You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Housing funding and rental reforms expected in Levelling Up White Paper this week
Further details of funding for housing on brownfield land and new rental reforms are expected to be announced this week as part of the Levelling Up White Paper.
On Sunday the government confirmed that Sheffield and Wolverhampton have been chosen as the first of 20 places that will benefit from “a radical new regeneration programme that will breathe fresh life into disadvantaged communities”.
The cities, which have already received funding through the government’s Levelling Up Fund, will also be prioritised for funding via the £1.5bn Brownfield Fund that was announced by the chancellor at the last Budget in October, the government has confirmed.
READ MORE
It comes as the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) prepares to publish its Levelling Up White Paper later this week.
Housing secretary Michael Gove said the government’s plans will deliver “Kings Cross-style transformational regeneration projects across the country” in order to “spread opportunity more evenly and help to reverse the geographical inequalities which still exist in the UK”.
In addition to the funding, The Times reported over the weekend that the white paper is expected to include a number of changes to the private rented sector, including a national register for private landlords from which “rogue” landlords will be ejected.
Private landlords will also be forced by law to bring their properties up to a set of national standards and tenants will be given a new right to redress for complaints about their homes, The Times reported.
In addition to private rented sector reforms, DLUHC said it will launch a £1.5bn Levelling Up Home Building Fund next week, which will provide loans to small and medium-sized builders and developers to deliver 42,000 homes, the vast majority of which will be outside London and the South East.
It said the regeneration programme will be “spearheaded” by Homes England, which will be “refocused and tasked to support the levelling up agenda”.
Peter Freeman, chair of Homes England, said that the organisation’s “expanded mandate” will allow it to “further support ambitious local leaders in delivering placemaking and regeneration alongside a wide range of public and private sector partners”.
According to the The Times, the government’s plans will be funded by money that has already been allocated in the Spending Review.
