West Midlands secures £27m in new regen funding

The regeneration of former industrial sites in the West Midlands has received a boost after £27 million in new funding was allocated to the region.

The fresh injection of capital will come from the Government’s ‘Land Fund’ which was first agreed in the region’s 2018 housing deal.

The money will be used by the West Midlands Combined Authority to bring neglected brownfield land back into use such as for housing and the construction of commercial properties.

This latest award follows on from the news last week that the combined authority had secured £24 million from the Urban Transformation Fund which is likely to support redevelopment of the former MG Rover factory site in Longbridge.

West Midlands Mayor Andy Street said: “That we’ve managed to secure more than half of the National Brownfield Housing Fund that was designed to be for eight combined authorities across the country shows the strength of our bid, our excellent delivery record and our expertise in unlocking challenging sites.

“The West Midlands received £51 million of the £67 million announced by the Government.

“This shows how supportive the Government is of our work as we look to continue to regenerate old derelict industrial land such as the former MG Rover site in Longbridge.

“With a further £60 million of already-announced housing money also confirmed to be on its way to the West Midlands in the coming weeks, the new year has the potential to be a very good one for our future housing plans.

“We must keep up the momentum as housebuilding and brownfield land remediation will have a key part to play in our economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.”