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Welsh Government launches £100m regeneration programme
A new £100m regeneration programme, which will include cash for new housing schemes, has been launched by the Welsh Government.
Local authorities in Wales will be encouraged to bid for the funds on a rolling basis from April 2018, along with partners such as housing associations.
Money will be allocated for a handful of projects which promise to promote economic growth and sustainable development in areas “most in need”.
The investment replaces the £110m Vibrant and Viable Places regeneration framework launched by ministers in March 2013.
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Carl Sargeant, communities and children secretary at the Welsh Government, said: “There are particular challenges around tackling inequality and developing well-connected and sustainable communities in areas which are economically disadvantaged or blighted by earlier heavy industries. We also recognise there are different challenges in rural areas.
“Local authorities and regional partnerships should use these funds to complement and reinforce the other investments we are making to widen prosperity, such as the work being pursued under the city deals, our investment in the Metros, proposals from the Valleys Taskforce and with the work to prepare for Wylfa Newydd.”
The Welsh Government will set up a National Regeneration Investment Panel to oversee distribution of the funds.
According to the programme’s accompanying guidance, funding rules for the Welsh Government’s Social Housing Grant programme will take priority for projects already receiving money from this stream.
Matt Dicks, director of the Chartered Institute of Housing Cymru, said: “It is vital that the fund re-enforces the importance of housing-led regeneration through the projects taken forward.
“It will be important to ensure tenants and their broader communities have opportunities to become fully engaged in informing how the fund could maximise its impact.”
Stuart Ropke, chief executive of Community Housing Cymru, said: “We are very keen to work with Welsh Government and other partners on this. We think we are well placed as organisations working in those communities to help deliver change that meets local needs.
“The money will have to work quite hard to drive longer-term economic benefits with uncertainty about long-term funding after Brexit, but overall this is a positive step.”
