Plans to transform one of the South West's most important regeneration sites by bringing businesses, jobs and housing to Bath have taken a huge step forward, thanks to a major investment from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).

The national housing and regeneration agency has invested around £6m in the Bath Western Riverside site, taking the total amount it has spent in unlocking activity around the development to more than £8 million in recent months.

The latest investment enables the delivery of almost 200 new homes on the 44-acre site, half of which will be affordable and funded by the HCA. It follows an announcement last November of a £2 million investment in public infrastructure work around the riverside site, which will benefit the wider area and is now underway.

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It marks a major breakthrough for the city, which has ambitions for the site to become a new modern quarter, with infrastructure for up to 3,500 homes and new businesses which would create up to 2,000 jobs.

Bath and North East Somerset Council is also investing £2.7 million in the new homes, which will be managed by Somer Community Housing Trust.

The news was welcomed by partners who are working to transform the site, which is owned by Crest Nicholson.

HCA Head of Area David Warburton said: "This investment is great news for Bath, and means that the work to transform this site is enabled to progress with our support.

"Bath riverside has rightly been identified by partners as a top priority for HCA investment and support. It is key to regenerating this part of Bath, through providing new business, leisure and retail facilities as part of the development. The housing is also an important element, as property values and restrictions on borrowing mean that demand for affordable homes is increasing in cities like Bath."

(CD)