The South East of England Development Agency is setting up the country鈥檚 first brownfield land assembly trust, a key recommendation in the urban taskforce report three years ago.
The trust will buy land, remediate it, and then sell it on at a profit. This money will then be reinvested to buy other contaminated land.

SEEDA鈥檚 compulsory purchasing powers and regeneration responsibilities mean it will be able to acquire sites usually avoided by developers keen to avoid high decontamination costs.

Bringing this type of land back into use will make developers more likely to buy such sites, which could then be used to tackle the South-east鈥檚 housing shortage.

The first land the trust is hoping to buy is reportedly in Hastings. It hopes to acquire it before Easter.