On Saturday 19 November 2022, DLUHC announced that up to £35m has been awarded under BLRF2 to 41 local authority projects in England.
On Saturday 19 November 2022 DLUHC announced that up to £35m has been allocated under the Brownfield Land Release Fund 2 (BLRF2) to 41 local authorities’ projects in England. This forms the first round of BLRF2 which will see £180m of funding being rolled out via the One Public Estate (OPE) programme.
The funding will help councils to transform unused, redundant or derelict sites into high quality homes for their communities. BLRF2 funding will enable delivery of a total of 59 BLRF2 projects which will see over 2,000 new homes being built, of which over 800 will be affordable. This forms part of the government’s plan to level up the country, ensuring local areas can achieve their full potential, and build more of the right homes in the right places.
Local areas were invited to bid for a share of the first £40 million from the new BLRF2 fund. The remaining £140 million will continue to be rolled out over the next two years.
This builds on the successes of the first Brownfield Land Release Fund, which saw £77 million help councils release over 160 brownfield sites for around 7,750 new homes across the country.
As with previous schemes, the BLRF2 is delivered through OPE, a partnership between the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, the Office of Government Property and the Local Government Association. One Public Estate is a cross public sector programme, aimed at bringing public sector bodies together, to create better places by using public assets more efficiently, creating service and financial benefits for partners and releasing land for housing and regeneration.
