Govt commits £35m for brownfield land release

North West councils have secured nearly £5m from the latest round of awards from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities.

The government announced on Saturday that 41 councils would receive a share of nearly £35m from the £180m Brownfield Land Release Fund. The money is to be used to fix up derelict council-owned sites so that they can be ready for development.

In the North West, five councils secured a share of nearly £5m: Blackburn with Darwen Council, Chorley Council, Lancaster City Council, St Helens Council, and Wigan Council.

Lancaster City Council was the major winner, receiving more than £2.7m. Most of this money will go towards the city’s Canal Quarter regeneration project, which aims to build 580 homes and more than 75,000 sq ft of commercial space.

“Regeneration is at the heart of our levelling up mission,” said housing minister Lucy Frazer. “This new brownfield first fund will help communities across the country unlock disused, council-owned sites to build more of the right homes in the right places.”

This was the second round of the Brownfield Land Release Fund. The first round saw £77m awarded to release more than 160 brownfield sites for development. This included £1.2m to Cheshire West and Chester Council and £170,000 to Blackpool Council.

Money from the second round of funding will be delivered through One Public Estate, a partnership between the Local Government Association, the Office of Government Property, and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities.

Cllr James Jamieson, chairman of the Local Government Association, said: “Councils play a vital role in driving progress to provide more and better housing, and the awarding of this fund will ensure English councils unlock their brownfield land for new homes and deliver local housing priorities.

“With built-in support from the One Public Estate programme, councils can tackle complex and challenging brownfield sites to benefit their communities.”

Here is the full list of North West Brownfield Land Release fund Round Two awards:

• Blackburn with Darwen Council: £220,000
• Chorley Council: £650,000
• Lancaster City Council: £2,769,343
• St Helens Council: £812,142
• Wigan Council: £506,168