£150m fund targets brownfield regeneration in the Black Country

How Wisemore Central will look

A £150m fund to support redevelopment and regeneration projects in the Black Country has been unveiled to businesses in the area.

The Black Country Land and Property Investment Fund (LPIF) is being delivered by the area’s Local Enterprise Partnership.

The fund will target projects that promote the re-use of brownfield land and buildings and the delivery of supporting infrastructure within the Black Country.

Several projects – including ones in Walsall and Telford – have already received investment from the new fund.

The funding has been made available by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) as one of a range of publicly operated funds designed to support economic development across the Black Country.

The LPIF is designed specifically to support the delivery of key projects, where there is a risk of market failure, by de-risking private sector investment and addressing challenges including adverse ground conditions, poor infrastructure, abnormal site remediation costs and providing gap funding to bridge the viability shortfalls on schemes.

Tom Westley, Black Country LEP board member said: “The fund will enable investment to secure new housing, industrial and commercial development and is important part in our transformational journey in the Black Country building new homes for our residents as well as developing sites identified to support our world-class manufacturing sector.”

The fund is available to landowners/developers with an appropriate legal interest in the site. Projects will be prioritised based upon strategic importance, value for money and deliverability.

The fund is currently open for applications, with initial awards being made for January 2018 onwards. £53m is being made available up to 2020/21 and a further £97m is earmarked to the Black Country for the subsequent six years.

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