Brownfield Land Release fund allocates further money to projects

A further £11 million has been allocated to projects from the Brownfield Land Release Fund managed by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).

These funds will be shared between 23 redevelopment schemes across a total of 15 councils. It is the second round of money released from the fund after the DLUHC allocated £57.8 million in October 2021 to 53 different councils to help develop brownfield land.

The latest round of projects to receive funding include:

• Barrow-in-Furness  - £1.5 million will be used for the Marina Village development and key employment sites near the town centre to improve roads, infrastructure and utilities. This will release land for 315 new homes;
• Chorley - £1.1 million will be used on the redevelopment of a council owned site on Bengal Street where existing buildings will be demolished and ground contamination addressed in order to build a mixed-use space including residential, leisure and retail facilities;
• Gloucester - funds will support major redevelopment of a derelict former cattle market to deliver 180 new homes at St Oswalds Park;
• Hythe - £2 million will be used for site remediation costs of a former waste tip on a council development which will deliver 150 new homes, improved public spaces, parkland and a leisure centre;
• Stoke-on-Trent - £700,000 for the redevelopment of a former refuse destruction site to release land for 118 new homes of which the majority will be affordable housing and include social rent homes for older people.

Housing minister Christopher Pincher commented: “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.”