The details of the Government’s Levelling Up White Paper have been revealed, including a range of housing announcements as part of a broad devolution agenda.
Among a range of proposals intended to increase prosperity for ‘forgotten’ regions outside London and the south east, some significant plans for the housing sector were announced by Michael Gove. However, the move has been criticised by some for not being new investment.
Gove announced a Homes England-led project to regenerate 20 towns and city centres, starting with Wolverhampton and Sheffield. They will undertake “ambitious, King’s Cross-style regeneration projects, transforming derelict urban sites into beautiful communities,” said the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).
The ‘80/20 rule’ (which causes 80% of Government funding for housing to be directed at ‘maximum affordability areas’ – principally London and the south east) will be scrapped under the plans. Also, much of the Government’s current £1.8bn brownfield funding will be diverted to sites in the north and midlands, with city Mayors being allocated £120m of it.
The £1.5bn Levelling Up Home Building Fund was also announced for loans to SME builders, targeting “areas that are a priority for levelling up,” with “genuinely affordable social housing. However despite being hailed as ‘new’ money by the Government, this will reportedly be taken from the £1.8bn brownfield funding pot.
In addition, a new Social Housing Regulation Bill will “deliver upon the commitments the Government made following the Grenfell tragedy.” The Government also pledged to legislate “for the first time ever” that all homes in the Private Rented Sector will have to meet the Decent Homes Standard. ‘No fault’ Section 21 evictions be abolished, “meaning renters should no longer be kicked out of their homes for no reason,” said DLUHC. Further to this, Government will consult on introducing a landlords register, and will set out plans for a “crackdown on rogue landlords.”