New homes to be built as part of the government’s drive to develop brownfield land and regenerate communities.

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Press Release

Published: December 8, 2021

A new fund announced by the government earlier this month will see derelict sites across the country transformed into new homes under a flagship scheme to regenerate brownfield land, boost local communities and support people onto the property ladder.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), announced a further £11 million from the Brownfield Land Release Fund (BLRF) to support 23 redevelopment schemes across 15 councils.

The announcement follows the recent allocation of £58 million to 53 local councils across the country for the same purpose. The government suggests that the initiative will release land for more than 6,800 homes by March 2024 and create more than 21,000 jobs particularly in housing and construction sectors.

Within the government’s official statement, Housing Minister Rt Hon Christopher Pincher MP said: 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”.

The announcement was closely followed by the latest statistics published by Homes England which show that their housing programmes started 13,229 new houses and completed a further 14,289 between 1 April and 30 September 2021. Both starts and completions were higher than in the same period last year, showing perhaps that the industry is beginning to recover from the slow-down caused by the pandemic.

However, in stark contrast, the latest construction output statistics which are published monthly, show that private housing only grew by 1.4% in the latest quarter July, August and September, while orders for public housing grew by 59.6% in the same period. 

Robert Candy, Chief Executive of the Scaffolding Association commented “The huge gap between private and public housing investments show perhaps that the rising costs of materials, supply chain challenges and staff shortages, need to stabilise before privately-backed developers and homebuilders will have the confidence to build”.

Notes for editors

The Scaffolding Association is the UK’s largest dedicated trade association representing the Scaffolding and Access industry.

The construction sector employs 2.7millon people, contributes over £100bn to the UK economy which is 7% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Press Contact: Chris Seaton – [email protected] or 07979 531464.