More than a million pounds of funding given to the East Midlands Combined Authority (EMCCA) by the government may have to be given back after a housing developer withdrew from a funding scheme.
A plan for 113 houses, due to be built on land near Nottingham City Hospital by developer MyPad, in conjunction with Nottingham Community Housing Association (NCHA), was selected to receive a £1.1m cash injection from EMCCA’s Brownfield Housing Fund.
Brownfield housing sites are those which have previously been built on but are abandoned or derelict, as opposed to greenfield sites, which have never had any development on.
EMCCA’s brownfield fund, which was announced in 2024, is only being afforded to developments that would not be able to go ahead without it – typically, ones that have been planned before but had fallen through or “stalled” due to a lack of investment.
The City Hospital development, off Arnside Road in Bestwood, was the only confirmed scheme in Nottingham to receive a share of the pot and was only granted planning permission from Nottingham City Council on November 19.
But after it was reassessed for viability, it was found to no longer be eligible for the fund.
Announcing the news at a meeting of EMCCA’s housing and land committee, Land and Housing programme manager Barry Cummins said: “Since this report was written I can advise members that the applicant for the scheme at Arnside has now withdrawn from the process.
“So we are a million down on the numbers and 113 homes down which we will obviously seek a replacement for from the remaining schemes we have to consider.”
But the timescale of the scheme will mean finding a replacement is not easy.
Eligible schemes must have contracts finalised and in place by March of next year, according to government deadlines.
Labour councillor Lee Brazier, representing Newark and Sherwood District Council on the board, asked Mr Cummins how confident he was that a replacement would be found for the Arnside Road development, given the tight timescales.
Mr Cummins said: “Disappointing is a polite way of putting it. It’s not impossible but the timescales are narrowing with every passing week that we get to. So we will continue to look to replace that.
“Because my glass is always half full rather than half empty, I’d love to be able to say to you I’m fairly confident that it will come in and we’ll be able to replace it and we’re certainly working very hard to do so.
“But there will come a point and it will probably be in the very early new year by which we’ve kind of got to close the gate on it because there wouldn’t be enough time to process it.”
Any replacement scheme would not need to be like-for-like in terms of house numbers or cost.
Schemes could be aggregated together, with the spare £1.1m split between them.
Applications continue to be sent in “all the time,” added Mr Cummins.
Mr Brazier then asked about whether the money could be rolled over to be used on other schemes further down the line.
Mr Cummins said: “The rules are at the moment that if you don’t commit the fund then effectively the treasury may ask for the money back.
“They may change their view on that and certainly it’s within their gift to do so, to extend or enlarge the deadline or even offer some flexibility on that. But for now, no.”
EMCCA’s director for place said East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward had written to the government asking for flexibility on their deadline, but had not heard anything official back yet, with the informal response being no.
The Arnside Road development will still be built – just without EMCCA’s money.
The ability for it to go ahead without the boost explains why it is now ineligible for the funding.
A spokesperson at EMCCA said: “NCHA has formally withdrawn their application for support under the Brownfield Housing Fund. The planning application for the scheme was subject to a viability assessment which is a matter between the Developer and the Planning Authority.
“The assessments demonstrated there was no case for a Brownfield Housing Fund grant as the scheme was able to proceed without it.”
Joanne Hill, Assistant Director of Development and Sales at NCHA said: “The planned 113-home development off Arnside Road no longer meets the criteria for the EMCCA Brownfield Housing Fund due to an updated viability assessment.
“Both NCHA and MyPad remain fully committed to delivering this much-needed affordable housing scheme, and we’re continuing to work towards a start on site in early 2026. We will keep partners and the community updated as plans progress.”
