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Housing Zones around the country are today (5 January 2016) receiving funding that will kick-start work to build tens of thousands of new homes.

Nearly 拢6.3 million is being distributed to help revive brownfield sites across the country and deliver thousands of homes for hard-working families and first-time buyers.

The funding, which comes on top of a 拢1.2 billion Starter Home Fund designed to prepare brownfield sites for at least 30,000 new homes, will be used to speed up work, enabling homes to be delivered quickly.

Councils will receive the lions鈥� share of the money to help with work in 19 out of the 20 flagship Housing Zones, which are a new approach to getting new homes built easily and quickly.

The 20 Housing Zones, spread across the country, will see councils working in partnership with private developers to deliver thousands of new homes on brownfield land.

On top of this, the government is also committing to work with an additional 8 short listed potential Zones.

Together these have the potential to deliver 45,000 new homes.

Housing Minister Brandon Lewis said:

Housing Zones offer enormous potential to use brownfield land for new homes which is why this government is determined to get them built out as soon as possible.

This funding will play an important part in getting work underway which will lead to new homes and more security for aspiring homeowners.

Britain is building again with the number of new homes up 25% in the past year and these zones will play an important part in giving an extra million people the chance to achieve their dream of home ownership.

The areas receiving funding are:

Local Authority	Housing Zone	Resource Grant
Guildford Borough Council	Slyfield Area Regeneration	拢600,000
Hertsmere Borough Council	Elstree Way Corridor	拢277,000
Thurrock Council	Thurrock	拢700,000
Gedling Borough Council	Gedling Colliery	拢150,000
West Lindsey District Council	Greater Gainsborough	拢165,000
Stoke-on-Trent City Council	Stoke City Centre	拢240,000
Derby City Council	Derby City	拢213,616
Gateshead Council	Exemplar Neighbourhood	拢220,000
City of York Council	York Central	拢365,000
Wakefield Council	Aire River	拢261,000
Preston City Council	Preston	拢165,000
North Somerset Council	Weston-Super-Mare	拢700,000
East Hampshire District Council	Whitehill & Bordon	拢124,116
Gloucester City Council	Gloucester City	拢300,000
Bath & North East Somerset Council	Foxhill	拢313,000
Sedgemoor District Council	Hinkley	拢100,000
Bristol City Council	South Bristol	拢300,000
Tewkesbury Borough Council	Ashchurch	拢330,000
Poole Borough Council	Poole Powerstation	拢30,000
Total	听	拢5,553,732

The remaining 拢740,000 from the fund will be used to provide specialist technical support to the Zones.

Today鈥檚 announcement comes as the government presses ahead with its landmark Housing and Planning Bill to give aspiring homeowners the security of home ownership and build more homes across the country.

Measures include:

• new affordable Starter Homes 鈥� a new legal duty will be placed on councils to guarantee the delivery of Starter Homes on all reasonably sized new development sites, and to promote the delivery of Starter Homes in their area
• permission in principle for sites identified in plans and brownfield registers 鈥� to give certainty around the sites that are suitable for housing, while protecting the green belt
• planning reforms to support small builders 鈥� requiring councils to ensure they have shovel ready plots to match the local demand for custom build

Further information

20 Housing Zones were designated at Budget in March 2015.

Together with 8 short listed potential Zones, the Housing Zones have the potential to deliver 45,000 homes.