Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill Now Law

What is the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill?

A Summary

The Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill (now Act) focuses on providing better infrastructure in the areas and communities of the UK that are ‘left behind’. It is described as being shaped by the local people, building the ‘right homes in the right places’.

It aims to speed up the planning system and encourage councils to organise the construction of new homes. The Act will also hold developers to account and cut bureaucracy to ensure new developments are more attractive, shaped by locals, and include more infrastructure like surgeries, schools, and transport. Overall, the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill aims to create neighbourhoods people want to live and work in.

Local businesses will benefit, too. This Bill has made outdoor seating a permanent asset to help hospitality companies thrive. Also, the Bill aims to support regeneration in ‘left behind’ communities. Areas will be enhanced and transformed, bringing empty high streets back to life, as seen in Hull’s Fruit Market and Bradford’s Little Germany.

The Bill is committed to removing inequality through levelling-up projects in parts of the UK. The government has already invested £12.9 billion in supporting regeneration projects across the UK. This has improved transport, created new jobs, and protected community spaces. However, more levelling-up plans are on the horizon.

Town Improvements

The new Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill works in tandem with the Long-Term Plan for Towns, published on the 1^st of October of this year. The government has chosen 55 towns in the UK to benefit from a levelling-up investment of £1.1 billion. These towns will each gain £20 million over 10 years in the style of an endowment fund. Of the 6 chosen towns in the North East, 10 in the North West, 4 in the West Midlands, 8 in Scotland, and 4 in Wales, each town board will develop a long-term plan to develop in areas needed.

The Long-Term Plan for Towns aims to correct issues around the public realm, anti-social behaviour, and transport. Regeneration projects will enhance town and city centres to make them more attractive and accessible. Improving streets, repurposing empty shops, creating green spaces, and running market days will not only unite communities but increase their economy and desirability. Such examples are already being seen in the likes of projects across Hull and Bradford. In these cities, such improvements are boosting resident pride. Their profiles are rising to destination cities and up-and-coming hotspots for tourism and property investment.

As for connections, improving infrastructure in towns not currently benefiting from such links directly with Network North’s ambition. Enhancing connections to, from, and within these areas makes travel easier for residents and opens more opportunities for local small businesses as tourism increases.