Huddersfield and Sheffield plus Wakefield and Hull to get a share of over £4.4 million to build on brownfield land

Kingston upon Hull City Council will get over £1.4 million to deliver 114 new homes, Kirklees Council will get almost £1.3 million to deliver 53 new homes, Wakefield Metropolitan District Council will get over £1 million to deliver 25 new homes and Sheffield City Council will have £690,000 to deliver 33 new homes.

This adds up to part of the £68 million, announced today by the Prime Minister, that will go directly to 54 councils. The funding will mean councils can clear empty buildings, former car parks and industrial land to make way for the homes. This kind of land is expensive to prepare for housebuilding, meaning sites are sat empty and an eyesore for local communities.

With the funding, delivered through the Brownfield Land Release Fund, councils will be able to cover the cost of decontamination, clearing disused buildings or improving infrastructure such as internet, water and power. As a result, land will be released to enable 5,200 homes to be built across the country.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “From the outset we promised to get this country building again to deliver 1.5 million homes over this parliament and help tackle the housing crisis we have inherited. That is the essence of fixing the foundations and driving growth.

“I said this government is on the side of the builders, not the blockers and I meant it. This funding for councils will see disused sites and industrial wastelands transformed into thousands of new homes in places that people want to live and work. Our brownfield-first approach will not only ramp up housebuilding but also create more jobs, deliver much-needed infrastructure, and boost economic growth across the country.

“This government is rolling up its sleeves and delivering the change the British people deserve.”

Housing and Planning Minister Matthew Pennycook said: “The government is committed to a brownfield-first approach to housebuilding, and we have already taken steps to prioritise and fast-track building on previously used urban land through our proposals for a ‘brownfield passport’.

The funding announced today will support the delivery of thousands of new homes and boost economic growth by unlocking development on scores of abandoned, disused and neglected urban sites across the country”.

Cllr Louise Gittins, Chair of the Local Government Association, said: “We are delighted to continue our work with MHCLG, supporting councils to access the Brownfield Land Release Fund to remediate unviable council-owned brownfield land and bring it forwards for much needed homes.

“Delivered through the One Public Estate programme, BLRF is an important fund for English councils to unlock smaller sites and provides the flexibility for councils to deliver the types of homes their community needs at pace.”

The three-year £180 million Brownfield Land Release Fund 2 was launched in July 2022 to allow local authorities in England to be able to build on blocked brownfield land. To accelerate housing development and achieve the ambition to build 1.5 million homes, the government has also announced an overhaul of the planning system through a consultation on reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework, including new mandatory housebuilding targets for councils.

It has also launched a New Homes Accelerator group to unblock thousands of new homes stuck in the planning system or partially built. It has also introduced ‘brownfield passports’ to ensure where planning proposals meet design and quality standards, the default answer to planning permission is yes on this land.

The government has also announced that tens of thousands of new homes will be built across Britain funded by over £550 million worth of impact investments. These investments, whereby a fund creates beneficial social or environmental impact, has now grown to £76.8 billion in the UK in assets under management.