Thursday, December 11, 2025
The East Midlands Combined Country Authority (EMCCA) and Homes England, the UK government’s housing and regeneration agency, have announced a historic deal that formalises a Strategic Place Partnership (SPP). The agency’s ambition to decentralise housing delivery and empower local leaders has reached a major milestone with this new agreement, which is its tenth SPP with Mayoral Strategic Authorities (MSAs) throughout England.
The SPP provides a crucial framework for Homes England to pool its national resources, expertise, land, and capital with the local knowledge and strategic vision of EMCCA. This alignment is designed to accelerate locally driven housing and regeneration efforts across Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham, and Nottinghamshire.
Amy Rees CB, Chief Executive of Homes England, emphasised the strategic importance of this new collaboration. “Our 10th Strategic Place Partnership represents a significant milestone in the way we work with Mayoral Strategic Authorities across England,” she said. “By formalising our partnership with EMCCA, we are creating a powerful framework that will unlock the region’s potential for sustainable growth.”
The partnership is explicitly designed to bolster the ambitious housing targets set by the newly established EMCCA. The region’s Mayor, Claire Ward, has a clear mission to ensure the delivery of 100,000 new, high-quality homes across the East Midlands.
“This new partnership marks an important moment for the East Midlands. By working hand in hand with Homes England, we are ensuring that our ambition to deliver 100,000 new homes is based on a solid foundation,” Mayor Ward stated.
She further highlighted that the delivery of these homes is central to a broader strategy of inclusive growth, focusing on creating stronger, more connected communities complete with the necessary jobs, infrastructure, and urban regeneration. This approach seeks to reconcile the need for mass housing development with the desire for sustainable, vibrant, and fair communities.
The SPP is already building upon an established working relationship between Homes England and EMCCA, targeting several high-impact projects that require a coordinated approach to de-risk and deliver at scale.
At the heart of Nottingham, the redevelopment of the former Broad Marsh shopping centre site is a prime example of the partnership’s focus on urban regeneration. Homes England acquired the site in March 2025 and has initiated work to de-risk the complex brownfield development.
The masterplan for the Broad Marsh area, in collaboration with EMCCA and Nottingham City Council, is set to transform the city centre by delivering:
This major intervention demonstrates the power of combining local strategic leadership with national financial backing to tackle long-standing development challenges and attract essential private sector investment. As Amy Rees noted: “Projects like Broad Marsh demonstrate what is possible when local knowledge meets national resources, and this SPP will enable us to replicate that success across the East Midlands.”
In Derbyshire, the partnership is driving forward Infinity Garden Village, a major scheme under the government’s nationwide Garden Communities programme. Located near Infinity Park in South Derby, this project is one of 43 such towns and villages planned across England, designed to be self-contained, high-quality, and sustainably designed communities.
The ambitious plans for Infinity Garden Village include:
The formalization of the 10th Strategic Place Partnership underscores a definitive shift in how the government’s housing agenda is being executed. Homes England is now working hand-in-hand with local leaders in most of the country, ensuring that decision-making, design choices, and delivery priorities are shaped by the specific needs and aspirations of the local population.
The SPP model is a direct response to the complexity of housing delivery, where national targets must be translated into achievable, context-specific local schemes. By empowering mayors with the tools and resources required to accelerate delivery and regeneration at scale, the partnership aims to create a housing supply that is not only quantitatively ambitious but also qualitatively excellent.
As EMCCA Mayor Claire Ward concluded, the partnership represents “a long-term investment in our future. Together, we are building an East Midlands that is vibrant, fair, and forward-looking – a place we can all be proud to call home.” This commitment ensures the region is positioned for sustainable, jobs-led economic expansion well into the next decade.
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Tags: affordable homes, Derbyshire Housing, East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA), Homes England, housing delivery, Housing Industry
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