Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin has pledged over £90 million by March next year to help build more than 5,000 new homes.
The cash will go to housing providers working on 28 sites across West Yorkshire including Kirklees.
Work is already in progress or completed on 16 projects, with work on the remaining 12 due to start before March 2025.
The developments on previously developed, disused “brownfield” land include Plane Street in Newsome which will have 30 new homes.
In her keynote speech at the Northern Housing Consortium’s summit, Mayor Brabin warned that the funding was a “sticking plaster” over the region’s housing crisis, with over 80,000 households on waiting lists for a council home, and over 1,500 households living in unsuitable temporary accommodation.
However, she struck an optimistic tone, pointing to a landmark partnership with Homes England to boost the delivery of 38,000 homes on brownfield land, and the Deputy Prime Minister’s pledge to build 1.5 million new homes, including the biggest increase in social and affordable housing for a generation.
Speaking at the summit Mayor Brabin said: “This is personal for me. Growing up in a safe and secure council flat was the foundation on which my life was built, and I want every child in West Yorkshire to have that start in life.
“It’s unacceptable that we have hundreds of children in temporary accommodation, doing their homework on the bathroom floors of hotel rooms, because working families have been priced out of having a roof over their head.
“We’re turning the tide with almost £90 million to build 5,400 new homes on brownfield land, but we could unlock 38,000 more with the right freedoms and flexibilities from the Government.
“Working together with our dedicated housing partners and the Deputy Prime Minister, we’ll build a greener, more secure region with thousands more affordable and sustainable homes.”
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