The government has announced a shortlist of areas set to become Housing Zones in England.
The 29 areas outside London have a chance to become one of ten Housing Zones to share a £200 million pot for infrastructure and land remediation. The government said that most of the zones – on brownfield land - were expected to have enough capacity for between 750 and 2,000 homes. Delivery would be “easier and quicker”, it added.
“Successful zones will have access to cheaper borrowing from the Public Works Loan Board and priority access to expert planning and technical support from the ATLAS service run by the Homes and Communities Agency," the government said.
The ten Housing Zones will complement the 20 London Housing Zones that the government has also planned. Last year, it stated that there was enough brownfield land across the country to provide up to 200,000 new homes, with ministers expecting planning permissions for 90% of the land to be in place by 2020.
Chancellor George Osborne said: “A key part of our long term economic plan is to build the houses Britain needs so that more families can have the security that comes with home ownership.
"That’s why I’m delighted to announce the areas shortlisted to become the first housing zones in England which, as part of a wider package of measures, will help deliver up to 200,000 new homes on brownfield land.”
The 29 shortlisted areas include Thurrock Thames-Side Towns, (Thurrock council), Suffolk Rural Growth Housing Zone (Babergh and Mid-Suffolk councils) and Harworth, North Nottinghamshire (Bassetlaw district council). Councils were required to pair with developers to submit bids.