DCLG grants £114m Staffordshire funding

The Department for Communities and Local Government has granted housing market renewal funding to the tune of £114m for RENEW North Staffordshire.   The money will be used over 2008 to 2011 to help revitalise run-down neighbourhoods in the area.   The funding is expected to be complemented by over £600m worth of investment from private and public sector partners, making a total of more than £714m investment in the same period.   The money will be used to help reverse the loss of residents from Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme by transforming neighbourhoods with poor housing conditions into attractive and popular places to live.   The £114m will be used to help pay for: ·         refurbishment of 3,600 older houses ·         building of 630 new homes ·         clearance of 1,400 houses.   Properties will be cleared only where they are beyond repair and where the local community supports clearance and redevelopment.   RENEW North Staffordshire, the agency responsible for some of the area’s trickiest regeneration sites will work via the North Staffordshire Regeneration Partnership to ensure that new and improved housing is complemented by business, community and environmental improvements.   Key partners include Stoke-on-Trent City Council, Newcastle Borough Council, Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, Staffordshire County Council, regional development agency Advantage West Midlands, national regeneration agency English Partnerships and the Housing Corporation.   Areas set to benefit from RENEW’s investment include: Burslem and Middleport, Cobridge, Shelton, Meir and Coalville, in Stoke-on-Trent; and Knutton & Cross Heath in Newcastle-under-Lyme.   Mark Meredith, mayor of Stoke-on-Trent, said: “The award shows that we are doing a good job in tackling the poor housing conditions that have led to many people moving away from parts of Stoke-on-Trent.”   lisa.pilkington@rbi.co.uk