New northern growth announcements and New Towns

The Government’s latest announcements under the Northern Growth Strategy reinforce a major shift towards locally led regeneration, placing substantial decision making power, and significant new investment, into the hands of Mayoral Strategic Authorities across the North.

The strategy frames the North as central to driving national economic growth, noting that stronger northern productivity could add tens of billions annually to the economy. It identifies the Northern Growth Corridor as the backbone of this renewed approach, with Government committing to a long-term partnership with northern leaders to unlock stalled development and accelerate regeneration.

A key element of that commitment is the £1.7 billion allocated directly to Mayors in the largest northern city regions, giving them the resources and tools to overcome barriers that have historically slowed regeneration on urban brownfield sites. This investment is designed to speed up delivery of new homes, support dense city centre development, and unlock major projects in places such as Leeds South Bank, Liverpool Central, Manchester’s Victoria North, Newcastle and Gateshead Quays, and Sheffield City Centre and Innovation Spine. The Government describes this as a decisive effort to give local leaders long-term certainty, attract private investment, and create new housing and job opportunities for the nine million people living across the Northern Growth Corridor.

This direction aligns with the wider approach set out in the Northern Growth Strategy, which emphasises that strategic authorities are best positioned to design and deliver place-specific regeneration. By devolving substantial funding for densification, infrastructure, and urban renewal, it expects local leaders to drive solutions that align with the local land market, economic strengths and community priorities, ensuring regeneration is more effective and more responsive than in the past.

The latest ‘Seven New Towns’ announcement further reinforces a commitment to boosting housing delivery at scale, including two significant proposals within the North: Leeds South Bank, expected to deliver up to 20,000 new homes, and Manchester Victoria North, planned to deliver at least 15,000 homes. One of the eleven original proposals that has since been removed was located in the North (Adlington in Cheshire).

The Government also confirmed the National Housing Bank will launch on 1 April, backed with up to £16 billion of financial capacity to help unlock large scale housing delivery.

Taken together, these developments could mark a significant moment for the North. With substantial new devolved funding, major housing expansions, and a long-term strategic partnership between Government and northern leaders, the building blocks are now in place for a generation of housing-led regeneration that strengthens communities and revitalises brownfield land.