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Government and LGA unveil £45m 'Land Release Fund'

The Government has launched a £45m ‘Land Release Fund’ in partnership with the Cabinet Office and the Local Government Association’s One Public Estate programme.

The aim of the fund is to ensure councils release some of their unused or surplus land for housing.

The Department for Communities and Local Government said the fund would “help to meet the ambition to unlock enough council-owned land for at least 160,000 homes by 2020”.

Councils will be able to bid for funding for land remediation and small-scale infrastructure, which will help bring sites forward for housing that would not have otherwise been developed.

Alongside this, One Public Estate is making £9m funding available to support more councils to deliver property-focused programmes.

Minister for Government Resilience and Efficiency Caroline Nokes said: “One Public Estate is enabling local authorities to make better use of their land and property and deliver tangible benefits to their communities. I am delighted that this new funding round will enable even more councils to deliver the homes, jobs and services that local people need.”

Housing and Planning Minister Alok Sharma said: “To build the homes this country needs, we need to increase the supply of land available to build more homes, more quickly.

“As a major landowner, local authorities have a crucial role to play in this task.Through this innovative cross-government partnership, we will be able to work with councils much more effectively, helping them to meet local housing needs and transform local areas.”

LGA Chairman Lord Porter said: “Through One Public Estate councils have shown that they are perfectly positioned to act as leaders of place and deliver effective cross public sector asset management. It is great to see in practice how the programme is delivering more integrated services, local economic growth, and supporting more sustainable local government.

“Councils are committed to building the new homes their communities need and I’m pleased to see the announcement of the Local Authority Land Release Fund as part of this next funding round. It’s great to see two government programmes aligning to offer a more coherent programme to our local communities.”