Money set aside to “make smarter use of government-owned property”

The Government has announced a £54 million package to help local councils release their unused or surplus land for new homes.

With the launch of the new Land Release Fund councils can bid for funding for land remediation and small-scale infrastructure. The aim is to identify sites for housing that would not have otherwise been developed.

The initiative will help to meet the Government’s ambition to unlock enough council-owned land for at least 160,000 homes by 2020.

Housing and Planning Minister, Alok Sharma, said: “To build the homes this country needs, we need to increase the supply of land available to build more homes, more quickly.

“As a major landowner, local authorities have a crucial role to play in this task.

“Through this innovative cross-government partnership, we will be able to work with councils much more effectively, helping them to meet local housing needs and transform local areas.”

The Department for Communities and Local Government’s £45 million fund is launched in partnership with the Cabinet Office and Local Government Association’s One Public Estate (OPE) programme. OPE, who are making £9 million funding available, already works with over 70 per cent of councils in England to transform local communities and services through large scale economic growth, delivering new jobs and new homes.

Minister for Government Resilience and Efficiency, Caroline Nokes, said:  “One Public Estate is enabling local authorities to make better use of their land and property and deliver tangible benefits to their communities.”

LGA Chairman, Lord Porter, said: “Councils are committed to building the new homes their communities need and I’m pleased to see the announcement of the Local Authority Land Release Fund as part of this next funding round. It’s great to see two government programmes aligning to offer a more coherent programme to our local communities.”