Latest news with #EamonnBoylan
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The number of homes the government built in Worcestershire last year
NEARLY 500 homes funded by the government were built in Worcestershire in the last financial year. Figures from Homes England show 488 new homes were completed across the county between April 1, 2024 and March 31, 2025. Housing programmes delivered by Homes England - the government's housing and regeneration agency - also oversaw 487 new starts on sites in Worcestershire. So-called 'affordable homes' made up 338 of the homes started last year. This compares to 274 starts the year before. These included 42 available for social rent - all in Redditch, and two for intermediate rent - also in Redditch. 31 were for affordable home ownership schemes and the tenure is still to be confirmed for another 263 homes. Almost half of the affordable homes starts were in Wychavon (154) while just one was in Worcester. Eamonn Boylan, chief executive of Homes England, said: 'The statistics published today demonstrate the commitment and determination of the sector to build the new homes and communities the country needs. 'It also shows the importance of programmes like the Affordable Homes Programme to enable the delivery of these much-needed homes - and comes hot on the heels of the government committing a further £39 billion in funding to affordable homes over a 10 year period, giving confidence and certainty to the sector. Read more Reform UK's first council cabinet meeting lasts 20 minutes Why Worcester MP is not among Labour rebels joining benefit revolt Council workers in Unite union reject pay increase 'We'll be working closely with the government on the operationalisation of this funding over the coming months, alongside other new initiatives such as the creation of the National Housing Bank, whilst continuing to work closely with local leaders to understand local needs, and providers to ensure they have the support to meet that need.' Nationally, Homes England said there were 38,308 new houses starting on site and 36,872 new homes completed in the last financial year. This represents an increase in both starts (by five percent) and completions (by 12 percent) compared to the same period the previous year.
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Who has bought Nottingham's Broad Marsh and what will they be doing with it?
An agreement being signed for the purchase of the Broad Marsh site after five years of uncertainty has been hailed as a "major milestone" for Nottingham. The operator of the Broadmarsh Shopping Centre collapsed in 2020 and Nottingham City Council first took control of the site in July of that year. Work has been progressing at a snail's pace ever since on redeveloping the shopping centre. Work in the wider area has included the opening of the new Central Library, the pedestrianisation of Collin Street and the opening of the Green Heart park. Yet half of the former shopping centre still stands derelict, hardly a sight to entice visitors heading into the city from the train station. The Broad Marsh development, despite its huge potential, was the subject of several failed bids to the Levelling Up Fund under the previous government. READ MORE: Thousands of University of Nottingham staff at risk of redundancy but bosses told it 'has other options' READ MORE: Suspect arrested at Heathrow Airport after incident at Nottingham university campus The announcement in December that the East Midlands Mayor was providing more than £3 million for the demolition of the remaining shopping centre was the first bit of positive news for years. Much more significantly, the city council then confirmed a "public sector" buyer was being lined up and it was announced on March 31 that Homes England were taking it on. But who are Homes England and what exactly will they be doing with the site? Homes England is a non-departmental public body, meaning it is funded to deliver a government service but does not sit within a ministerial department. The body acts as the government's housing and regeneration agency and came into being in 2018, though its history stretches back much further. The organisation's roots go back to 1964, when the Housing Corporation was founded to fund affordable housing and regulate housing associations - not-for-profit social landlords. The organisation was eventually dissolved with a view to setting up a new body that had a greater focus on the broader mission of regeneration, alongside housing. Homes England is governed by a board of 12 members appointed by the Housing Secretary. The organisation's current chief executive is Eamonn Boylan. Homes England publishes statistics every six months on its work and between April and September 2024, programmes it delivered saw over 14,000 new homes completed. Work also started on over 15,000 new affordable homes. Under the affordable homes programme, Homes England has £8 billion of government funding to deliver at least 100,000 affordable homes outside London by the end of March 2026. As part of its broader regeneration ambition, Homes England recently announced a £250 million joint venture with Oaktree Capital Management and Greycoat Real Estate to "unlock and accelerate" huge development sites across England. The partnership targets large or complex sites with the potential to deliver more than 1,000 homes each. The partnership acquires sites to masterplan and develop before infrastructure work is carried out so that a development site is ready to offer to housebuilders. Given this remit and the fact that the partnership was launched in December 2024, it is likely that the Broad Marsh site was acquired through this partnership. The i Paper reported throughout 2024 on anger among Homes England staff about alleged failure's to manage spending. The paper revealed that nearly £400,000 was spent by Homes England on an internal staff meeting, with the paper quoting insiders who described the agency as a "dysfunctional" and "sick" organisation. The investigations reportedly angered former chief executive Peter Denton. Homes England announced in late 2024 that chief executive Peter Denton and chair Peter Freeman would both be stepping down from their roles. Mr Denton has already stepped aside for Eamonn Boylan, whilst Mr Freeman's successor will be appointed later in the year. Homes England's purchase includes all land to the west of the Green Heart, NCP's Maid Marian Way Car Park, Severns House and the former college site on Maid Marian Way. The NCP car park and Maid Marian Way college will both be demolished as part of the plans. Homes England says it will now "de-risk" the site by first focusing on demolition work, with city council leader Neghat Khan having said that this work could start imminently. Councillor Khan previously said: "We've got confidence that once they sign, it's all go, go, go." Teams from Homes England will also be working to attract developers to then deliver the homes, employment spaces and leisure facilities envisioned for the future of the Broad Marsh. The development is expected to create around 1,000 homes, up to 20,000 square metres of retail, office and community spaces and around 2,000 full-time jobs. Nottingham City Council expects overall construction work on the wider development to begin in 2029. Before then, separate work on a major Nottingham University Hospitals Trust centre will get underway soon ahead of a 2026 opening.
BBC News
31-03-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Housing agency confirmed as buyer for Nottingham's Broad Marsh
Government housing agency Homes England has been confirmed as the buyer of the Broad Marsh in former shopping centre has remained largely derelict since previous operators intu went into administration in 2020, and the site was handed back to the city Labour-run authority approved the sale earlier this month, but the buyer was not initially revealed due to commercial England has said it plans to transform the site into about 1,000 homes, alongside up to 20,000 square metres of retail, office and community space. The agency will also acquire land to the west of the "Green Heart" park, including a former college and an NCP car park, both of which are due to be value of the sale has not been disclosed, but the project is expected to create about 2,000 full-time wider site has been earmarked for redevelopment for decades, but successive plans have failed to work on the remains of the shopping centre frame is now due to begin this documents published earlier this month stated the buyer will "begin active works on the project in the short term" and aims to start construction in 2029/ "Green Heart", which opened last year, had not been included in the sale and would continue to be maintained by the City Council. Homes England chief executive Eamonn Boylan said they had been "working closely" with the council since 2022."Now that we have acquired the site, our teams will be working with partners to attract the right developer to deliver the new homes, employment spaces and leisure facilities necessary to create a vibrant city centre neighbourhood that the people of Nottingham can be proud of," he leader Neghat Khan has said it is "really positive news" for the city."We know that people have wanted to see progress here for a long time and we understand that it has been a frustration for some that this hasn't happened," she said."We're excited by the plans that Homes England has, and we look forward to working closely with them to bring these to fruition."
