Invest & Fund calls for more brownfield developments
Brownfield sites are a fantastic opportunity for both small and large developers, Invest & Fund has said.
In a new blog post, the peer-to-peer property development lender called Homes England’s new £1bn brownfield land fund “overwhelmingly positive”.
The public body’s fund aims to unlock enough land to produce 40,000 new homes, boosting economic growth and increasing supply in areas of low affordability.
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Invest & Fund said that there are a record number of brownfield sites in England identified as having redevelopment potential, which could potentially be used to build 1.2 million homes.
“Vast swathes of this sit within former industrial heartlands that desperately require community regeneration, which is one of the key selling points of the whole concept, limited to zero local resistance,” it said.
Invest & Fund said many of these sites are mothballed due to the challenges in developing on them. Special licences are usually required for previously developed areas due to the risk of contamination and buried hazards.
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“Acquiring a brownfield site would come with a unique set of challenges to consider,” Inevst & Fund said. “The main vulnerability comes from delays due to the volume of external parties involved in completing the necessary environmental and structural risk assessments in addition to a traditional build.
“There is also a holding period you must account for should there be a significant period of land remediation to remove contaminants from soil. Seeking specialist advice before acquiring a site like this would be deemed practical, but this process still has a mystery box element; delays would have to be baked into the proposed timeline.
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“Suppose these opportunities are managed correctly, with the correct advice; we believe brownfield sites offer fantastic development opportunities for both large and small developers alike, tackling conservation, community building and housing requirements and maybe unlocking the problem of our diminished housing supply.”