By Bilal Ahmed, Chairman and Founder of Sama Investments
When the new Labour government won the General Election earlier this year a commitment to building 1.5 million new homes during this parliament was highlighted as a central manifesto promise.
To achieve this and “get Britain building again” there was a need to reform the planning system, with brownfield land placed at the heart of the shake-up.
Indeed, in 2022 the CPRE reported that there were 27,342 hectares (67,563 acres) of brownfield land in England, with a potential to build 1.2 million homes.
So far, we have seen good early progress against this promise, including a recent announcement that £68 million of Brownfield Land Release funding will be released directly to 54 councils. The funding will mean councils can clear empty buildings, former car parks and industrial land to make way for new homes. It will also go towards supporting projects across the UK, with those in Manchester, Eastbourne, Northampton, and Weston-Super-Mare already confirmed.
Brownfield land can be expensive to prepare for house building, meaning sites are sat empty and can be an eyesore for local communities. This support, alongside the reported introduction of a ‘brownfield passport’, which may mean that developments on brownfield land could be given default planning approval, is certainly positive news for housebuilders.
At Sama, we are proud to have developed a reputation over the years as specialists in finding brownfield sites across Britain’s regions and regenerating them through responsible, sustainable developments. We welcome these changes that will remove planning obstacles, and in doing so will also create more opportunities for others in our sector to take this direction with their development strategy.
However, through this approach we must not lose sight of the importance of creating decent, sustainable homes that people want to buy in the places they want to live.
Whilst urban sites often benefit from existing critical infrastructure like schools, transport, and healthcare, we can play an important role in ensuring developments also meet community needs and support sustainable growth.
Through regenerating these sites, we can help reignite a sense of place and pride amongst those in the community, deliver homes built for the future, enhance urban green spaces, and act as a catalyst for further growth in areas across the country.
