Plymouth’s ambitions to provide thousands of homes in the city centre are expected to be given a huge boost, thanks to a new partnership with Homes England.
The Government’s Housing and Regeneration Agency is joining forces with the Council to create a bespoke regeneration partnership to enable the delivery of significant transformational regeneration opportunities.
The agency’s board members were in the city this week to look at the opportunities and challenges Plymouth faces and to discuss future plans with top Council officials and politicians.
They toured the city centre, to look at the latest public realm investments in Old Town Street, New George Street and Armada Way as well as key projects such as the Civic Centre.
They also visited Devonport naval base, where a £4.5 billion Government investment is expected over the next 10 years and they heard about Plymouth’s growth agenda, including the Freeport, the growth of marine sciences and offshore wind opportunities and the universities’ ongoing successes.
The work being undertaken by the Council and Homes England recognises the significant opportunity to transform and regenerate Plymouth City Centre, delivering lasting social, economic, and environmental benefits for the community and commits both parties to work collaboratively with a focus on:
- The development of thousands of new homes with a mix of affordable, market and specialist housing
- Revitalising key sites, improving infrastructure and enhancing the public realm
- Promoting sustainable growth and creating vibrant communities
- Supporting local economic development and job creation.
They will also aim to share knowledge, expertise, and resources to support the delivery of the regeneration programme and work together to identify funding and investment opportunities to speed up progress.
Council leader Tudor Evans said: “This is exciting stuff. Homes England share our vision of changing the city centre and creating more homes within this key part of Plymouth.
“We have made huge inroads and investment in our city centre, which is paying off, with increased interest from business and more footfall.
“We know that Plymouth is being talked about in Whitehall – Plymouth has enormous potential and we are delighted to welcome the board here to see for themselves what makes Plymouth special.
“We have been working with Homes England on our vision for the city centre for a while now and we look forward to this positive relationship continuing.”
The partnership will aim to deliver the transformation of the oversized retail core into a vibrant mixed-use city centre.
Chair of Homes England, Peter Freeman, added: “It was fantastic to be in Plymouth to see the latest public realm investments first hand and how plans to regenerate Plymouth’s city centre are taking shape. It is clear that the council has recognised the opportunity here to provide much needed new homes and bring more people to the heart of the city.
"We look forward to continuing our relationship with Plymouth City Council to help achieve their ambitious plans for the city's place-based approach to regeneration, creating a community people can be proud to call home."
Plymouth’s city centre is unusual in that has a significantly lower number of people living there, with only 1,000 homes, compared to an average of 8,000 in other cities of a similar size.
This poses a real challenge to creating a vibrant city centre, increasing footfall, and attracting and retaining skilled professionals for the needs of the wider city.
Other very particular issues the city centre faces are the conditions beneath the ground, which was essentially filled in and built over at speed after the war. Initial work on sites is therefore expensive before buildings rise up above the ground.
The Council has embarked on a number of transformational projects designed to inject life, new uses and new visitors into the city centre. As well as the transforming the public realm of Old Town Street and New George Street, Armada Way, other projects in the pipeline include the former Civic Centre which is destined to be a city centre campus as well as homes.
There are also long-term regeneration plans for the area around the railway station, as well as the West End, where the Community Diagnostic Centre is being delivered in partnership with University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust.
Homes England is the government’s homes and regeneration agency. It drives the creation of more high-quality homes and thriving places so that everyone – no matter their background – has a place to live and thrive.
The agency works in partnership with thousands of public and private bodies including local authorities, home builders, developers, affordable housing providers, commercial real estate companies and financial institutions to make this happen.
Find out more at: Homes England - GOV.UK