Partnership awarded almost £2million for regeneration projects

Around 160 affordable homes will be built on brownfield sites in parts of Devon and Torbay with the help of a near £2 million funding award.

The Devon & Torbay One Public Estate partnership has successfully bid for £1.99 million from the Brownfield Land Release Fund 2 (BLRF2) delivered by HM Government’s One Public Estate (OPE) Programme.

It’s a share of £60 million being distributed nationally to support the release of council-owned brownfield land for housing.

The grant funding has been awarded to:

Torbay Council – £950,000 Crossways Shopping Centre.
Current plans for Crossways include around 90 homes, with commercial space on the ground floor for businesses.

Chris Lewis, Deputy Leader of Torbay Council, said: “We are pleased the Government has once again supported Paignton and the funds will help us to find an end user for Crossways. The Crossways site is important and it is imperative that we find a partner to develop it once it has been demolished. The funds will help us find a solution and deliver the site.”

Mid Devon District Council – £660,000 for School Close in Bampton, Eastlands in Hemyock, Crofts in Sandford, Beech Road and Holly Road in Tiverton, and College Green in Uffculme.

Current plans for these sites combined will result in a total of 50 new Council homes within Mid Devon’s Housing stock for social rent. This forms part of the Council’s wider five-year social housing development programme.

Councillor Simon Clist, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Housing and Property Services at Mid Devon District Council, said: “We are delighted to secure further support under the BLRF programme for these key projects. These are important regeneration sites which will provide much needed new social housing as part of our strategy to build 500 new council homes across Mid Devon in the next five years. Work has already started on schemes which have received funding through the first round and we are very well placed to accelerate delivery on this next round of sites.”

Devon County Council – £386,000 Millwater, Honiton.
The funding will unlock the land at the former school site by covering the cost of demolition, site clearance and infrastructure works. As part of a pilot project the proposed site aims to provide 20 affordable, low-carbon homes, primarily for key workers.

Councillor Rufus Gilbert, Cabinet Member for Economic Recovery and Skills, said:

“This is very welcome funding which will enable the redevelopment of the former Millwater School site which has been vacant for several years now. It’s a good opportunity to breathe new life into this site to provide affordable housing and we will ensure that some of the homes are specifically for young people who have left the care of the local authority.”

Since 2021, the Devon & Torbay One Public Estate partnership has received a total of £9,963,470 through BLRF and BLRF2, helping to develop more than 780 affordable homes.

The partnership is made up of 10 local authorities (Devon County Council, East Devon District Council, Exeter City Council, Mid Devon District Council, North Devon Council, South Hams District Council, Teignbridge District Council, Torbay Council, Torridge District Council and West Devon Borough Council) as well as the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership, Devon & Cornwall Police, Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, the NHS, and South Western Ambulance Service).

The Brownfield Land Release Fund (BLRF2) is administered through the One Public Estate programme which is a partnership between the Office of Government Property in the Cabinet Office (OGP), the Local Government Association (LGA) and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).

Up to £180 million in capital grants will be available through BLRF2 over the next three years. The Devon and Torbay One Public Estate Partnership is currently developing a plan for the later rounds.