Burnley selected by Government to be new Housing Zone

The Government has announced that six new “Housing Zones” nationally, including one in Burnley, will be created to support development on brownfield land to provide 10,000 homes.

Housing Minister Gavin Barwell said that the Government wanted to “turbo-charge house building on large sites” to get the homes built in the places people want to live.

The new Housing Zone for Burnley was welcomed by Burnley Borough Council.

Coun. John Harbour, deputy leader and Executive member with responsibility for housing, said: “I am really pleased that the housing needs of Pennine Lancashire have been recognised by the Government.

“The allocation of Housing Zone status will ensure that we are seen as a priority and enable us to work with a range of partners, including the Homes and Communities Agency, to bring forward housing developments that are required as a result of Burnley’s economic growth and which meet our residents’ housing aspirations.”

The Pennine Lancashire Housing Zone, will include sites in Burnley and Blackburn.

Detailed discussions will take place with the council over the coming period about the precise ways this support will be used, which will include unlocking challenging sites.

As part of this, the Government has said that councils can bid for a share of a “capacity fund” to tackle planning issues that can cause delay and prevent builders from getting on site and starting work quickly.

The money will help accelerate delivery of up to 800,000 homes and infrastructure across large sites in England and is part of a wider package of measures to increase the number of much needed homes in local areas.

Mr Barwell said: “We want to turbo-charge house building on large sites to get the homes built in the places people want to live, so that this country works for everyone, not just the privileged few.

“These sites offer enormous potential to transform brownfield land into new homes and our £18m. funding will help get them built much sooner.”

Capacity funding offers crucial investment to prevent large-scale, long-term developments from stalling. It provides local authorities with the capacity to take projects forward and obtain additional resources and expertise.

It will primarily be aimed at large sites of 1,500 units or more, and Housing Zones, which support the development of brownfield land.

Developers will also be able to apply for funding from the Home Building Fund, which is making £3 billion available to house builders.