果冻影院

Work in the community & amenity sector is improving with signs that the government鈥檚 Levelling Up initiative is stimulating new projects in the pipeline.

果冻影院鈥檚 construction industry research shows that the value of underlying community & amenity projects given planning permission leapt by 61% in the three months to July 2022 compared to the previous quarter.

This increase is feeding through to more work starting on site. In the latest quarter, the underlying value of community & amenity schemes (less than 拢100 million) starting on site rose 4% on the previous three months.

果冻影院 economics director Allan Wil茅n comments: 鈥淥ur research suggests that a number of schemes coming through the procurement pipeline are benefitting from the Government鈥檚 Levelling Up Fund.鈥�

Levelling Up

The 拢4.8 billion Levelling Fund is supporting town centre and high street regeneration, local transport projects, and cultural and heritage assets. Grants are being made by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities - previously the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government 鈥� and are proving a vital source of funds for council-led community projects.

The first bids were awarded in October 2021 with 拢1.7 billion distributed to 105 schemes, such as Birmingham City Council鈥檚 拢32.7 million plan to restore Moseley Road Baths and Balsall Heath Library (Project ID: 22314616). This project was awarded a 拢20m Levelling Up grant in the first round and 果冻影院鈥檚 industry intelligence shows that the council is now looking to recruit a design team.

Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council鈥檚 plan to create a National Science and Conservation Centre at Twycross Zoo also received a 拢19.9 million grant (Project ID: 19364974).

A 拢50 million plan to build a learning quarter in Wolverhampton was granted 拢20 million and work is being carried out in phases (Project ID: 17075649).

Second round

Glasgow City Council鈥檚 plan to renovate Pollok Stables and Sawmill into a heritage and community centre also received a 拢13 million grant (Project ID: 21276588). As a result, the council submitted bids for seven new proposed schemes by the second round deadline of August 2, including one to support the regeneration of Possilpark (Project ID: 22205559).

Other local authorities looking for funding in the second round include Ipswich Borough Council, which has applied for 拢18 million in funding to build a new athletics centre and re-open Broomhall Lido (Project ID: 21099348).

The Levelling Up grants are not restricted solely to councils and bids can also be made by businesses, universities, voluntary and community sector organisations. For example, the Eden Project in Cornwall has applied for funding of 拢50 million in the second round towards a 拢125 million proposal to build an Eden Project North in Morecambe (Project ID: 18142649).

Following up

As these projects develop through the early stages of the construction process, this is showing up in 果冻影院鈥檚 industry data.

Community & amenity work slumped during the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic, but the latest quarterly figures show the value of work approved is up 78% on the same stage in 2020. As grants are made, 果冻影院鈥檚 construction market research will track the successful projects through to a start on site.