A £15million Government investment in housebuilding in the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership area has been warmly welcomed by the LEP, which backed local authority partners’ bids for the funding.
Housing Secretary Sajid Javid and Chancellor Philip Hammond today (February 1) announced the first wave of funding from a national £5billion Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF); created to support the Government’s commitment to make housing developments more viable and get homes built more quickly.
The 133 local authority-led projects nationally due to receive funding included three in the D2N2 LEP’s area (Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire). They were:
- £9.9million for the ‘south of Clifton’ housing infrastructure scheme, in Rushcliffe, Nottinghamshire (the site of homes, community facilities and employment land at Fairham Pastures, south of Clifton);
- £3.1m for the Castleward urban village project, Derby city centre;
- £2m for the Hogshaw and Granby Road sites scheme, Buxton, Derbyshire.
The Government has committed to building 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s. It and Homes England – a public body sponsored by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government – assessed the HIF bids for their ambition, benefits-to-costs ratio and deliverability. They will now work with local authorities to progress housing schemes.
In its Strategic Economic Plan, D2N2 – the partnership of business, local authorities, skills providers, and community and voluntary services, which promotes economic and jobs growth across its area – also has a housing target; of supporting the building of 77,000 new homes in the ten years to 2023.
As part of this objective it strongly backed the successful HIF bids of Rushcliffe Borough, Derby City and High Peak Borough councils announced today.
This latest investment will fund key local infrastructure connected with proposed housing developments; including land remediation work, new roads and cycle paths, and flood defences. Without the additional financing announced today, some housing development projects might be delayed.
D2N2 has also previously announced significant investment of its own in two of the above area projects. It invested £850,000 in the major via the LEP’s Growing Places Fund and a further £1.5m for the scheme is under consideration, from the LEP’s Local Growth Fund allocation. The A46 Corridor’ regeneration scheme around Cotgrave in Rushcliffe, linked to the housing development now granted HIF funding, has previously been granted £1.2million via LGF.
Commenting on today’s announcement, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, said: “Today marks the first step of the multi-billion pound investment we announced at the Budget to help build the homes our country needs.
“This fund finances vital infrastructure such as roads, schools and bridges, which will kick-start housing development in some of Britain’s highest-demand areas.”
Matt Wheatley, Chief Executive of the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership, added: “This is great news for the D2N2 LEP area and shows the strength of the bids by our local authority partners. The HIF investment will complement funding already provided by the LEP, to accelerate housing delivery.
“The need for more housing, in particular affordable homes, is rarely out of the news these days; and the LEP is committed to backing and working with partners in its area to ensure communities get the homes they need.”
Councillor Roger Upton, Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Housing and Planning at Rushcliffe Borough Council, said: “We have invested a huge amount of time and effort to secure this significant funding, and we’re delighted it has been confirmed.
“We have some major challenges of delivering over 13,000 homes across the borough in the next decade and this is a major boost for one of our strategic housing sites.”
Dave Bullock, Managing Director for Compendium Living (Derby City Council’s development partner for the Castleward Derby project), (PICTURED) said: “We are delighted to hear that the City Council’s bid for Housing Infrastructure Fund support for our continuing work in Castleward has been successful.
“We very much welcome this as recognition of the strategic importance of the project to Derby and of the complexity of large-scale brownfield urban regeneration. We look forward to continuing to develop the new Castleward over the coming years.”
For a full list of the UK housing development schemes set to receive Housing Infrastructure Fund investment see the Government’s press release at www.gov.uk/government/news/866-million-investment-to-help-unlock-potential-200000-new-homes
Further information about how the D2N2 LEP is investing in essential infrastructure, to help economic growth, in its area can be found at www.d2n2lep.org/Local-Growth-Fund
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