Sheffield housing: Council to join national scheme that will see brownfield sites used for homes

The scheme will see Sheffield City Council work alongside the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) as well as developers and private sector funders to access smaller plots of brownfield land that are usually difficult to develop.

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It is hoped the project will help meet the growing housing demand while preserving natural greenfield sites.

Sheffield has been chosen as one of the pilot areas for the scheme during this financial year as well as 2026/2027, with plans to develop it nationwide.

The overall aim is to deliver new social rent homes and help address temporary accommodation challenges currently faced by Local Authorities nationwide.

There are a number of potential sites for such development across Sheffield, with space ranging from less than five, up to 15 potential homes on each one.

The announcement comes amid growing controversy surrounding the council’s plans to release 14 green belt sites for housing.

Labelled the Local Plan - a blueprint for development over the next 14 years - the proposals were agreed by the city council on May 14 and could see more than 3,500 homes built.

Opposition against the development continues to grow and it has received criticism from Sheffield East MP Clive Betts, who claims building 1,638 homes ‘in just one postcode’ would be unfair when the west of Sheffield is barely affected.

Consultation on the future of the plan is ongoing, with residents able to submit feedback to the council by July 11 - responses will be sent to independent government inspectors for review.

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Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary, Angela Rayner said: “Smaller housebuilders must be the bedrock of our Plan for Change to build 1.5 million homes and fix the housing crisis we’ve inherited – and get working people on the housing ladder.

“For decades the status quo has failed them and it’s time to level the playing field.

“Today we’re taking urgent action to make the system simpler, fairer and more cost effective, so smaller housebuilders can play a crucial role in our journey to get Britain building.”

Kate Martin, executive director of City Futures at Sheffield City Council, added: “We were delighted to have the opportunity to work with MHCLG on this exciting pilot scheme to accelerate the development of these smaller plots of land to meet our city’s housing demand.

“We already have our own Small Sites Programme that aims to increase housing supply of all tenures on small parcels of underutilised Housing Revenue Account (HRA) land. But small sites can be challenging to develop, with small build numbers making viability often an issue. This pilot scheme will help us to accelerate and develop more of these sites right across the city.”

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