HM Treasury has confirmed the next phase of its Northern Growth Strategy: targeted sector investments alongside a £2.3 billion City Investment Funds package, with up to £1.7 billion for Northern city regions. The announcement followed the Chancellor’s Mais Lecture on Tuesday 17 March 2026. (gov.uk)
Project-level commitments include £51 million for a National Cryogenics Facility at Daresbury in the Liverpool City Region, £50 million to advance South Yorkshire’s Defence Growth Deal, and hundreds of millions for a Manchester Digital Campus to consolidate government operations on a regenerated Ancoats site and accommodate around 8,800 officials. (gov.uk)
City Investment Funds comprise two elements: a £1.5 billion Housing Accelerator Fund available to seven established mayoral areas, and an £800 million City Densification Fund. Of the latter, £620 million is allocated to five Northern Mayoral Strategic Authorities (MSAs) and £180 million to the West Midlands. (gov.uk)
Within the City Densification Fund, government has specified allocations of £175 million for Greater Manchester, £145 million for West Yorkshire, £120 million for the North East, £95 million for Liverpool City Region and £85 million for South Yorkshire; the West Midlands receives £180 million. (gov.uk)
Funding will be deployed directly by mayors as grants, loans and patient capital to accelerate city‑centre housing, office space and major regeneration schemes. HM Treasury states this programme builds on the £500 million Mayoral Revolving Growth Fund announced in November 2025, providing a complementary route for bringing commercially challenging projects forward. (gov.uk)
Government documentation refers to the recipient areas as Mayoral Strategic Authorities. The term and associated devolution and accountability framework are set out in the Department’s Local Growth Fund (England) policy statement published on 26 November 2025. (gov.uk)
The new National Cryogenics Facility at Daresbury is intended to position the North West as a global R&D centre for ultra‑low‑temperature applications across quantum, healthcare and fusion, with associated high‑quality jobs and inward investment. Daresbury Laboratory already hosts core cryogenics and quantum capabilities within the Science and Technology Facilities Council campus. (gov.uk)
South Yorkshire’s £50 million Defence Growth Deal will deepen the region’s strengths in research, development and engineering of advanced materials for next‑generation defence systems, aligning with the government’s wider approach to backing industrial clusters across the North. (gov.uk)
In Manchester, the Government Property Agency’s planned digital campus will regenerate a disused site at Ancoats and bring together civil servants and ministers into a North West hub. HM Treasury indicates that consolidating the government estate in this way is expected to deliver long‑term savings for the taxpayer. (gov.uk)
The British Business Bank will invest more than £150 million in high‑potential firms across Northern clusters and strengthen its local growth network to improve access to capital for scaling businesses. In parallel, the Office for Investment will promote West Yorkshire’s financial and professional services strength-the so‑called Northern Square Mile-to attract global firms. (gov.uk)
Research and innovation funding will also be deployed locally: Liverpool City Region will target £30 million at materials chemistry, infection prevention and control, and artificial intelligence, while Greater Manchester will deploy £50 million focused on health innovation and life sciences, advanced materials and manufacturing, and applied AI. (gov.uk)
Ministers frame these measures within the Industrial Strategy’s sectoral priorities and the Chancellor’s Mais Lecture emphasis on three growth levers: empowering regional leadership, accelerating AI and innovation, and developing a closer economic relationship with the EU. (gov.uk)
Implementation now moves to programme design and pipeline development. HM Treasury says a fuller Northern Growth Strategy will be published in the autumn, and that final allocations from the £1.5 billion Housing Accelerator Fund will depend on project readiness and other local options. For councils, developers and anchor institutions, the immediate ask is clear: prepare evidenced, city‑centre schemes that can move at pace under mayoral delivery. (gov.uk)
These city-centre interventions sit alongside the existing Local Growth Fund and the Mayoral Revolving Growth Fund frameworks that set governance, assurance and financing requirements for MSAs planning to deploy repayable capital and grant. Coordination across these instruments will shape delivery timetables and private co‑investment over 2026–27. (gov.uk)