£84m funding for new homes on old industrial sites
Up to 7,500 new homes will be built on former industrial sites in the West Midlands after a £84million funding boost.
The Government cash was announced by Boris Johnson and forms part of the West Midlands Combined Authority's brownfield regeneration programme, which aims to preserve the green belt by building new homes on old industrial plots.
Initial funding of £100m has been used to prepare sites for redevelopment, including Friar Park in Sandwell – the largest brownfield housing site in the region.
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street, said: "The West Midlands has been leading the way since 2018 on regenerating brownfield land to create thousands of new homes, and I am pleased the Prime Minister has given us the cash needed to keep the work going at pace.
"It is also encouraging that just one week after submitting our £3.2 billion investment plan to Government, one of the requests has already started to come to fruition.
"Our 'brownfield first' policy is critical as it not only regenerates contaminated, derelict old land – which in some cases has blighted communities for decades – but it also allows us to protect our precious greenbelt at the same time.
"This latest funding will allow hundreds more acres of former industrial land to be developed into thousands of new homes, something that will be critical as we look to re-boot our economy following the coronavirus pandemic."
Councillor Mike Bird, leader of Walsall Council and WMCA portfolio holder for housing and land, said: "This funding means we can continue to ‘invest to unlock’ and clean up brownfield land for developers while laying down minimum standards of affordability, design and energy efficiency."
Last week the region submitted a £3.2billion West Midlands investment plan to Government, which included a request for further funding for brownfield land regeneration.
