Welcoming the announcement by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities that £58m will be earmarked for councils to encourage brownfield development, Matthew Farrow director of policy at the Environmental Industries Commission (EIC) said:  

“In our recently launched research, Brownfield First, we earmarked a series of practical and tangible proposals to encourage brownfield development. We’re delighted with today’s announcement which offers proactive support to councils from central Government to help overcome some of brownfield’s inherent difficulties which means development is often more expensive than on greenfield.

“Michael Gove is correct in identifying Brownfield’s strategically important role, and we hope that this announcement will be the first of many designed to unlock brownfield’s full potential to meeting targets on housing and delivering ambitions around levelling up.”