Estate Regeneration Funding Announced

More than 40 housing estates across the North are set to benefit from a significant investment from the £32 million pound Estate Regeneration Fund to help kick-start their regeneration. The funding awards for northern registered providers, which account for 42% of all the bids, represent a significant investment in regeneration in the North of England and echoes conclusions made by the Commission for Housing in the North of a need to prioritise regeneration in the North.

Northern registered providers benefiting from the fund include Thirteen who were successful in bidding for funds to regenerate four estates and South Liverpool Homes who won funding to regenerate the South Parade estate. Successful local authorities include Gateshead Council, City of York Council and High Peak Borough Council with awards of £373,000, £260,000 and £80,000 respectively.

In a statement, DCLG notes that the funding “would help speed up regenerations schemes in early stages” and will help “to provide thousands of new homes from the carefully planned redesign of estates”.

In addition to the £32 million released, £140 million in loan funding is available between 2017 and 2020 to encourage investment in regeneration from the private sector to help build places that work for everyone. The £140 million loan fund was initially announced last year, and is designed to cover costs such as land assembly, leaseholder buy-outs, re-housing costs, demolition, and preparatory construction works.

Jo Boaden, Chief Executive of the Northern Housing Consortium said “the announcement of new funding for estate regeneration in the North is good news and I am particularly pleased to see a high number of northern housing associations and local authorities awarded funding to begin work improving communities and regenerating estates”.

“Regeneration remains a key issue for the North of England and it is something that is essential to growing housing markets in the northern regions. This was something that was born out in the NHC’s recent Commission for Housing in the North report which we hope to expand on in the coming months.”

A full list of those bids receiving funding can be found here.