Six sites across England have been prioritised by the government
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner(Image: PA)
Greater Manchester is set to get a share of 12,000 homes being built as a ‘priority’ by the government.
The government is pledging to ‘remove blockages’ and speed up the building of almost 100,000 homes in England.
Six new ‘priority sites’ have been declared by the government, ‘accelerating’ 12,000 of those homes.
The sites are based in London, Somerset, the south east of England, and Wigan. It has not been said how many of the 12,000 homes will be built in Wigan.
Nearly 100,000 new homes on large developments previously stuck in the planning system, or which were simply not progressing as fast as they should be, will be prioritised, the government says.
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Those plans are now being given support to progress more quickly, according to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
The six priority sites, including North Leigh Park in Wigan, have been added to the government’s ‘New Homes Accelerator’ initiative.
The accelerator is a specialist programme established last year to get spades in the ground more quickly by cutting through barriers to rapid development, the ministry says.
Since it was launched by the Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, in August 2024, the programme has attempted on removing the planning and regulatory bottlenecks, with the promise of enabling thousands of potential housing developments to progress more quickly.
“It has already intervened through targeted support, including providing local areas with additional planning capacity and removing regulatory hurdles, to help speed up the delivery of 36,000 new homes across England that were not building out as fast as they should have,” said a spokesperson.
In an announcement this evening, the government added: “The team has also driven forward planning proposals for another 63,000 homes through close engagement with arms-length bodies and other government departments, helping to unlock growth and make a real difference for future generations.”
It says it will now tackle ‘specific problems on six new sites’, including Comeytrowe, also known as Orchard Grove, in Somerset, Wisley Airfield in Guildford, North Leigh Park in Wigan, and Hampden Fields in Aylesbury, alongside two further sites confirmed in London, at Billet Road and High Road West.
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The accelerator will speed up the delivery of over 12,000 homes with at least 25 per cent affordable housing across all sites, reads the government promise.
The government has pledged major reforms to tackle the country’s housing crisis, vowing to build 1.5 million homes in total.
Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary, Angela Rayner, said: “We’ve rolled up our sleeves and are breaking down the barriers which stop us from building the houses to buy and rent that families and young people need, helping to speed up the delivery of tens of thousands of new homes already.
“We are continuing to take decisive action through our New Homes Accelerator to speed up the delivery of homes, meet our stretching 1.5 million homes target through the Plan for Change, and get spades in the ground to turn the tide on the housing crisis.”