Releasing land and property for regeneration and new homes for 10 years
In 2013, the Cabinet Office and the LGA took a bold step by piloting the One Public Estate programme.
The aim was to bring public sector partners together to make the best use of our surplus land and property; to deliver local growth, including jobs and homes; create financial efficiencies; and deliver more integrated, accessible public services.
One Public Estate (OPE) is proud to have helped central and local government partners in England work better together over the past 10 years, with 69 locally led OPE partnerships currently exploring, developing and delivering joint property projects.
Partners include 13 government departments, 311 councils and hundreds of other public sector bodies such as health and emergency services.
Our partnership approach creates some quick wins. For example, we connected HM Probation Service with Luton Council, which resulted in the service relocating to council-owned offices, addressing pressing premises needs and generating revenue for the council.
More than 800 live OPE projects across England are kickstarting regeneration and transforming public service delivery, by creating thriving community hubs, meeting specialist local housing needs, and improving the way services work together.
Our partnerships are proud of the difference made for citizens, while delivering capital receipts for reinvestment, reducing running costs for improved public sector efficiency, providing land for homes and jobs, and co-locating services.
Since 2017, OPE has partnered with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to deliver the Brownfield Land Release Fund (BLRF) on its behalf, working with the network of OPE partnerships.
With more than £250 million awarded to councils to date, BLRF projects are unlocking council-owned sites for housing.
BLRF funding addresses the constraints that sometimes prevent sites identified for housing coming forward, resolving viability issues such as demolition, remediation and small-scale infrastructure.
By March 2027, land is forecast to be released for 23,700 homes.
If this has inspired you to think about how your council’s land or property might support your local housing needs, please speak to your senior housing officer about applying for BLRF funding.
If your council has not applied for BLRF before, or you have concerns that your local land values are not high enough to qualify, please give your regional OPE team a call.
We would love to speak to councils about local authority-owned brownfield land and your housing ambition. We can offer advice, guidance and support for your officers if you don’t feel you have the expertise to put in an application.
The OPE team is working hard to develop a support offer for our partners. More details about this, and some new funding opportunities, will be available in the new year.
- For general inquiries about the One Public Estate programme and the Brownfield Land Release Fund, please email [email protected], or visit the website to find out more.
Maximising municipal assets in Codsall, South Staffordshire
Situated in rural Staffordshire, Codsall is a public service centre for surrounding communities, and the home of South Staffordshire District Council.
Occupying a large, municipal 1960s building, the council recognised the potential to co-locate multiple public services, delivering more integrated, accessible public services, reduced running costs, and a smaller carbon footprint.
One Public Estate (OPE) provided £125,000 to complete an outline business case and supported partners to develop their initial concept into detailed plans, and then through to delivery.
The Codsall Community Hub opened in July 2022, with the old South Staffordshire District Council headquarters refurbished, extended and transformed into a vibrant building, hosting 25 organisations across the public, private, and community sectors and providing an integrated, modern, energy-efficient working environment.
Partners occupying the hub include a new library, GP surgery, a nursery, the South Staffordshire NHS Trust, a podiatrist, police, three tiers of local government, plus small businesses and voluntary organisations.
New homes are being provided for Codsall through the sale of surplus council and police-owned assets, which generated more than £3.4 million in capital receipts for local reinvestment.
In addition, partners are collectively saving more than £500,000 in running costs over a 10-year period.
The project won a gold award for asset management and regeneration at the Improvement and Efficiency Social Enterprise’s national Public Sector Transformation Awards 2022.
Meanwhile, the OPE approach has become embedded among local partners. The partnership working that developed through the Codsall project has directly led to the police, NHS and county council estate teams reviewing and aligning their asset strategies.
Integrated public services in Mildenhall, Suffolk
Like many English market towns, public services in Mildenhall were delivered from multiple sites dispersed across the town, with many consisting of ageing buildings that were poorly used and costly to run.
The One Public Estate (OPE) programme brought central and local government, the wider public sector and voluntary partners together to explore alternatives.
Consequently, Suffolk County Council, West Suffolk Council (and its predecessor Forest Heath District Council), the Department for Work and Pensions, the police, NHS, Mildenhall College Academy and Citizens Advice developed an ambitious plan to exit five properties and create a multi-agency hub on a single site.
As well as ongoing support for partner collaboration, the OPE programme provided resources to help build the business case and worked with the Department for Education on re-routing maintenance funds into the new hub, ensuring the scheme’s viability.
The Mildenhall Hub was officially opened in autumn 2021, bringing together public services to improve health, wellbeing, and education for the community.
Outcomes for the Mildenhall community have been transformational. For example, community health teams and leisure services work together to offer a joined-up exercise referral scheme that supports patient rehabilitation; and a full-time family hub is jointly delivering children’s community and health services.
By co-locating leisure services with the library, both have seen an increased uptake of services, with participation in swimming lessons up 45 per cent on pre-covid statistics, and more than 700 new library members.
The reduced public estate footprint provides savings of over £20 million over 25 years; communities have benefited from an upgraded, accessible and integrated approach to their local services; and vacated sites have provided 1.7 hectares of surplus land, accommodating 59 new homes.
Independent living for older people in Rochford, Essex
As part of a programme to provide homes for older people with care needs, Essex County Council and Rochford District Council worked together to repurpose a former adult community college site in Rochford.
Set in a large plot of unused space, the college had been vacant for several years.
A Brownfield Land Release Fund award of £125,000 was used to demolish the old college, freeing up the site for the development of 74 new homes.
Fourteen three-bed and four-bed family homes have been completed, and 60 homes will be purpose-built for older people to meet the growing demands of Essex’s ageing population. Regenerating the vacant college site is benefiting the entire community.
Up to £80 million will shortly be available in the last and final round of the Brownfield Land Release Fund Round 2 (BLRF2.3) to help release small and medium-sized sites for new housing. Look out for more information on our website.