Resi projects eligible for £3.6bn towns funding

Town centre housing schemes and brownfield land remediation will be eligible for funding under the government’s £3.6bn Towns Fund, details of which were made public yesterday.

Government guidance for councils applying for the funding – a key element of Boris Johnson’s promise to “level up” the country at the 2019 election – makes clear that “delivery of quality residential or commercial space in key locations”, including town centres, gateway areas and employment sites, was considered an acceptable output from the fund.

Under the Towns Fund, 100 selected places will have the ability to bid for funding for bespoke funding packages, called town deals, which will work in a similar way to earlier city deals brokered with larger areas.

Publishing the guidance, the government said local authorities now had four weeks to decide whether to bid for the first round of the funding, which will require the submission of a Towns Investment Plan by July 31.

Those authorities that aren’t ready will be able to submit bids in later rounds in October and early next year.

Those eligible for the funding include many smaller towns in the North and Midlands, including Barrow-in-Furness, Blackpool (pictured) and Burton-on-Trent, though the selection, made prior to the 2019 general election, was described as “naked electioneering” by Labour.

The government said those applying in the first wave would be able to access investment before the end of the year, with funding tailored to each town’s circumstances as well as the localised impacts of covid-19.

Local government minister Simon Clarke said the fund was “at the heart of the mission of this government.” He said: “With this new guidance, communities, businesses and local leaders will now be able to work together to draw up their ambitious plans bring investment and growth to their local area.”