Greater Gainsborough Housing Zone
West Lindsey District Council with the support of the Homes and Communities Agency, is promoting the redevelopment of a number of derelict and disused brownfield sites within Greater Gainsborough and along the riverfront under the Housing Zone initiative.
The ‘Greater Gainsborough Housing Zone’ was one of a number of areas designated by the Government in 2015 and provides the council access to additional borrowing/funding sources and professional support from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).
What is a Housing Zone?
The purpose of Housing Zones is to stimulate and accelerate housing development.
The Greater Gainsborough Housing Zone will act as a catalyst to the creation of a new and differentiated housing market in the town. It will expedite the delivery of housing on brownfield land by providing access to the Housing Zone recoverable investment loan funding, HCA professional staff support and dedicated brokerage support from central government to help remove barriers that are preventing schemes from moving forward.
It aims to deliver a minimum of 750 homes across 13 sites including larger strategic sites, aiming to regenerate the town centre and riverfront areas of the town, former industrial sites and some housing sites which have been partially delivered but have stalled.
Progress to date
Construction is due to complete on the first Housing Zone site in Spring 2016 with the completion of 14 flats at The Old Coach Depot in Morton. Planning permission was recently granted on a scheme of 24 affordable apartments designated for the over 55’s on the North Marsh Road site. Live planning applications are currently being determined on the Castle Hills and Gleadells Wharf sites. Work is also being progressed by the West Lindsey Housing Zone Delivery Team on a Local Development Order (LDO) for the Riverside Gateway site.
Local Development Orders (LDOs)
The council is also successful in securing the Local Development Order Incentive, which was specifically designed to incentivise the delivery of housing on brownfield land using the Local Development Order (LDO) mechanism.
The purpose of an LDO is to simplify and speed up the planning process by providing certainty about the type of development permitted, and reducing the potential risks associated with the formal planning process, encouraging development to come forward in that area.