THOUSANDS OF NEW HOMES BUILT ON BROWNFIELD SITES ACROSS SOUTH YORKSHIRE THANKS TO SYMCA FUND

Published 26 March 2026 at 8:24am

More than 3,700 new high-quality homes are being built on brownfield land across South Yorkshire, thanks to £65 million from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority’s (SYMCA) Brownfield Housing Fund (BHF).

Now in its final month after six years of operation, the Fund is supporting 45 developments - unlocking land, funding infrastructure, accelerating construction, and enabling homes that simply wouldn’t have been built without SYMCA’s backing.

The Fund has a focus on supporting work including early infrastructure, site clearance, decontamination and installation of the necessary utilities – and has included the building of more than 700 social and affordable homes.

South Yorkshire’s Mayor Oliver Coppard said: “We know we need more homes to offer the strong foundations our families and communities deserve across South Yorkshire.

“Through our Brownfield Housing Fund we’re creating thousands of better homes. I want developments that attract investment, create spaces for new businesses and offer more affordable housing – and that’s exactly what we’re doing.

“Transforming derelict sites and bringing buildings that reflect our heritage back into use opens up new opportunities to unleash our communities’ full potential. 

“We’re rebuilding the pride, purpose and prosperity of South Yorkshire -making sure thousands more people can get on the property ladder, so even more can stay near and go far.”

Environmentally friendly homes have been at the heart of the BHF to help reduce energy bills and minimise negative environmental impacts, with 2400 of the homes having solar panels and 1400 homes having heat pumps installed.

Nine schemes of around 1000 homes also have Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems to help reduce the impacts of surface water flooding, with other schemes adopting more traditional drainage schemes to reduce flood risk.

Among the projects supported by the BHF are:

•    The Hive in Sheffield will provide 100 co-living apartments with shared facilities including allotments, workspace and a gym – it will be the first net zero carbon building in operation in Kelham Island and is believed to be the first net zero operational high rise residential building in South Yorkshire.  
•    Olive Lane will deliver 50 new homes and two commercial units in the new Waverley neighbourhood in Rotherham. The homes will be built to high sustainability standards with each home including heat pumps, solar panels and EV Charging points.
•    Doncaster Council will develop 151 affordable homes over eight brownfield sites with funding from the BHF. The homes will be delivered to high sustainability standards and will help to meet local affordable housing need.
•    Barnsley Council’s Goldthorpe Phase 1 saw new homes for affordable rent developed on the site previously used for Goldthorpe Market. This was the first phase in the council’s masterplan for Goldthorpe which aims to diversify housing provision, improve the public realm and better link homes to the wider town centre.

SYMCA has recently secured a further £118m from April this year from the National Housing Development Fund, to continue supporting the development of new housing across South Yorkshire, providing high quality and affordable homes for existing and future generations.