PRESS RELEASE : Package of interventions in the London housing market [February 2024]

The press release issued by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on 14 February 2024.

£50m of new investment over the next two years to unlock new homes and improve the quality of life for existing residents through estate regeneration in London.

As part of major package to deliver much needed homes in cities across the UK, the Government has announced a £50 million investment to regenerate London estates, £4m to explore maximum ambition housing delivery around Euston, and £125m to unlock three major brownfield sites in East and South London.

The new investment will be made available to existing estate regeneration schemes that carry the support of local communities. This funding is on top of the £1 billion allocated in the capital through the Government’s Affordable Homes Programme which can now, be used to support the regeneration of old social housing estates so that residents have homes that are safe, decent, warm and secure.

Secretary of State for Housing Michael Gove said:

“Today we set out a major package of measures to make sure we have the homes that this country needs. London is at the heart of this approach.

“The investment we are making to deliver new homes through estate regeneration, support the massive potential of strategic sites like Euston, and deliver major brownfield sites in partnership with private housebuilders, will keep the dream of home ownership alive for Londoners.”

In addition to the new multi-million-pound investment in London’s existing estates, and investment into three major brownfield sites, the Government is working closely with the London Borough of Camden and has committed an initial £4 million to establish a Euston Housing Delivery Group.

The Euston Housing Delivery Group will explore maximum ambition housing regeneration in a new ‘Euston Quarter’, including working to:

• Assess the scale of housing opportunity beyond the existing Euston station site.
• Identify the infrastructure, services, and green space required to unlock maximum housing delivery.
• Consider how these housing opportunities can be delivered across Euston, working closely with the Department for Transport, the Euston Partnership and the London Borough of Camden.

Andrea Ruckstuhl CEO Europe, Lendlease said:

“A Euston Housing Delivery Group is a very positive step forwards as there is clearly enormous potential for the delivery of new homes there and the regeneration of an area that we believe can become one of Europe’s leading centres for innovation and life sciences.

“We look forward to continued close working with DLUHC, the London Borough of Camden, the Department for Transport, and local partners and communities to help those aspirations become reality.”

We are also announcing £125 million loan funding supporting 8,000 homes in Newham and Southwark through a major regeneration investment.

Communities in the London boroughs of Newham and Southwark are to benefit from thousands of new homes across three major brownfield regeneration projects.

Reflecting the strong need in London for affordable homes, 40 per cent of the new homes on two of the sites, which have planning permission, are to be genuinely affordable for local people. The first homes should be ready in 2027 alongside retail and leisure facilities.

Significant new infrastructure will be built including utilities, green landscaping, on-site highways, bridges and other transport links.

In a further boost to housebuilding in the capital, the government intends to legislate when parliamentary time allows to remove the block on Homes England’s ability to deliver in London.

All of these measures support the Government’s long-term plan for housing and its commitment to a Brownfield-first approach.