Brownfield Housing Fund open for applications in South Yorkshire

The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority has announced that the Brownfield Housing Fund, which currently stands at £35m, will open for applications from private sector developers, Housing Associations and other housing developers, between Monday 5th September and Friday 28th October 2022.

In June 2020, the Government launched ‘A New Deal for Britain’ which is said to be the first step in the strategy to rebuild Britain following Covid-19 and fuel economic recovery across the UK.

As part of this strategy, £53m of capital in total has been allocated to the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) for supporting the development of over 3,300 new homes on brownfield land and through conversions, to be started on site within South Yorkshire by March 2025.

This funding builds upon the previous South Yorkshire Housing Fund, enabling SYMCA to support the delivery of a greater number of new homes to meet local needs which would otherwise not be brought forward by the Market.

SYMCA will prioritise schemes based on how well they deliver against the principles of Stronger, Greener, Fairer, set out in its Strategic Economic Plan. The risks and overall deliverability of schemes will also be evaluated.

All schemes will be assessed in accordance with the MCA Assurance Framework to ensure due diligence and value for money.

Schemes that adopt innovations and/or raise the quality and standards of homes across South Yorkshire are particularly welcome. This Fund will provide opportunities to support new homes on brownfield sites up to the end of March 2025; however, SYMCA is also interested in discussing longer term housing development opportunities even if schemes do not meet the BHF criteria.

Gemma Smith, co-chair SYMCA housing and infrastructure board and managing director Strata Homes said ‘In these challenging economic times, this open call for applications provides an opportunity to support and accelerate the development of much needed new homes across South Yorkshire that may otherwise not be built due to viability issues. We welcome applications from across South Yorkshire’s housing sector.’

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily