Delays in some of the country’s largest regeneration projects have caused a £24m shortfall in government funding for the renewal of England’s most run-down areas.
Flagship schemes like the redevelopment of King’s Cross and Elephant & Castle in London have bid for, and received, money from the single regeneration budget, but have been slow in meeting their spending commitments.

The underspend came to light

in a quarterly report to the London Assembly by the London Development Agency, the body responsible for administering single regeneration budget funding in the capital. The agency admitted that although the original projection for SRB spending this financial year was £210m, the actual figure will be closer to £186m.

Nick Sharman, director of operations and local strategies at the LDA, said: “It happens

because people either underestimate what [work is] required, or each year they end up spending half of their budget in the final quarter. This is down to poor forecasting models and people not thinking ahead.”

Source

Housing Today