Gove unveils housing plan to build on brownfield land

ALMOST 6,000 additional homes will be built on brownfield land by 2024, Michael Gove announced last night, as he vowed to protect the UK’S “cherished countryside” against development.

Councils have been allocated £58million to help them clear disused land and demolish “unsightly” derelict buildings, car parks and garages to make way for new communities. The 53 local authorities in receipt of the funds will then be able to distribute the land for social and affordable housing or sell it on to developers, with £25million made available for self and custom-build projects. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said it hoped the cash, taken from a £75million Brownfield Land Release Fund, would deliver more than 5,600 properties within three years. It also claimed the funds would help support up to 17,000 jobs in the housing and construction sector.

The announcement is one of Mr Gove’s first since he was appointed Levelling Up and Housing Secretary last month and will be seen as his opening bid to win over Tory rebels opposed to the Government’s planning reforms.

Last night Mr Gove said: “We are levelling up and backing home ownership in every corner of the country, delivering new high-quality, affordable homes and creating thriving places where people want to live, work and visit.

“Making the most of previously developed land is a government priority and it will help protect our cherished countryside and green spaces.”

It comes days after Boris Johnson declared at the Conservative Party conference that new homes should not be built on “green fields” and vowed to protect the countryside from being “desecrated by ugly new homes”.

Mr Gove is now expected to ditch the most contentious parts of the upcoming Planning Bill, including a zonal system which would split the country into areas for growth, renewal and protection.

The new focus will be on boosting construction on brownfield sites, which have been previously developed and are less controversial locations for house building.