Brownfield, Infrastructure & Land (BIL)

Infrastructure and Construction

Record date: 31 March 2026

Whole-life cost: £1.5bn
Published schedule: 01/07/2023 – 31/03/2031
NISTA delivery confidence: Not disclosed
Senior responsible owner: Cathy Francis, Lise-Anne Boissiere

What the project is for

Launched in July 2023, the Brownfield Infrastructure and Land (BIL) fund is a £1.5 billion programme designed to regenerate underused land and deliver transport links, boost local areas by transforming disused sites and investing in vital infrastructure, such as GP surgeries, primary schools and access roads and funding the decontamination of previously used land.

Departmental delivery commentary

The SRO Delivery Confidence Assessment (DCA) rating at 25/26 Q4 increased to Green. This uplift is driven by BIL meeting and exceeding its target metrics (67k housing capacity unlocked against a 65.5k target, 500k sqm employment floorspace unlocked against a 200k sqm target, and 78% funding used on brownfield projects against a 72% target). Furthermore, all delivery partners have established strong delivery pipelines, providing a clear and credible route to future delivery. Key risks remain, particularly around cost pressures, contractor capacity and the Building Safety Act - particularly for higher-risk and more complex developments, which are generating additional design costs, extending pre-commencement timescales, and increased regulatory burden for developers.

Schedule

Compared to financial year 24/25-Q4, the programme's end-date at 25/26-Q4 increased from 31/03/2029 to 31/03/2031. The extension is isolated rather than programme-wide is driven by a single BIL National Project, which has received approval to spend BIL funds in 2029/30 and 2030/31. All other BIL projects remain on track to complete construction and spend by the original end date of 31 March 2029.

Cost

The WLC has increased by £9m. This reflects Homes England’s approach to use existing BIL projects to bridge the gap ahead of the National Housing Delivery Fund (NHDF) launch on 1 April 2026, alongside adjustments for inflation in real terms. This has been enabled by combining NHDF funding into a single, flexible pot, allowing Homes England to move funding between new and existing activity as needed. This flexibility is now reflected in the updated departmental baseline.

Benefits

Whilst our expectation on the level of benefits remains unchanged, the benefits strategy and benefits realisation planning is being finalised. Key benefits are expected to include increased employment floorspace, net additional homes (including breakdown by tenure), and enhanced social and physical infrastructure delivery, with programme-end evaluation expected to monetise the impact of infrastructure outputs. The BIL programme has piloted the collection of data on infrastructure outputs and is now receiving information from delivery partners on outputs such as number of schools, utilities, healthcare facilities, public realm, bridges, rail stations and km of road enabled by BIL.