East Midlands gets £57m brownfield boost
Fresh central government funding will see almost 2,000 homes built on former industrial sites across the East Midlands, the region’s mayor has announced.
Earlier this week the government launched a bolstered Brownfield fund, set to provide around £234m of funding to a number of mayoral authorities in the Midlands and North – with an extra £57m earmarked for the East Midlands.
Other areas benefitting from the funding include Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Greater Lincolnshire, Hull & East Yorkshire, Tees Valley, West of England and York & North Yorkshire.
Mayor Claire Ward said the funding will be used to support the construction of more than 1,900 homes across Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham, and Nottinghamshire over the next four years , and is part of a wider push to bring forward urban land for housing while limiting pressure on greenfield sites.
“Securing this funding is a major step forward in delivering on my commitment to build the affordable and high-quality homes our communities need. By transforming brownfield land, we’re breathing new life into the places that matter to local people,” she said.
“Former industrial land should never be left as a relic of the past, it should serve the future: and one way it can do that is by creating new homes, communities, and places that we can be proud of.”
The combined authority says it continues to work with local authorities, landowners, developers, and Homes England, with the Brownfield Housing Fund set to act as a catalyst for further investment by providing remediation funding for development sites.
Building work has already begun on schemes in Mastin Moor, Chesterfield; Balderton Rise, Newark; and Alder Close in Shirebrook, Derbyshire.
“Through our previous Brownfield Housing Fund allocation, I can see the appetite that partners have to turn ambition into action,” added Ward.
“I’m looking forward to working them to unlock sites, attract further investment, and deliver real change for our residents both now and in the future.”
