The first quarter of Regen Connect has tracked billions in funding, major project approvals and a fundamental shift in how regeneration is being delivered across the UK. From devolution-driven growth to emerging viability pressures, our reporting reveals a sector in transition and the forces now reshaping where and how regeneration happens
After more than a decade on the margins, the first three months of 2026 is evidence of a decisive shift in how regeneration is being funded, governed and delivered across the UK. Billions of pounds in public investment, strengthened regional powers and a growing pipeline of major projects are combining to reshape the landscape - even as global economic uncertainty creates new pressures.
Since launching in February, Building’s Regen Connect campaign - alongside Building Design and Housing Today - has been tracking this transformation. Through regional deep dives, exclusive interviews, data-led analysis and interactive mapping, the campaign is building a detailed picture of how regeneration is evolving across the country.
The timing reflects what has been described as a “renaissance” moment for regeneration. After years of declining funding, institutional retreat and growing scepticism around delivery, the focus on regeneration is once again central to both national policy and local growth strategies.
This renewed focus is underpinned by significant structural change. With £46bn in Homes England funding, new delivery mechanisms, and initiatives such as Pride in Place, regeneration is no longer being driven solely from the centre. Instead, power is increasingly shifting towards regional mayors, combined authorities and local partnerships - with a stronger emphasis on place-led decision-making.
At the same time, the picture is far from straightforward. While funding announcements and political momentum have generated optimism, renewed challenges around viability, delivery and coordination remain. Market conditions, policy changes and shifting investor appetite in the wake of the conflict in the Middle East are all shaping what can actually be built and where.
Against this backdrop, Regen Connect is not just documenting activity, but examining what is changing, where the pressure points lie and what will define the next phase of regeneration across the UK.
What Regen Connect has revealed so far
1. Regeneration is back - but increasingly decentralised
Decision-making power is shifting towards regional and local authorities, with mayors and combined authorities playing a far greater role in shaping priorities and allocating funding.
2. Funding is returning at scale while delivery is more complex
Major commitments, including tens of billions of investment through Homes England and new targeted funds, signal renewed government backing. However, navigating funding streams and aligning stakeholders remains a significant challenge.
3. Viability is the key constraint
Despite strong pipelines and political support, issues such as cost inflation, policy changes and market conditions - particularly in the build-to-rent market - are limiting what can be delivered in practice.
4. Long-term capital is becoming essential
As highlighted by industry leaders, regeneration increasingly depends on patient institutional investment willing to operate over 20–30 year horizons.
5. Regional divergence is growing
While major cities continue to dominate large-scale regeneration activity, different regions are experiencing the cycle in very different ways - shaped by local economies, governance structures and funding access.
The regeneration reset
Regen Connect launched in February by setting out why regeneration has returned to the policy agenda after years of decline.
Following the boom of the early 2000s, regeneration activity fell away during the 2010s as funding streams were withdrawn, delivery bodies were dismantled and schemes became more complex. At the same time, the sector faced criticism over outcomes, including concerns around displacement and the loss of social housing.
That picture is now shifting. Government has made billions available through initiatives such as Pride in Place, while Homes England - under new leadership - is taking a more regionally focused approach, supported by its proposed National Housing Bank.
Crucially, this is not simply a question of funding returning. It reflects a broader structural change: regeneration is increasingly being shaped at a regional level, with national agencies expected to support locally defined priorities rather than dictate them.
Funding, devolution and the policy shift
Reeves pledges to remove ‘roadblocks’ to regeneration
The government’s renewed focus on regeneration was underlined in March with the chancellor’s announcement of £2.3bn for major projects, with a strong emphasis on regional cities.
Around £1.7bn has been earmarked for areas within the “northern growth corridor”, including Leeds South Bank, Liverpool Central, Manchester Victoria North, Newcastle and Gateshead Quays, and Sheffield City Centre and Innovation Spine - reinforcing the role of regeneration as a driver of regional economic growth.
Alongside this, proposals for greater fiscal devolution - including the potential for regional leaders to retain a share of income tax - signal a longer-term shift in how regeneration could be funded and governed (details to be published alongside the Budget in the autumn).
Analysis by Regen Connect found strong industry support for these moves, particularly the potential for devolved funding to incentivise local growth, whereby local leaders would control a share of the tax generated. But significant questions remain, including the extent of borrowing powers available to regional authorities and how funding will be coordinated in practice.
The direction of travel is clear and the key debate now is no longer whether funding exists, but how much control regions will ultimately have and whether that translates into faster and more effective delivery.
Delivery pressures: the build-to-rent slowdown
Despite renewed momentum, regeneration faces real constraints with viability emerging as the central challenge.
Build-to-rent, which has often acted as an early-stage driver for regeneration schemes as it is not reliant on slow absorption of sales, has experienced a recent drop in activity. Factors including building safety delays and tax changes - the removal of multiple dwellings relief on stamp duty - have affected viability. Meanwhile political support for the tenure remains uneven compared with support for affordable housing or home ownership.
Regen Connect’s analysis suggests there are signs of recovery as regulatory delays ease, and that the picture varies significantly across the UK - with some regional markets showing greater resilience than London.
The broader implication is that while ambition and funding are returning, delivery remains highly sensitive to market conditions and policy decisions.
Projects and pipeline: where activity is happening
The past three months have seen a wave of regeneration activity across the UK, with major schemes progressing in both London and key regional cities.
London pipeline
Significant developments include the expansion of Barking Riverside, new phases at Beam Park and the latest approvals at Elephant & Castle and Camden - underlining the capital’s continued dominance in large-scale regeneration.
Regional growth centres
At the same time, major schemes are advancing in Birmingham, Bristol, Hull, Salford and Gateshead, reflecting growing momentum outside London. Projects such as Birmingham’s Curzon Street masterplan and Bristol Temple Quarter highlight the scale of ambition in regional cities.
Together, these schemes point to a trend where London remains a focal point for large projects, but regional cities are playing an increasingly important role in the regeneration landscape.
Mapping regeneration activity
Regen Connect’s interactive map provide a view of regeneration activity across the UK, tracking planning approvals, funding announcements and project pipelines.
Users can zoom in to find details or developments by local authority area, offering a picture of where investment is being directed and how activity is evolving geographically.
The map is updated regularly, and you can explore it by clicking the link below. And if you know of a project that should be on the map, get in touch via the links at the end of this article.
Below is a selection of the biggest projects or announcements announced since Regen Connect started.
Top 10 project/scheme announcements
- Councillors give green light for 13,000 more homes at Barking Riverside JV consisting of L&Q and the Greater London Authority secures permission for extra homes at huge east London site
- Rail station proposal to kickstart next phases of 4,000-home east London scheme Beam Park development in Havering being carried out by Countryside
- Birmingham unveils vision for city centre transformation on ‘scale not seen since the 1960s’ Council sets out prospectus for 17ha mixed-use district around HS2’s Curzon Street station
- City Hall hands British Land grant to increase Canada Water affordable homes to 9% Scheme was called in last year after report found only 3% of its 3,700 homes could be delivered as affordable
- Green light for Zaha Hadid Architects’ £350m Bristol Temple Quarter scheme Hybrid application contains two office blocks, four residential towers, a flexible commercial building and a hotel
- Plans lodged for 850-home Hull riverside neighbourhood ECF and Hull Council look to turn brownfield land formerly used for city’s maritime industry into affordable and BTR flats
- Elephant & Castle final-phase plans approved despite lower affordable housing share Get Living’s new plan is taller, has more homes and introduces student accommodation, while keeping number of affordable homes the same
- Green light for 480-home Camden regeneration project Work to start this summer for completion in 2030
- Plans in for 814-home riverside scheme in Salford The Riverside Place scheme, designed by DLA Architecture for Crescent Investments and developer Forshaw Group, consists of three brick-fronted residential towers, framed around a two-storey pavilion.
- North East council and shopping centre agree partnership for 4,500-home riverside development (Housing Today) Gateshead Council and the Metrocentre shopping centre have signed a public-private partnership agreement to deliver a 4,500-home community along the River Tyne.
Regional focus
One of the clearest themes to emerge from Regen Connect so far is the growing divergence between regions not just in levels of activity, but in how regeneration is being approached and delivered.
In West Yorkshire, devolution is opening up new possibilities for Leeds, Bradford and neighbouring authorities to shape their own priorities. Our deep dive in March explored how a mix of funding streams, local leadership and identified development partners is giving the region a renewed sense of direction, with regeneration increasingly aligned to community needs as well as economic growth.
Greater Manchester offers a more mature model. Having delivered growth at roughly twice the rate of the national average over the past decade, it is now entering a new phase - focused not just on expansion, but on how that success is shared more evenly across the combined authority. The £2bn Good Growth Fund is a key part of that shift, aimed at spreading the benefits of regeneration beyond the city centre core.
I could walk you down a road where the average life expectancy drops by 20 years within a mile
Matt Forrest, chair of the Tees Valley Housing Partnership
In theTees Valley, the picture is more complex. The region illustrates both the scale of opportunity and the depth of challenge facing parts of the UK. As Matt Forrest, chair of the Tees Valley Housing Partnership, put it: “I could walk you down a road where the average life expectancy drops by 20 years within a mile.”
That stark reality underlines the role regeneration can play in driving growth and also in tackling entrenched inequality and improving outcomes for communities.
Across all regions explored so far, it is clear that regeneration is not a one-size-fits-all model. Instead, it is a patchwork of locally driven strategies that are shaped by devolved powers, economic conditions and the specific challenges each place is trying to solve.
Regen Connect is keen to hear more about regeneration challenges and opportunities in other regions around the UK, get in touch with our team, who would particularly like to talk to:
- Developers and investors with pipeline insights
- Local authorities and combined authorities shaping regional strategies
- Consultants and contractors with delivery experience and insights
People and comment
To support the campaign, Regen Connect has convened a panel of senior industry figures spanning development, investment, construction and advisory roles.
The panel is helping to shape editorial priorities, identify key issues and contribute to the campaign’s final report - which will be published at our Building the Future Conference in October - ensuring that coverage reflects the most pressing challenges and opportunities facing the sector.
The 12-strong panel includes leaders at tier one contractors as well as those with investment, legal and advisory expertise in the world of regeneration from across the built environment, they are:
- Dav Bansal, partner at Howells
- Lord Richard Best, crossbench peer
- Jasmine Ceccarelli-Drewry, director, place strategy & social impact, Avison Young
- Ben Denton, head of strategic growth at L&G
- David Lunts, board member, Clarion Group and vice chair, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
- Simon Marks, city executive for the midlands, Arcadis
- Alex Notay, chief executive, Housing Forum
- Olaide Oboh, managing director, Populate
- Mary Parsons, national regeneration and partnerships director, Lovell Partnerships
- Leigh Thomas, managing director, Kier Property
- John Wilkinson, chief operating officer, BAM
- Paul Woodhams, managing director for regeneration, McLaren Construction
Voices of Regeneration interview
A prominent theme across Regen Connect’s interviews and commentary is the need for new approaches to funding and delivery.
Patient capital will always tell you that regen absolutely pays
Alex Notay, the new chief executive of the Housing Forum
One of our expert panel, Alex Notay, the new chief executive of the Housing Forum, emphasised the importance of long-term investment in an exclusive interview in March. “There’s a wave of institutional money that’s coming into housing, which is relatively new for the UK,” said Notay. “Patient capital will always tell you that regen absolutely pays, but you have to have deep enough pockets to sit and see it through for usually 20 or 30 years.”
Opinion columns
Other contributors have highlighted the need to rethink regeneration in specific contexts such as coastal communities and address persistent challenges around housing quality and viability.
Tracy Harrison, the chief executive of the Northern Housing Consortium - whose members include northern housing associations, local authorities and combined authorities – in March wrote a piece for Building and Housing Today urging the industry to seize the regeneration opportunity.
She wrote that “the housing crisis looks different in different places” and explained how its new inquiry Renew, supported by Homes for the North and Renew, is exploring how housing-led regeneration can deliver growth, help tackle the housing crisis, and strengthen communities.
She said the government’s housing strategy, Social and Affordable Homes Programme and National Housing Bank is welcome but “does not directly address challenges such as ageing homes and end of life stock; quality issues, particularly in the private rented sector; or viability issues in the North, due to low land values”.
Coastal towns are central to our national identity, but too often revival strategies fail to reflect their distinct challenges.
In April David Atkinson, director of development and investment at Willmott Dixon’s development business, wrote a piece for Regen Connect arguing the sector needs to creatively rethink its approach.
Next few months
The next phase of Regen Connect will focus on turning insight into action and identifying what needs to change to unlock regeneration at scale.
In the coming months, the campaign will continue to:
- Publish regional deep dives and project analysis
- Explore funding, policy and delivery challenges
- Feature perspectives from across the industry
These insights will culminate in a major report to be launched at Building the Future in October.
Through ongoing analysis and expert commentary, Regen Connect highlights the policies, funding streams and local priorities that matter most to the construction and development sector.
This coverage will culminate in a special report to be published at our Building the Future Live Conference in London on 7 October.
How you can get involved:
Throughout the year, our team will be gathering insight from across the sector to inform editorial features, debates and events. We welcome contributions from practitioners who want to share experience or shine a light on emerging trends.
Click here for more on the campaign
Be part of the conversation – contact us to contribute or get involved by emailing our deputy editor at dave.rogers@building.co.uk and to find the campaign on social media follow #regenconnect
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