Grants awarded to boost housing estate renewal teams

Housing associations and local authorities will share £3m from the Government’s £32m estate regeneration fund, Communities Secretary Sajid Javid has announced.

A total of 105 estates, 18 of which are in the North West, will benefit from the funding.

The aim of the fund is to speed up regeneration schemes in their early stages, help address problems that hold up projects and give local authorities access to skills to ensure high-quality regeneration.

The estates set to receive the funding include the Chapelfield Estate in Whitefield which will receive £55,000, and Linacre in Bootle, Sefton which will receive £150,000.

Successful bids were chosen by a joint panel of the Department of Communities & Local Government and the Homes & Communities Agency.

Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said: “For too long a number of housing estates across the country have been areas characterised by low-quality homes and high social deprivation.

“This government is determined to have a housing market that works for everyone. That’s why we’re turbocharging the regeneration of these rundown estates in the North West, so they can thrive as communities.”

The Housing White Paper published earlier this year set out the government’s plans to build more homes across England. It is hoped that the Estate Regeneration Fund will help the government achieve its target of delivering thousands of new homes from the redesign of estates.

The funding has come in the wake of the Estates Regeneration Strategy announced last year, which offered a blueprint for regenerating estates, providing advice and guidance to help improve and speed up development.

In addition to the £32m released, £140m in loan funding is available over the length of this Parliament to encourage investment in regeneration from the private sector.

• A map of the estates across the country which are set to benefit from the funding can be found here.