‘Levelling Up’ is about to give certain homeowners a massive boost and at the same time potentially put a number of property developers out of business.

The government’s new agenda to improve opportunities across the UK, is already planning to making life easier for tenants by banning Section 21 evictions. 

Now regeneration plans mean householders in 96 areas across the British Isles will see the value of their property increase. That’s because the government has earmarked big regeneration plans worth £58.7bn for regional cities and towns.

Homeowners in Yorkshire to benefit most

According to research by developer StripeHomes, Yorkshire and the Humber will accrue around £9bn in improvements. East Midlands is the second biggest region to get a regeneration boost – to the tune of around £8.5bn. Scotland and the North West will both benefit by around £6.6bn each, while those who live in the West Midlands will see around £6.5bn in cash benefits. That’s because property analysts predict that regeneration in an area is likely to increase a property’s value by at least 3.6 per cent.

James Forrester, Managing Director of StripeHomes said he was glad to see from the plans that the government did indeed plan to spread the wealth.

He added: “It’s reassuring to see that the intention to spread opportunity and prosperity to all parts of the UK is there, with London taking a bit of a backseat in terms of focus.”

When it comes to individual homeowners, the developer’s research shows that those who live in Derbyshire can look forward to a boost in house prices by around £7,709. Considering there are around 439,000 homes in the areas, that means a total boost to the area’s property market of £3.4bn. Other cities to benefit include in a similar fashion include Birmingham and Gloucestershire (by £3.3bn each), Edinburgh at £2.8bn and home owners in Leeds by a total £2.8bn.

Developers to pay cost of cladding replacement

Another part of the Levelling Up agenda focuses on encouraging developers to make existing cladding on medium and high-rise buildings safer. 

To the extent that developers who don’t pay for fixing dangerous cladding may be prevented from continuing in the UK property market. That’s because they will be breaking the law otherwise. It means many leaseholders will be spared having to fork out tens of thousands of pounds for the repairs themselves.

The measure is in response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy when 72 people were killed after the fire, made worse by the aluminium composite cladding surrounding the building.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said: “We cannot allow those who do not take building safety seriously to build homes in the future, and for those not willing to play their part they must face consequences.”

The forthcoming legal amendments will be added to the Building Safety Bill. Other legislation allows leaseholders to sue developers who install defective products or materials which could endanger lives. This part of the Bill will also take historic cases into consideration ie those dating back 30 years and even when a previous payment had been made.