devolved not delegated: Give combined authorities the control to use funding in line with local priorities.
- More flexible with funding requirements: Current value-for-money requirements mean sites in areas with lower land values are often not eligible. Areas most in need of regeneration are losing out.
- Longer-term: With the current fund, land remediation work must be completed by March 2025. This means more complex sites, such as contaminated land, are not eligible for support.
- Supported by increased capacity in local government and combined authorities, including in planning. The government has said they will increase planning capacity which will help local government and combined authorities plan a strategic pipeline of Brownfield projects. But more needs to be done.
Chief executive Tracy Harrison (pictured) of the Northern Housing Consortium said: “There is a massive opportunity in the North West to unlock land for up to 177,000 homes, helping provide much needed homes, regenerate communities and rebalance the economy away from London and the South East.
“But the current funding rules don’t work. Central government requirements mean some of the most deprived areas in need of regeneration are not being developed to provide much needed homes. Brownfield funding should be further devolved to give local government and combined authorities the flexibility to use it where it’s needed most.
“The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has started to review brownfield funding and the value-for-money appraisal process for housing and land investment. We are keen to work with the government to deliver changes which will help our members regenerate communities and unleash the benefits of brownfield-first development.”
The NHC is a not-for-profit membership organisation representing local and combined authorities, housing associations and ALMOs across the North of England. Its members own or manage 9 out of 10 of the socially rented homes in the North.
