Communities and Local Government
A selection of images representing communities.
Direct contact 020 7944 4400- contactus@communities.gov.uk
- Housing
- Housing supply
- Growth Areas
- Growth Points
Growth Points
This page outlines the funding and support that is being made available for local communities to pursue large scale sustainable growth, including new housing.
Announced in December 2005, the Growth Points initiative is designed to provide support to local communities who wish to pursue large scale and sustainable growth, including new housing, through a partnership with Government.
The Government invited local authorities to submit strategic growth proposals which were sustainable, acceptable environmentally and realistic in terms of infrastructure to be assessed by Government and its agencies. Criteria for growth points were published to help local partners develop good quality growth proposals.
The initiative is 'bottom-up', with Government supporting and encouraging proposals from local partners. Proposals for Growth Point status must have a sound rationale, be consistent with objectives at relevant regional and local scale, and be subject to similar consultation and evaluation procedures as required of Regional Spatial Strategies and Local Development Frameworks. Levels of growth themselves will be subject to comprehensive testing and public consultation.
Growth Points status is not a statutory designation but a relationship (defined by explicit conditions and based on detailed factual assessment) between central government and local partners that is built on four principles:
- early delivery of housing as part of the growth plans
- supporting local partners to achieve sustainable growth
- working with local partners to ensure that infrastructure and service provision keep pace with growth
- ensuring effective delivery
This initiative has involved a cross-Government approach involving DfT, DEFRA, the Environment Agency, Natural England and the Highways Agency, amongst others. Government's partnership with Growth Points is subject to explicit conditions which follow detailed assessment, by these Government Departments and Agencies, of the growth proposals submitted. Making these conditions of partnership underlines their importance in shaping sustainable outcomes.
First round Growth Points (locations)
On 24 October 2006, 29 local authorities and partnerships across the East, South East, South West, East Midlands, and West Midlands were named as first round Growth Points, commencing a long-term partnership for growth with Government. In 2007-8 these locations collectively received approximately £40m Government funding, which was chiefly orientated towards infrastructural projects, growth-related studies, masterplanning exercises, and capacity-building initiatives.
If all proposed first round growth is realised, Growth Points would contribute around 100,000 additional dwellings by 2016 - an increase of around 32 per cent on previous plans for housing supply in these areas.
Announced in December 2007, the Growth Fund provides £732m to support infrastructure delivery in the three newer Growth Areas and Growth Points for 2008/9- 2010/22. This is part of the £1 billion that Communities and Local Government will invest across the Growth Areas, the Thames Gateway, Growth Points, and Eco-towns during the CSRO7 period.
£327m is available for the first round of 29 Growth Points between 2008 and 2011, although allocations for 2009/10 and 2010/2011 are currently indicative. Following consultation early in 2008, locations will be invited to submit refreshed Programmes of Development which will confirm indicative allocations. Instead of funding individual projects from April 2008, the Growth Fund will provide unringfenced block funding. Aside from reflecting the split between capital and revenue expenditure, there will be no grant conditions about how or when these funds are spent - local authorities and partnership- to local authorities and partnerships based on their Programmes of Development.
Second round Growth Points (locations)
Building on the success of the Growth Areas and Growth Points, the Housing Green Paper published 23 July 2007 announced the expansion of the Growth Points Programme into a second round, and invited additional local authorities to submit expressions of interest to become part of the 2008/9 programme. Eligibility for Growth Point status was additionally accorded to areas in the North of England. Twenty second round Growth Points with the collective capability of delivering an additional 75,000 homes above emerging RSS levels, were announced on 16 July 2008. A further Growth Point, Kings Lynn, was announced in May 2008 at the same time as the East of England RSS was formally adopted.
The criteria for second round Growth Points are essentially the same as those published in the first round, but it is expected that proposals take into account the significantly higher level of 2004 household projections, and, in the case of the northern regions in particular, changes in plan levels between 2003 and the current round of RSS review.
£3million worth of revenue funding has been made available for second round Growth Points to help deliver their Programmes of Development in 2008/9 to 2010/11 for both capital projects and revenue support for studies and capacity building. Final allocations are subject to detailed negotiation and appraisal of Programmes of Development- documents which successful locations are required to produce over the autumn.
This section provides more information about the Growth Points Initiative and details on the individual locations.
