Recent analysis on brownfield registers found that the amount of brownfield land identified for use increased by 6%, despite previous efforts to build more homes on brownfield land. Looking further back, analysis by CPRE found that the number of brownfield sites in local authority registers increased by 30% from 2018-2022 and that the number of housing units increased by 17%. Despite this, the total area of land identified reduced by 4%, suggesting that less dense housing is being targeted by developers. Whilst the number of identified brownfield sites has increased, the percentage of sites with planning permission has decreased due to the pandemic, falling from 58% in 2018 to 45% in 2022.
To boost the number of sites available for housing development and reduce the ongoing housing shortage, this month the government opened its second round of brownfield funding, with £60m being released in this second round and a further £80 million due to be released at a later date. These funds are designed to remediate unviable, but potentially cost effective, council-owned land which is later released to developers.
The most important part of brownfield remediation is a plan to protect future building inhabitants from contaminants. With a quickly approaching deadline of March 31st for the current round of funding, if protection from gasses and vapours is required, PAG is available to give technical advice and specifications for upcoming projects.
Design. Supply. Install. PAG does it all.